Introductory remarks:
Jesus continues in conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees. "None of Christ's miracles are recorded in this chapter, but four of his discourses. Here is 1. A conference with the Pharisees, who challenged him to show them a sign from heaven (vss. 1-4). 2. Another with his disciples about the leaven of the Pharisees (vss. 5-12). 3. Another with them concerning himself, as the Christ, and concerning his church built upon him (vss. 13-20). 4. Another concerning his sufferings for them, and theirs for him (vss. 21-28). And all these are written for our learning" (Matthew Henry).
The Demand for a Sign
(Mark 8:11-13; Luke 12:54-56)
Verse 1, "The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven."
LGT "And the Pharisees and Sadducees, having come to [Him], tempting [Him] asked Him a sign out of heaven to show them."
First the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign from Him, now the Sadducees and Pharisees join forces to tempt [try] Jesus. The Pharisees and Sadducees were worlds apart as far as their doctrine was concerned; for one thing the Pharisees believed in life after death, whereas the Sadducees refused to believe in the resurrection of the dead.
A.T. Robertson writes:
"The first time that we have this combination of the two parties [Pharisees and Sadducees] who disliked each other exceedingly. Hate makes strange bedfellows. They hated Jesus more than they did each other. Their hostility has not decreased during the absence of Jesus, but rather increased. Tempting Him (peirazonites). Their motive was bad. A sign from heaven (semion ek tou ouranou). The scribes and Pharisees had already asked for a sign (Mat 12:38). Now this new combination adds 'from heaven.' What did they have in mind? They may not have had any definite idea to embarrass Jesus. The Jewish apocalypses did speak of spectacular displays of power by the Son of Man (the Messiah). The devil had suggested that Jesus let the people see him drop down from the pinnacle of the temple and the people expected the Messiah to come from an unknown source (John 7:27) who would do great signs (John 7:31). Chrysostom (Hom. Liii.) suggests stopping the course of the sun, bridling the moon, a clap of thunder."
Verse 2, "He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red."
LGT "But He answering said to them, You say evening having come, fine weather; for the heaven is red."
Jesus says that their natural astuteness to the signs in the sky tells them that a red sky at sunset tells them they will have fair weather.
Verse 3, "And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but ye can not discern the signs of the times?"
LGT "And at morning, Today a storm; for the heaven is red [and] lowering. For indeed you know how to discern the face of the heaven, but the sign of the times you are unable."
A red sky in the morning meant a storm was brewing. Jesus gives these Jews credit for reading the skies, but says they are unable to understand the signs of the times; Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, but they go along in their self-righteous blindness; they were unable to know what was about to happen because they were ignorant of the OT Scriptures. Today we have the same thing happening; people are ignorant of the Word of God and they are unable to discern the signs of the times; there are very few out and about who are telling the world that the Lord is about to return; even if there were many teaching the truth, men will not believe them because as Robertson says, "Men are numerous with patent keys to it all. But we ought not to be blind when others are gullible." The Bible says that we are heading for a one-worldism, but the liberals are fine with this, because they dream of world-peace, there will be no peace until Christ returns to set up this peace. Rick the slick Warren of Saddleback Church is getting ready to send his willing sheep out to accomplish world peace without Christ; It is not for the believer to go tramping around the world in the name of world-peace. We need to study the Word of God and then share our studies with one another.
Verse 4, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed."
LGT "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given them except the sign of Jonas the prophet. And leaving them He went away."
"A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign:"
These Sadducees and Pharisees ask for a sign; Jesus had already shown many signs, but these religious hypocrites hate Jesus so much they refuse to see the signs, and believe His miracles, and His messianic claim.
"And there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas."
Jesus does not explain what He means by this except that He must be referring to chapter twelve verse forty referring to His resurrection: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
"And he left them, and departed."
Without any further comment Jesus turns about and leaves them; He has had it with these Truth rejecters, and I believe He is saying by His abruptly turning and leaving "No amount of grace logic and surely no miracle will convince this wicked bunch of who I am."
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
(Mark 8:14-21)
Verse 5, "And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread."
LGT "And the disciples having come to the other side, they forgot to take loaves."
It doesn't say but maybe in their rush to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee they forgot to take enough provisions.
Verse 6, "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees."
LGT "And Jesus said to them, See and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The leaven [yeast] of the Pharisees and the Sadducees is their traditions they add to the Word of God.
Verse 7, "And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread."
LGT "And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Because we took not loaves.
