Mateus 16
William MacDonald · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 16
William MacDonald - The natural tendency is to save our lives by selfish, complacent, routine, petty existences. We may indulge our pleasures and appetites by basking in comfort, luxury, and ease, by living for the present, by trading our finest talents to the world in exchange for a few years of mock security. But in the very act, we lose our lives, that is, we miss the true purpose of life and the profound spiritual pleasure that should go with it! On the other hand, we may lose our lives for the Savior's sake. Men think us mad if we fling our own selfish ambitions to the wind, if we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, if we yield ourselves unreservedly to Him. But this life of abandonment is genuine living. It has a joy, a holy carefreeness, and a deep inward satisfaction that defies description. (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) Stephen Olford - Anyone who hoards life selfishly will lose it. Life is like sand: the harder one tries to grasp it, the faster it flows through one’s fingers. There must be selfless sacrifice. Hiebert - A man may decide “to save his life,” to preserve his personal interests by keeping aloof from Christ and His self-sacrificing demands. The sure result will be that he will “lose his life,” more literally, “destroy” it. His self-preserving action will result in the destruction of his higher welfare.
Mateus 16
William MacDonald - As the Savior talked with the twelve, He realized that the desire for material riches might be a powerful deterrent against full surrender. And so He said, in effect, "Suppose you could stockpile all the gold and silver in the whole world, could own all the real estate and property, all the stocks and bonds—everything of material value—and suppose that in your frantic effort to acquire all this you missed the true purpose of life, what good would it do you? You would have it for only a short while; then you would leave it forever. It would be an insane bargain to sell that one, short life for a few toys of dust." (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? There may be short term, temporal "profit," but long term, eternal loss! A financial adviser would call this a very bad "investment!" Utley on "IF" - This IF is a THIRD CLASS CONDITIONAL SENTENCE which meant probable future action. Some do gain worldly things but forfeit spiritual, eternal things. Profit (5623)(opheleo from ophéllo = heap up or from ophelos = increase, profit) means to provide assistance, with emphasis upon the resulting benefit. It is used usually with the sense of gain, profit in both a material and non-material sense. Gains (wins) (2770)(kerdaino from kerdos = gain) means literally to procure an advantage or profit, to acquire by effort or investment (as in the parable of the talents Mt 25:16,17, 20, 22; James 4:13 = "make a profit"). The synoptic Gospels use kerdaino to emphasize the tragic state of a man who "gains" the whole world (Mt 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25), this use speaking literally of money, possessions, investments, etc, but also figuratively of the position, power, acclaim, etc ("boastful pride of life" 1 Jn 2:16). The Spirit must consider this truth of great importance, to reiterate it in all three Gospels! Note also that world in each of these three passages is kosmos. World (2889)(kosmos) refers to the world system of evil of which Satan is the head, all unsaved people his servants, together with the pursuits, pleasure, purposes, people, and places where God is not wanted. Kosmos defines the world not as a neutral influence but as an "evil force", the inveterate, incorrigible, intractable, intransigent, irrevocable enemy of God and of every believer. This begs the question "Why would any believer ever desire to befriend or be friends with such a 'ferocious' foe?" Bishop Trench summarizes the definition of the kosmos, the anti-God world system as "All that floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations, at any time current in the world, which it may be impossible to seize and accurately define, but which constitutes a most real and effective power, being the moral, or immoral atmosphere which at every moment of our lives we inhale, again inevitably to exhale." Forfeits (2210)(zemioo from zemia) means to affect with damage or to do damage to, to suffer injury, to suffer loss, to sustain damage, to forfeit or to fine. It means to experience the loss of something, with implication of undergoing hardship or suffering. Zemioo was a business term meaning to "punish by exacting a forfeit" (Vincent). A T
Mateus 16
William MacDonald has a good exhortation - The only way to have a successful life is to project oneself forward to that glorious time, decide what will really be important then, and then go after that with all one’s strength. (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) and WILL THEN REPAY (apodidomi) EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS (praxis) - In simple terms Jesus is declaring that there will be a day of judgment for every one, no exceptions. John 5:22 says "not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son." Jesus went on in John to describe a division of His judgment declaring "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment." (Jn 5:28-29) Paul adds "So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God." (Ro 14:12+). Deeds (see praxis below) refers to the action, practice, course of life as in Col. 3:9+ "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices (praxis)."
Mateus 16
William MacDonald - The problem, of course, is that those disciples have all died, yet Christ has not come in power and glory to set up His kingdom. The problem is solved if we disregard the chapter break and consider the first eight verses of the next chapter as an explanation of His enigmatic statement. These verses describe the incident on the Mount of Transfiguration. There Peter, James, and John saw Christ transfigured. They were actually privileged to have a preview of Christ in the glory of His kingdom. We are justified in viewing Christ’s transfiguration as a prepicture of His coming kingdom. Peter describes the event as “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:16). The power and coming of the Lord Jesus refer to His Second Advent. And John speaks of the Mount experience as the time when “… we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). Christ’s First Coming was in humiliation; it is His Second Coming that will be in glory. Thus, the prediction of verse 28 was fulfilled on the Mount; Peter, James, and John saw the Son of Man, no longer as the humble Nazarene, but as the glorified King. (Borrow Believer's Bible Commentary) Henry