For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Those who willingly die for Christ do actually obtain life, this is Mark's express point, and Matthew means the same. Irreligious men may despise life from ambition or despair, but that courage profits them nothing. The warning cuts deep: whoever craves the present life gains only the loss of it.
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Christ showed He must suffer; now He shows His disciples must suffer too, and willingly. A true disciple comes after Him as sheep after shepherd, soldiers after captain, not one who prescribes to Him as Peter just did. This is a deliberate choice and cheerful resolution, not accident or another's will.
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Commenting on Matthew 16:24-28
What profit is there in gaining the whole world if a man loses his own soul? The redemption of an immortal soul demands a price greater than all gold and silver, nothing but the blood of Christ suffices. Once a soul is lost and damned in the other world, no exchange can retrieve it; the loss is irrecoverable.
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