The Greek word for 'reasoned' is deilogizonto, an imperfect tense, meaning they kept on reasoning. "It was pathetic, the almost jejune [immature] inability of the disciples to understand the parabolic warning against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (verse six) after the collision of Christ just before with both parties in Magadan" (Robertson). These disciples just don't get it because they are thinking on a strictly physical plain.
Verse 8, "Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread."
LGT "And having known this Jesus said, Why are you reasoning among yourselves, because you have not loaves?"
This is the first of four questions Jesus asks His disciples, Why are you reasoning among yourselves, because ye have not loaves?"
Verse 9, "Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?"
LGT "Do you not yet perceive, nor remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many hand-baskets you took [up]?"
As I mentioned earlier, the disciples had just witnessed the Lord feeding five thousand, and then the four thousand, and now they are disturbed because they forgot provisions. This verse is the second question from the Lord.
Verse 10, "Neither seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?"
LGT "Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many baskets you took [up]?"
The third question is His reminding them of His feeding the four thousand and that they took up seven baskets left over after all were filled or satisfied.
Verse 11, "How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?"
LGT "How do you not perceive that not concerning bread I spoke to you? But you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The fourth question is that He was not speaking of bread, and how is it that the disciples thought He was. The Lord was speaking of the leaven as representing the gross immorality and self-righteousness of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and not the physical bread at all. The Pharisees and Sadducees were relying on the traditions written by the elders rather than the true Word of God as given through Moses and the prophets.
Verse 12, "Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
LGT "Then they understood that He said not to beware of the leaven of the bread, but from the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
The disciples finally understand that Jesus was speaking of the false doctrines of the Pharisees and Sadducees when He spoke of leaven.
Peter's Declaration about Jesus
(Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21)
Verse 13, "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that the Son of man am?"
LGT "And Jesus, having come into the parts [borders] of Caesarea Philippi, He began to question His disciples, saying, Whom do men pronounce the Son of Man to be?"
"There were two cities in Judea called Caesarea. One was situated on the borders of the Mediterranean, and the other was the one mentioned here. This city was greatly enlarged and ornamented by Philip the tetrarch, son of Herod, and called Caesarea in honor of the Roman emperor, Tiberius Caesar. To distinguish it from the other Caesarea the name of Philip was added to it, and it was called Caesarea Philippi, or Caesarea of Philip. It was situated in the boundaries of the tribe of Naphtali, at the foot of Mount Hermon. It is now called Panias or Banias, and contains about 200 houses, and is inhabited chiefly by Turks. The word coasts here - now usually applied to land in the vicinity of the sea - means borders or regions. He came into the part of the country, which appertained to Caesarea Philippi. He was passing northward from the region of Bethsaida, on the coasts of Magdala (ch. 15:39), where the transactions recorded in the previous verses had occurred.
"He asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?"
As Jesus is nearing His destination He asks his disciples a question that will settle in their minds as to what is the response of the crowds as to His preaching and His miracles. The questions is just as important today as it was when He asked it; in order for a person to be saved he must settle this question once and for all; Who do men say that the Son of Man is? Of course the question is designed for the hearers and not for Christ, for Christ knows the answer.
Verse 14, "And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
LGT "and they said, Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets."
The disciples give the Lord four responses to His question. Robertson says that it is risky business for a preacher to ask his followers the same question, that is, what do you think of my preaching? However, Jesus was not concerned by what the uninterested part of the group thought of Him, He was only concerned with those who believed He was the Messiah.
Verse 15, "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?"
LGT "He says to them, But whom do you pronounce Me to be?"
As I said on the last verse, Jesus was only interested in the ones who truly believe on Him.
Verse 16, "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
LGT "And answering, Simon Peter said, You are the Christ the Son of the God, the Living One."
The only way a person can possibly be saved is to answer the same as Peter answered the Lord, "You are the Christ, the Son of the God, the Living One."
Robertson notes:
"It was a noble confession, but not a new claim by Jesus. Peter had made it before (John 6:69) when the multitude deserted Jesus in Capernaum. Since the early ministry (John 4) Jesus had avoided the word Messiah because of its political meaning to the people. But now Peter plainly calls Jesus the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Son of the God the living one (note the four Greek articles). This great confession of Peter means that he and the other disciples believe in Jesus as the Messiah and are still true to him in spite of the defection of the Galilean populace (John 6:6)."
Verse 17, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
LGT "And Jesus answering said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonas, because flesh and blood revealed it not to you, but My Father which is in the heavens."
Peter did not receive his knowledge of Christ through flesh and blood, that is, any physical means, but by the Father through the Holy Spirit. No man has come to Christ except through the Word of God.
Verse 18, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
LGT "And I also say to you, That you are Peter, and upon this the rock I will build My church, and gates of Hades will not triumph against it."
