Matthew 16:25

16:25 For whoever wants to save his life ¹  will lose it, ²  but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mark 10:29-30

10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, ³  there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 10:30 who will not receive in this age ⁴  a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions ⁵  – and in the age to come, eternal life. ⁶ 

Luke 18:29-30

18:29 Then ⁷  Jesus ⁸  said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁹  there is no one who has left home or wife or brothers ¹⁰  or parents or children for the sake of God’s kingdom 18:30 who will not receive many times more ¹¹  in this age ¹²  – and in the age to come, eternal life.” ¹³ 

Luke 18:1

Prayer and the Parable of the Persistent Widow

18:1 Then ¹⁴  Jesus ¹⁵  told them a parable to show them they should always ¹⁶  pray and not lose heart. ¹⁷ 

Colossians 2:9

2:9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives ¹⁸  in bodily form,

¹ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 25-26).

² sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁴ tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.

⁵ tn Grk “with persecutions.” The “all” has been supplied to clarify that the prepositional phrase belongs not just to the “fields.”

⁶ sn Note that Mark (see also Matt 19:29; Luke 10:25, 18:30) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come, unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present (John 5:24).

⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹⁰ tn The term “brothers” could be understood as generic here, referring to either male or female siblings. However, it is noteworthy that in the parallel passages in both Matt 19:29 and Mark 10:29, “sisters” are explicitly mentioned in the Greek text.

¹¹ sn Jesus reassures his disciples with a promise that (1) much benefit in this life (many times more) and (2) eternal life in the age to come will be given.

¹² tn Grk “this time” (καιρός, kairos), but for stylistic reasons this has been translated “this age” here.

¹³ sn Note that Luke (see also Matt 19:29; Mark 10:30; Luke 10:25) portrays eternal life as something one receives in the age to come, unlike John, who emphasizes the possibility of receiving eternal life in the present (John 5:24).

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Or “should pray at all times” (L&N 67.88).

¹⁷ sn This is one of the few parables that comes with an explanation at the start: …they should always pray and not lose heart. It is part of Luke’s goal in encouraging Theophilus (1:4).

¹⁸ sn In him all the fullness of deity lives. The present tense in this verse (“lives”) is significant. Again, as was stated in the note on 1:19, this is not a temporary dwelling, but a permanent one. Paul’s point is polemical against the idea that the fullness of God dwells anywhere else, as the Gnostics believed, except in Christ alone. At the incarnation, the second person of the Trinity assumed humanity, and is forever the God-man.