Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit.
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He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
Jesus has just spoken of the grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies. Now He makes that a rule for anyone who follows Him — and the words sound harsh, until you see which "life" He means.
Everything turns on one word. In the first half of the verse, "life" is not the word used for eternal life at the end:
The word translated "life" here is the word usually translated "soul." It refers to that "soul life" which marks man in his natural fallen condition. The soul is not the spirit. The spirit is the higher part of man, able to put him in intelligent touch with God. The soul is the seat of our natural desires and longings. And "soul life" is that life of enjoyment of all the things that naturally appeal to us.
Why does holding on lose it? The break runs deeper than the shortness of life — and it is the same break that made Christ's death necessary.
There was no link between the natural life of man and God. If in the man Christ Jesus there was a life in entire harmony with God, He must lay it down because of this condition of man. Being of God, He could not remain in connection with man. Man would not have it… But if anyone loved his life of this world, he lost it, for it was not in connection with God. If anyone by grace hated it, he would have it in the new and eternal state. To hate it is to separate yourself in heart from this principle of alienation from God, and to give your life to Him.
"Hate" is strong on purpose. It sets a test, and Christ and the Jewish leaders answered it in opposite ways.
Christ was perfectly willing to give up His life in this world in view of infinitely greater blessing. The Jewish leaders were not: they loved their own lives, but would only lose them. Here is a test of the reality of faith. The expression "hates his life" is intended to be strong, in contrast to loving one's life. It is a question of which life is of vital importance.
Hatred of this kind is not achieved by grim effort. It comes from something else becoming more attractive, as it did for Paul when he listed his advantages and wrote them off.
He who turns his back on the soul-life of this world is going to keep life to life eternal. He turns his back on it because he is identified with the rejected Christ and His death. Here the word for "life" changes, for "life eternal" is a far higher thing. Philippians 3 illustrates what this means. There Paul lists all his natural advantages and then shows how he counted them loss for Christ. Christ became so infinitely attractive to him that he hated all else in comparison with Him.
The keeping points forward to eternal life. But the gain starts now, not only later.
The Lord contrasts the two spheres of life: the "life in this world" and the life of joy and blessing which is called "eternal life"… To love the life here is to cling to a life that we must lose. We even lose it while chasing it. To hate the life in this world, in view of eternal life, is to enter into the enjoyment of eternal life even now.
Jesus said this more often than anything else on record.
If we love it, we shall only lose it. Seeing it in its true light, we learn to hate it, and by that we keep life — the only life worth having — to life eternal. This is a hard saying for us, but extremely important. We can see this, because Jesus spoke words of similar meaning on three other occasions. The four Gospels record these four sayings six times. No other saying of our Lord is repeated for us like this.
- Two lives. The life you can lose is the soul-life of natural desires. The life you keep is eternal life — a different word, and a far higher thing.
- Two loves. Loving the first loses it, because that life has no link with God. Hating it means separating from it in heart and giving it to Him.
- Two examples. The leaders loved their lives and lost them. Christ gave His up for far greater blessing. Which one you copy tests whether your faith is real.
- Two timings. What you keep is kept "for eternal life" — full only later, yet enjoyed now by the one who lets go.
- One refrain. Jesus said this on four occasions, and the Gospels record it six times. No other saying of His is repeated like it.
If any one serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there also shall be *my* servant. [And] if any one serve me, him shall the Father honour.
The Lord had just spoken of His own death. His words about serving follow straight on, so the promises here — a place with Him, and honour from the Father — belong to a path that runs through death.
The writers quote an older wording: "let him follow me" where the ESV has "he must follow me." The Lord defines service by a person, not a list of tasks:
"If anyone serves me," says the Lord, "let him follow me." Notice, He does not say, "let him do this for me, or do that," but "let him follow me." The most pleasing service we can give the Lord is to wait on Him quietly so that we may know His will, and to follow Him faithfully, listening to the voice of His word. Some He may lead into more public paths of service, others into more private ones. But our most acceptable service is to follow His word closely, while looking by faith to Himself.
The path itself tests the servant, not just the work:
We find everything in "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me." This marks out the path and supplies the power by which alone any of us can take it. The path is His own path. The power to make it ours lies in the hold that that twice-repeated "Me" has gained in our hearts. We shall see, too, that the path is the test — not of the service only, but of the servant. These are words that may arrest us in this day of general activity. A day of solemn examination is coming. Then the question will not be how much has passed for service, but what kind it was.
Following Him has a set direction, and it is not upward in this world:
The Lord adds a most important principle of conduct to what He has just said: "If anyone serves me, let him follow me." We must follow Him through death — in principle, death to sin and to the world. But the consequence of such a path is simple: where the Saviour is, there shall His servant be. Such a person follows Him through death into the heavenly glory where He has entered.
This has an edge for anyone who measures life by success:
Let us not profess to enjoy the benefits which His cross secures, while we refuse the rejection which that cross involves. We may be sure that the road to the kingdom is not lit by the sunshine of this world's favour, nor strewn with the roses of its prosperity. If a Christian is advancing in the world, he has much reason to suspect that he is not walking in company with Christ. … The company of Christ lets me into heaven and casts me out of earth. To claim the first while I know nothing of the second proves there is something wrong.
The Lord encourages hearts that flinch from such a road:
By nature we shrink from death. The Lord knows this as we could never know it, and in His tender grace He has supplied the power and the encouragement to walk this path of life. … First He holds Himself before our hearts as the One who has passed through death into His present place of exaltation and glory. And He invites us to follow Him. And to bring us under all the attractions of His grace and love, He pledges His sure and faithful word that where He is, there shall also His servant be.
The last clause brings in the Father:
"If anyone serves me, him will my Father honour." If anyone serves Christ, he comes under the special eye and notice of the Father; when He sees anyone following Christ, the preciousness of that Son of His love casts its light upon them.
Weigh these promises against what a follower gives up:
The servant with his Master! What honour! "Him will the Father honour." Put reputation among men, wealth, honours and rank on earth all in one scale. Put the promises made here in the other. This second scale will far outweigh the first. Honours and ruling power here may seem valuable, and worth grasping at. Yet all of that must fade away in time. But to be with Christ on high, and to be honoured by the Father — these favours last for ever, and can never pass away.
- Follow, not perform. The Lord does not say, do this or that for Me. He says, follow Me. The service He accepts is waiting on His will and keeping to His word.
- The servant is tested. The path tests the servant, not just the service. On the day of examination, the question is the kind of service, not the amount.
- The path is death. Following Him means death to sin and to the world. Enjoying what His cross secures while refusing the rejection it brings shows something is wrong.
- The place is with Him. He passed through death into glory, and He pledges that where He is, His servant will be.
- The honour is the Father's. The one who follows Christ comes under the Father's eye, lit by the preciousness of His Son. That honour is everlasting, while earthly honours fade.