"And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter,"
Peter had just confessed to Christ in verse sixteen, You are the Christ, the Son of the God the Living one; now Christ responds with, You are Peter. "Peter is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent Cephas. In this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock" (Vincent).
"And upon this rock I will build my church;"
There are divergent views as to the meaning of this phrase; some commentators say that it is Christ, that the church will be built, because the Scriptures say that Christ is the Chief Cornerstone; others say it is Peter the rock upon which the church will be built; others say that it is Peter's confession that Christ is referring to, for without this confession no man can be saved; we must keep in mind that it is the individual believer that make up the church and not a corporate physical body as the Roman Church teach. The Roman Church abused this verse in saying that Peter is the chief authority of the entire church and that he was infallible and over the other apostles, and this gave rise to the forced interpretations by the protestant commentators. Peter and the other apostles were the first to make up the church, and it was upon the inspired doctrines they taught that gave to the church its truth to be their guide; all these views have some validity, however I believe Bruce sums it all up quite nicely:
"The remaining portion of our Lord's address to Simon shows that He assigned to the doctrine confessed by that disciple the place of fundamental importance in the Christian faith. The object of these remarkable statements is not to assert the supremacy of Peter, as Romanists contend, but to declare the supremely important nature of the truth he has confessed. In spite of all the difficulties of interpretation, this remains clear and certain to us. Who or what the rock is we deem doubtful; it may be Peter, or it may be his confession; it is a point on which scholars equally sound in the faith, and equally innocent of all sympathy with Popish dogmas, are divided in opinion, and on which it would ill become us to dogmatize. Of this only we are sure, that not Peter's person, but Peter's faith, is the fundamental matter in Christ's mind. When He says to that disciple, Thou art Petros, He means, Thou art a man of rock, worthy of the name I gave thee by anticipation the first time I met thee, because thou hast at length got thy foot planted on the rock of the eternal truth. He speaks of the church that is to be, for the first time, in connection with Simon's confession, because that church is to consist of men adopting that confession as their own, and acknowledging Him to be the Christ, the Son of God. He alludes to the keys of the kingdom of heaven in the same connection, because none but those who homologate [believe the same] the doctrine first solemnly enunciated by Simon, shall be admitted within its gates. He promises Peter the power of the keys, not because it is to belong to him alone, or to him more than others, but by way of honorable mention, in recompense for the joy he has given his Lord by the superior energy and decision of his faith. He is grateful to Peter, because he has believed most emphatically that He came out from God; and He shows His gratitude by promising first to him individually a power, which He afterwards conferred on all His chosen disciples. Finally, if it be true that Peter is here called the rock on which the church shall be built, this is to be understood in the same way as the promise of the keys. Peter is called the foundation of the church only in the same sense as all the apostles are called the foundation by the apostle Paul, viz. as the first preachers of the true faith concerning Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God; and if the man who first professed that faith be honored by being called individually the rock, that only shows that the faith, and not the man, is after all the true foundation. That which makes Simon a Petros, a rock-like man, fit to build on, as the real Petra on which the Ecclesia is to be built."
"And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
The term 'gates of hell' represents all the plots and stratagems of Satan's realm, that is, all the evil spirits that have worked for the devil throughout the world from its beginning. "The enemies of the church would not be able to overcome it - a promise that has been remarkably fulfilled" (Barnes).
Verse 19, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
LGT "And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens: and whatever you may bind on earth, shall be bound in the heavens: and whatever you shall loose on the earth shall be loosed in the heavens."
"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:"
Peter was the first to confess that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the God, the Living One, and Christ chose him as a "steward, bearing the keys" (Vincent).
Edersheim adds:
"Even as he had been the first to utter the confession of the church, so was he also privileged to be the first to open its hitherto closed gates to the Gentiles, when God made choice of him, that, through his mouth, the Gentiles should first hear the words of the gospel, and at his bidding first baptized."
We must keep in mind that when the apostles were first sent out with the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom that were sent to the lost sheep of Israel. And that Christ forbade them to go into the way of the Gentiles. After Pentecost, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they were to go into the entire World, even to the Gentiles. I believe with McGee that the 'Keys' gr. Kleidas, represents the Truth of God's Word, however, I don't go quite as far as McGee in saying that we have the same power as the Spirit gifted apostles; what I mean is that we are not Spirit gifted as they were, but we have the same power in our occupation in the Word of God.
"And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
"In a sense common among the Jews, of forbidding or allowing. No other terms were in more constant use in rabbinic cannon-law than those pf binding and loosing. They represented the legislative and judicial powers of the rabbinic office. These powers Christ now transferred, and that not in their pretension, but in their reality, to his apostles; the first, here, to Peter, as their representative, the second, after His resurrection, to the church (John 20:23)" (Edershein).
