Matthew 5:11

5:11 “Blessed are you when people ¹  insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ²  on account of me.

Matthew 10:39

10:39 Whoever finds his life ³  will lose it, ⁴  and whoever loses his life because of me ⁵  will find it.

Matthew 16:25

16:25 For whoever wants to save his life ⁶  will lose it, ⁷  but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

[5:11]  ¹ tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.

[5:11]  ² tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sy^s Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.

[10:39]  ³ tn Grk “his soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[10:39]  ⁴ sn If there is no willingness to suffer the world’s rejection at this point, then one will not respond to Jesus (which is trying to find life) and then will be subject to this judgment (which is losing it).

[10:39]  ⁵ tn Or “for my sake.” The traditional rendering “for my sake” can be understood in the sense of “for my benefit,” but the Greek term ἕνεκα indicates the cause or reason for something (BDAG 334 s.v. 1).

[16:25]  ⁵ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 25-26).

[16:25]  ⁶ 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.