25
Forγὰρwhoeverὃς ἐὰνwantsθέλῃto saveσῶσαιhis lifeτὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦwill loseἀπολέσειit;αὐτήνbutδ’whoeverὃς ἂνlosesἀπολέσῃhis lifeτὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦfor the sake ofἕνεκενmeἐμοῦwill findεὑρήσειit.αὐτήν
Matthew 16:25
Study it in the app“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it.”
Following him means denying yourself and taking up your crossFollowing Jesus
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 16:25, word by word
- wantsθέλῃthelēi
want
To have the desire or the resolve for something.
Where else “thelēi” appears- to saveσῶσαιsōsai
rescue
To rescue from danger or death.
Where else “sōsai” appears- his lifeψυχὴνpsychēn
life
Literally "soul": one's being alive, which can be saved, lost or given.
Where else “psychēn” appears- will loseἀπολέσειapolesei
lose
To be left without something or someone one had.
Where else “apolesei” appears- for the sake ofἕνεκενheneken
because of
On account of, for the sake of.
Where else “heneken” appears- will findεὑρήσειheurēsei
find
To come upon something or someone, after searching or by surprise.
Where else “heurēsei” appears
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
Take up your cross
See them side by side
Matthew 16:24-28
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me will find it. 26For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct. 28Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
8:34And summoning the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 8:35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me and the good news will save it. 8:36For what does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? 8:37For what can a person give in exchange for his life? 8:38For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9:1And he was saying to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”
23And he was saying to all, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for the sake of me, that one will save it. 25For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. 27But I tell you truly, there are some of those standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
The context
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 · This verse (above)
26For what will it profit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?
To study Matthew 16 in a group
1. What it says
Who did people say Jesus was, and what did Peter answer (vv. 13–16)?
2. What it means
What did Jesus mean by losing one's life in order to find it (vv. 24–25)?
3. How I live it
Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?” (v. 15). How would you answer in your own words?