Vincent quotes Meyer:
"This legislative authority conferred upon Peter can wear an offensive aspect when it is conceived of as possessing an arbitrary [random] character, and as being in no way determined by the ethical influences of the Holy Spirit, and when it is regarded as being of an absolute nature, as independent of any connection with the rest of the apostles. Since the power of binding and loosing, which is here conferred upon Peter, is ascribed (Matt. 18:18) to the apostles generally, the power conferred upon the former is set in its proper light, and shown to be of necessity a power of a collegiate nature, so that Peter is not to be regarded as exclusively endowed with it, either in whole or in part, but is simply to be looked upon as first among his equals."
Verse 20, "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."
LGT "Then He admonished the disciples that they should say to no one that He is the Christ."
The Lord is telling His disciples that for the present time they should not speak of Him as the Christ for their own safety. Knowledge of Him as the Messiah is not enough to bring about salvation; one must confess to Him that He is the Son of the God the Living One, as Peter did, in order to be saved.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
(Mark 8:31-9:1; Luke 9:22-27)
Verse 21, "From that time forth began Jesus to shew his disciples, how that he must go into Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day."
LGT "From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that it is necessary for Him to go away into Jerusalem, and to suffer many things from the elders and priests and scribes and to be killed and the third day to be raised."
This is the first time Jesus explains in detail His purpose for coming to this earth, that is, His incarnation. It was very appropriate after Peter's great confession of verse sixteen. Even after Jesus explains all that is laid out for Him by His heavenly Father, His disciples still will not grasp the facts of His death, burial, and resurrection, until after it really happens. It is about six months now before Jesus is actually crucified, and He reveals six things that He must do:
He must go to Jerusalem
He must suffer many things of the elders, chief priests, and scribes
He must be killed
He must be raised the third day
McGee writes:
"This is what the Lord Jesus did for you and me. This is the Gospel: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and raised again. You must know who He is. You must know what He did for you. If you know these two things, and by faith believe and receive them, you are saved. This had never been revealed before except to Nicodemus at the beginning of our Lord's ministry in John 3:16."
Verse 22, "Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee."
LGT "And having taken Him to himself apart, Peter began to rebuke Him, saying, God have mercy on You Lord: in no way shall this be to You."
"Then Peter took him,"
This is literally, and having taken Him to himself apart, from the rest of the group in order to speak to Him privately.
Peter begins to act with greater familiarity after Christ had just blessed him in verse seventeen; Peter was acting inspired from heaven in his confession and now he is acting from inspiration from the opposite quarter (Bruce). In Peter's mind Jesus is the messiah and must stay and set up His kingdom.
"And began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee Lord: this shall not be unto thee."
"The word translated 'rebuke' is very strong. It means to reprove, censure, or warn in order to prevent an action from happening, or bring one that is in process to an end. Peter vigorously sought to prevent Christ from going to Jerusalem where death would certainly ensue. There can be no question but that Peter, conscious of the authority that had been conferred on him, felt responsible to prevent what seemed to be a catastrophe. Peter evidently was willing to use physical restraint if necessary on Christ" (Pentecost).
Verse 23, "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
LGT "But having turned, said to Peter, Get behind Me Satan: You are a stumbling block to Me, because you mind [think] not the things of the God, but the things of men."
"But he turned,"
He turned away from Peter toward the other disciples.
"And said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:"
"Just before Peter played the part of a rock in the noble confession and was given a place of leadership. Now he is playing the part of Satan and is ordered to the rear. Peter was tempting Jesus not to go to the cross as Satan had done in the wilderness. 'None are more formidable [alarming] instruments of temptation than well-meaning friends, who care more for our comfort than for our character' (Bruce). 'In Peter the banished Satan had once more returned' (Plummer)" (A.T. Robertson).
"Thou art an offence unto me:"
The Greek word for 'offence' is skandalon, and it literally means a stumbling block, you are standing in My way. "Thou art not, as before, a noble block, lying in its right position as a massive foundation-stone. On the contrary, thou art like a stone quite out of its proper place, and lying right across the road in which I must go - lying as a stone of stumbling" (Dr. Morison - quoted by Vincent).
"For thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
The Greek word for 'savourest not' is ou phroneis, you mind or think not. "You do not think God's thoughts. Clearly the consciousness of the coming cross is not a new idea with Jesus. We do not know when He first foresaw this outcome any more than we know when first the Messianic consciousness appeared in Jesus. He had the glimmerings of it as a boy of twelve, when He spoke of 'My Father's house.' He knows now that He must die on the cross" (A.T. Robertson).
