Luke 17:33

17:33 Whoever tries to keep ¹  his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life ²  will preserve it.

Luke 9:24

9:24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, ³  but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Luke 20:16

20:16 He will come and destroy ⁴  those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” ⁵  When the people ⁶  heard this, they said, “May this never happen!” ⁷ 

[17:33]  ¹ tn Or “tries to preserve”; Grk “seeks to gain.”

[17:33]  ² sn Whoever loses his life. Suffering and persecution caused by the world, even to death, cannot stop God from saving (Luke 12:4-6).

[9:24]  ³ 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.

[20:16]  ⁵ sn The statement that the owner will come and destroy those tenants is a promise of judgment; see Luke 13:34-35; 19:41-44.

[20:16]  ⁶ sn The warning that the owner would give the vineyard to others suggests that the care of the promise and the nation’s hope would be passed to others. This eventually looks to Gentile inclusion; see Eph 2:11-22.

[20:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people addressed in v. 9) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:16]  ⁸ sn May this never happen! Jesus’ audience got the point and did not want to consider a story where the nation would suffer judgment.