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?
26. For what doth it profit a man? The word soul is here used in the strictest sense. Christ reminds them that the soul of man was not created merely to enjoy the world for a few days, but to obtain at length its immortality in heaven.
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.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 16:24-28
For the son of man shall come in the glory of his Father,.... This is a reason, proving the truth of what is before asserted, that men's lives may be lost by saving them, and be found by losing them, whatever paradoxes they may seem to be; and that the loss of a soul is irrecoverable, and no compensation can be made for it; and...