"Peter seems to have been oblivious to the fact that, according to prophetic Scripture, Messiah must not only reign but by His death He must also provide for the redemption of sinners. For this reason Christ said to Him, 'You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men'" (Pentecost).
Verse 24, "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."
LGT "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross at once and keep on following Me."
Jesus is telling His disciples that to deny oneself is to put God's will before their own wills. McGee says that 'God is not asking them to give up ice cream for desert, or some other little pleasure, in order to please God'; we cannot placate God by our works of righteousness, that is, human viewpoint good; but we are to put God first in all our ways; just as Christ was willing to bear the cross on our account, we are to bear our own cross, that is, be willing to be used of God for His glory. Christ is not asking us to bear His cross, for He could only do that.
Verses 25-27, "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; then he shall reward every man according to his works."
LGT "For whoever may desire his life to save shall lose it: and whoever may lose his life on account of Me shall find it. For what is man benefited if he gains the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what will a man give [as] an exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will render to each according to his doing [practices]. "
Now before I begin my exposition on these verses I must remind you all of the grace deduction; if a doctrine is consistent with grace we may rest assured in our translation; but if it is of works it must be rejected.
The first thing about these three verses I should point out is that Christ is speaking about 'discipleship' alone, and not eternal salvation. If our eternal salvation were meant here, we would have to rid ourselves of Ephesians 2:8,9, For by grace you are saved by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The disciples had a choice to either follow Christ or not to follow Christ; there are Christians today that are eternally saved, but they do not follow Christ.
Joseph Dillow (The Reign of the Servant Kings) notes:
"It remains for scholars of historical theology to discern how this phrase ever became connected with the idea of deliverance from hell. It is never used that way in the Bible, and such an idea would have been foreign to any Jewish reader of the New Testament. Furthermore, the context requires that works, suffering, and taking up one's cross are necessary conditions for the saving of the soul. This creates obvious problems with the rest of the New Testament where works such as this are distant as far as possible from the gospel offer (e.g., Eph. 2:8,9; John 3:16). It is either necessary to redefine faith as being equivalent to obedience, which a lexical study will not allow, or reconsider the traditional meaning of 'saving a soul.'
It is clear that the saying in question was addressed to believers (Matt. 16:24), and therefore Christ is not preaching the gospel to unbelievers to come to salvation but challenging Christians to a life of discipleship. The fact the unbelievers may have heard the message does not mean that they were the ones addressed. The message was specifically directed toward the disciples.
So the danger is that, if a man does not become a disciple, he will lose his soul. That is, he will forfeit true life now and reward in eternity. The fact that the context is referring to rewards, and not deliverance from hell, is suggested by verse 27: [He] will then recompense every man according to his deeds (NASB).
Saving one's life means what it means every place else in the bible, to preserve one's physical life. There was a temptation among Christ's followers to avoid martyrdom and suffering to save their lives. Paradoxically (contradictory), when a man schemes to preserve his own life, he will lose the very thing he really wants, happiness and blessing. The paradox, however, is that a man who is willing to even die for Christ will find the very pleasure and blessings he really sought and an eternal reward as well."
Even though Dillow went into far greater detail in his book, I chose to quote just a few of his deductions to express somewhat of how I believe that the passage we are studying is contextually about rewards for discipleship and not eternal damnation for refusing salvation.
Verse 28, "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."
LGT "Verily I say to you, There are some of those here standing, who will in no way taste of death until they have seen the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
This verse belongs at the beginning of chapter seventeen; Christ is encouraging His disciples that they will see Him in His transfigured glory, of course excepting Judas. Pentecost will begin the building of His Church, which will reign with Him in His thousand-year kingdom at the end of this age. "The closing verse should really be the first verse of chapter seventeen. Whoever edited the Book and divided it into chapters and verses made the break in the wrong place. When Jesus said, 'Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom,' He was referring to the great event that followed 'after six days,' the transfiguration, which we know, from the words of the apostle Peter, presented the kingdom in embryo for the confirming of the Father to the disciples" (Ironside).
Barnes notes:
"The meaning evidently is, till they shall see My kingdom, i.e. My church, now small, feeble, and despised, greatly, enlarged, established, and spreading with great rapidity and extent. All this was accomplished. All these apostles, except Judas, lived to see the wonders of the Day of Pentecost; some of them, John particularly, saw the Jewish nation scattered, the temple destroyed, the gospel established in Asia, Rome, Greece, and in a large part of the known world."
Share freely but cite the source: http://bbbiblehelps.epizy.com