Mark 8:36

36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?

Mark 8:36 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 8:36

For what shall it profit a man
In the long run, in the issue of things, who by denying Christ, and his Gospel, may not only save his life for the present, but procure for himself great riches and wealth:

if he shall gain the whole world;
were that possible to be done, and which the ambitious, worldly man is desirous of; yet supposing he: had his desire, of what avail would this be in the upshot of things, should the following be his case, as it will,

and lose his own soul?
which is immortal and everlasting, when the world, and the glory of it pass away, and so is of more worth than the whole world. The world can only be enjoyed for a season, and that with a great deal of fatigue and trouble; but the soul continues for ever; and if it is lost and damned, its torment always abides, and the smoke of it ascends for ever, its worm never dies, and its fire is never quenched; (See Gill on Matthew 16:26).

Mark 8:36 In-Context

34 After calling the crowd together with his disciples, Jesus said to them, "All who want to come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.
35 All who want to save their lives will lose them. But all who lose their lives because of me and because of the good news will save them.
36 Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives?
37 What will people give in exchange for their lives?
38 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this unfaithful and sinful generation, the Human One will be ashamed of that person when he comes in the Father's glory with the holy angels."
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