In Exchange for your Soul: a Meditation on Matthew 16 for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost

Then said Jesus unto his disciples,

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,

and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:

and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

 

For what is a man profited,

if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?

or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels;

and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here,

which shall not taste of death,

till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

 

After having given St. Peter great encouragement earlier in this same chapter for being blessed to confess Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, he is then admonished in the strongest terms for trying to persuade Jesus away from the Cross.  Peter’s two statements stand in stark contrast, one receiving blessing from God having come from the Spirit of God, the other condemned as coming from the evil one.  Jesus went on to explain to His disciples how important this distinction was by clearly laying out the stakes, noting that eternal life was of infinitely higher value than this short temporal life.  Since the soul of a person is created to live forever, temporary pleasures or pursuits are of far lesser value than eternal destiny, and the relation of one’s eternal soul with their eternal Creator is always judged on God’s terms alone.  Peter’s faulty motivation to spare Jesus from abuse and murder by the Pharisees and Sadducees upon a Roman cross was focused on this short lifetime, and not on the victory Jesus would win for the whole world through His Vicarious Atonement.  The work of God was to accomplish the means of salvation for every eternal soul of every human being who would ever live, not to provide temporary comfort for one person in one short earthly lifetime.

 

This is the distinction between focus on the things of men versus the things of God, and Jesus made it clear that a pursuit to save one’s life in this world is meaningless if it sacrifices an eternal life in fellowship with God.  What bauble will one offer to God on that fearful day of judgement, when all souls must step from this world into eternity?  Every work of one’s hands, every plan or plot or proclivity, every tool or toy or treasure, will be left behind when the soul ascends to meet its Maker.  If one’s life in this world was only oriented here, what an infinite calamity awaits when all this world’s trifles are stripped away by death, and one’s soul stands fully exposed before the King of the Universe!  On that day, what will one offer to God in exchange for their soul, as if to placate or bribe the God of Eternity for rejection of Him, His Word, and His Will?  Once the self-absorbed narcissist is laid bare before his Maker, having sought his own life and prosperity by his own will and works, what will he have left before God if he has not His friendship?  It is God alone who judges the world, and He alone that establishes the value and virtues of life, since He alone is the Author and Sustainer of all things.  Our material possessions, accolades, academic degrees, monuments and honors exchanged between mortal men are not what God has established as eternal in merit, but rather that one abide by faith in His Truth and Love, His Mercy and Grace.

 

This is one of the great mysteries of life in every age, but particularly in ours:  to deny one’s self and one’s selfish ambitions to pursue a life abiding in God, is to secure life in Him forever; but to deny God for the sake of earthly pleasures and the satisfaction of selfish lusts is to lose one’s soul to the eternal fires of hell.  And knowing that fallen man was incapable of denying himself and following His Maker into the perfection of His Truth and Virtue, God bridged the gap between our fallen depravity and His immaculate divinity through His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  In Christ alone was our debt paid, and in His work alone could man trust to withstand the judgment of the Last Day.  Only through Jesus’ denial of earthly prosperity for the pursuit of God’s redeeming will upon Calvary could the hope of men be restored, and only through the Author of Life could the Word of Life be established forever.  The rebuke of Peter for focusing on the flourishing of earthly life at the expense of the saving work of God is an admonition that rings in the ears of every person who will hear it, that while no human pursuit of life will accomplish what it seeks, God’s work of securing eternal life is made open to all through the work and merit of Jesus Christ alone.  Trying to find our lives by our own will and power will leave us in death, but receiving eternal life by the will and power of Almighty God will secure it forever.

 

This should be a great comfort to all people, for the work which men strive vainly to accomplish through their fallen and corrupted powers, the Father has made perfect in His Son and distributed lavishly by His Spirit.  We know that our lives in this world are short, but that life endures forever in the company of the One who is Life.  Every life in this world will know trial and tribulation, as well as joy and beauty, for however many years it is given to dwell upon this good earth.  We are the beneficiaries of life, given our existence in a world created good by the One who is all goodness and truth, even if we’ve marred that creation with our own evil and corruption.  Life is still good, and the Lord of Glory has done all things necessary to secure the lives of His people unto ages of ages without end.  Even the earth itself and the whole created cosmos will be redeemed, resurrected and purged from evil in the New Creation, so that all who abide in God’s love and mercy will do so forever.  This is the immeasurable gift and work of Jesus on our behalf—the love of God made present and active in all creation.  This is the good which overcomes evil, the hope that overcomes despair:  for in Jesus there is now no condemnation for those who abide in His grace, walking by faith in the power of His Holy Spirit, and leaving behind the idolatrous life and mind focused only on a fleeting, carnal life.

 

By the work of Jesus upon His Cross, the perfect love of God casts out the fear of His people, that they might live forgiven and free in Him forever.  Let go the fascinations and trepidations that come from worldly pursuits of self-aggrandizement, that your mind and heart might be lifted up to the Word of Life which comes to you across all eternity for your salvation.  For indeed, while there is nothing you could give in exchange for your soul, your Lord Jesus Christ has already given His full measure for you, that your sins be forgiven you, and your life be restored in Him.  Just as the disciples saw Jesus come in the fullness of His resurrected glory, bringing to them His Eternal Kingdom by His grace, so the Lord of Glory comes to you with healing in His wings, and welcome into His fellowship.  Hear the Word of the Lord as it comes to you this day, and receive the eternal life He has won for you, that you may proclaim His saving Gospel to the world.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.