Life entry 8

"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." - Matthew 20:28

There is a common thread in Jesus' teaching on life in the 8 verses in the gospels to this point. You have to give it away to have life.

If your not givin' your not livin'.

Matt. 6:25 - Life is more than food...

Matt. 7:14 - few find life...

Matt 10:39 - he who loses his life will find it...

Matt 16:25 - whoever loses his life will find it...

Matt 18:8-9 - give away desires to have life

Matt 19:16 - give away money to have life

Matt 19:29 - give away family, houses, anything to have life

Matt 20:28 - give away power to have life

In each of these verses you have to give up something to have life.

Jesus led by example and gave His life, to give you life.

Life entry 7

"The first will be last and the last first."
A favorite verse of elementary teachers and losers of games like this guy. >
but was Jesus teaching us to be content losers?
that depends on what you want to win.
You see Jesus just had a conversation with a rich man who decided not to follow Christ but to hold on to his money. Jesus ended that conversation by telling the man that he will not receive eternal life. The money he held as greater value than his soul would be his prize. On judgment day, the rich man is a loser. And suffers the greatest loss possible - eternal death.

Peter was a little uneasy after hearing Jesus inform the morally good man that he would not have Life.
And he asked Jesus," HAVE WE GIVEN ENOUGH?"
Jesus replied by telling Peter that everything you give up for God on earth will be repaid 100 times in eternity.
I do not know if this is a literal teaching that for every $ you lose in the name of Jesus you will receive $100 in eternity. But rather the certainty is that anything you give up on earth, family, money, land, to follow Jesus will be incomparable to what God has prepared to give his faithful servants in eternity.

basically Jesus told them. It's not over til its over.
You are not a loser til the game is over. Then look at the score board.