Jesus on Profit

"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done'" (Matthew 16:24-27).

1. Jesus assumes that his followers are looking for profitable things.
2. Jesus teaches that no profit comes to those who do not have life.
3. Jesus teaches that life is so precious (or, expensive) that there is nothing a man can give in exchange for it, or to buy it back once it is lost.
4. Jesus assumes it is possible to gain all things and yet lose your life.
4. Jesus teaches that he has the authority to "repay" life to each person when he returns.

So, if I, being a man interested in profit, do not have the authority or the riches to gain life, the prerequisite for profit, how can I be one that Jesus gives life to? Here is the paradoxical answer - if I lose my life for Jesus' sake, I will find it. If I deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus, I will find such profit that in the end I will find that it was little denial for infinite and everlasting gain. And if I cling to my life, seeking to gain the world and soak up pleasure and ignore the way of Jesus, I will lose my life in the end. And that would bring eternal loss, not profit.