For what is the use of a man gaining the whole world and losing his soul?
8:36 — Because what will be the profit of man if he wins the whole world, and loses his soul? — The world offers power, riches, temporary joys, fame, glory, carnal pleasure, and satisfaction in many ways. Now, if the person can fully acquire all this, if he at the same time loses his soul for eternity, what has he gained? The price of the worldly is too high; costs the perdition of the soul eternally. Consider yourselves 1Jn 2:15-17; Matt 10:28.
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
what will you use? Job 2:4; Job 22:2; Ps 49:17; Ps 73:18-20; bad 3:14; Matt 4:8-10; Matt 16:26; Luke 9:25; Luke 12:19, Luke 12:20; Luke 16:19-23; Romans 6:21; Phil 3:7-9; Hebrews 11:24-26; Rev 18:7, Rev 18:8; Jas 1:9-11.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
soul. The real person, who will live forever in heaven or hell. To have everything the world offers, but not Christ, is to be eternally bankrupt. All the goods in the world cannot compensate for the eternal loss of the soul. See the note on Matt 16:26.
Source: MacArthur Study Bible
8:36 — For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul? — The world offers power, riches, temporary joys, fame, glory, carnal pleasure, and satisfaction in many ways. Now, if the person can fully acquire all this, if he at the same time loses his soul for eternity, what has he gained? The price of the worldly is too high; costs the perdition of the soul eternally. Consider 1Jn 2:15-17; Matt 10:28.
Source: Reeves-Partain Notes
FINDING LIFE BY LOSING IT
Mark 8:36
He who seeks to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses her for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, he will save her.
There are some things that are lost if they are saved, and saved if they are used. That happens with any talent you have. If it is used, it develops into something greater. If you stop using it, it ends up being lost. So it is supremely with life.
History is full of examples of people who, by detaching themselves from life, gained eternal life. Well into the fourth century, there was a monk in the East named Telemachus. He had decided to leave the world and live in solitude dedicated to prayer and meditation and fasting in order to save his soul. In his solitary life he sought nothing more than to be in communion with God; but whatever it was, he knew something was wrong. One day, rising from his kneeling position, the truth suddenly dawned on him that his life was based, not on selfless love of God, but on selfish love. He was convinced that, if he wanted to serve God, he had to serve men, that the desert was not the natural habitat of a Christian, that the cities were full of sin, and therefore full of need. . He decided to say goodbye to the desert and set out for the world’s greatest city, Rome, on the other side of the world. He was begging for lands and seas. At that time, Rome was already officially Christian. It came in the days when the Roman general Eshilico had been granted to parade in triumph through Rome for having won a major victory against the Goths. It was no longer like the old days. Now it was to the Christian churches that the crowds flocked, and not to the pagan temples. There were processions and celebrations, and Stylicus paraded through the streets in triumph at the side of the young Emperor Honorius.
But one thing survived in Christian Rome. The circus and gladiatorial games still existed. Christians were no longer thrown to the lions; but prisoners of war still had to fight to the death to amuse the Roman populace at festivals. The spectators still roared, drunk on blood from the gladiatorial fights.
Telemachus managed to reach the circus. There were 80,000 spectators there. The chariot races were ending; and the public waited impatiently for the gladiators to come out to fight. At last they came out into the arena proclaiming their salutation: ‘Hello, Caesar! Those of us who are going to die salute you!” The fight began, and Telemachus was overwhelmed. Men for whom Christ had died were killing themselves to amuse a supposedly Christian mob. Telemachus jumped the barrier. He stepped between the gladiators, who paused for a moment. “Let the games continue!” the crowd roared. They pushed the intruder aside. He still wore the garb of hermits. But Telemachus returned to stand between the fighters. The crowd started throwing stones at him. They shouted at the gladiators to kill him and get out of the way. The head of the games gave an order; a gladiator’s sword rose and fell upon him like lightning, and Telemachus fell to his death.
Suddenly the crowd fell silent. They were all in awe that a holy man had been put to death in such a way. Suddenly the mass realized what this massacre really was. The games ended abruptly that day, and were never held again. Telemachus, with his death, finished them off. As the famous historian Gibbon said of him: “His death was more useful to mankind than his life.” By losing his life she had done more than he could ever do by cultivating it in private devotions in the desert.
God has given us life to spend it, and not to keep it. If we live very carefully, always thinking in the first place of our own benefit, ease, comfort and safety; if our sole purpose in life is to prolong it as long as possible, keeping it as trouble-free as possible; if we do not make any effort for nothing more than our own benefit, we are losing our lives all the time. But if we use our lives for the benefit of others, if we forget about health and time and wealth and comfort in our desire to do something for Jesus and for the other people for whom Christ died, we are gaining the life all the time.
What would have happened to the world if doctors and scientists and inventors had not been willing to do risky experiments many times over for their own lives? What would have happened if everyone had wanted nothing more than to stay comfortably at home, and there had been no explorers and no pioneers? What would happen if all mothers refused to take the risk of bringing a child into the world? What would happen if all men used everything they have in themselves and for themselves?
The very essence of life is to risk it, to use it, not to save and save it. It is true that this is the path of fatigue, of exhaustion, of giving oneself to the last – but it is always better to burn out than to rust, because that is the path that leads to happiness and to God.
Source: New Testament Commentary
win the whole world: The idea here is to get all the riches in the world. The translation of TLA seems correct to us: “Earn everything you want in the world.”
If you lose your soul: This translation understands that here psujē it means “soul” and not physical life. We agree. However, in order not to fall into the error of assigning Jesus a Greek understanding of the individual (Jesus was an Israelite, and his anthropology was too), we would have to translate: “If he loses himself” (BL), thus denoting the transcendent, spiritual aspect of human life.
Source: Commentary for Exegesis and Translation
CROSS-REFERENCES
l 397 Mat 16:26; Luke 9:25
Source: New World Translation
his soul… Or his life.
Source: Textual Bible IV Edition
EITHER his life.