For what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?
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for what should a man give in exchange for his soul?
In Mark 8, Jesus warns that whoever tries to save his life will lose it, and He calls His followers to suffer for His sake. Then comes this question about worth: what could a person hand over to buy back a soul once it is gone?
Jesus had just called His followers to accept suffering, even death, for His sake.
The Lord then turned to the disciples and to the crowd, and told them that willingness to suffer because of Him must mark those who would follow Him. They must count on being put to death for Christ's sake, and, as Mark adds, "for the gospel's." That way they would save their life and not lose it. The soul is more precious than all the riches and honours of this life. If it is lost, nothing can recover it.
Jesus asks and gives no answer. One writer says none is needed.
The Lord closes here with that appeal to consider the soul's value, which has rung through so many hearts since then… The question needs no answer: the impossibility to answer it is the answer.
Verse 35 says "life." Verses 36 and 37 say "soul." One Greek word, psuche, lies behind both.
First, the word psuche is clearly used for "life," as in Matthew 2:20; Mark 3:4; Luke 9:24; John 12:25, and many other passages… But "life" and "soul" often stand in contrast. Sometimes "life" stands for "the soul" in its higher aspect. The same word is used of what is profited and lost in the same act. So: "Whoever would save his life will lose it" (Matthew 10:39; chapter 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-37). We have then "the soul" used generally for the responsible part, in which we live with God… Matthew 26:38; Mark 8:37.
Notice the kind of words Jesus reaches for here.
Our Lord uses the language of the merchant. He speaks of profit, and loss, and exchange. He is picturing a bargain. For the comfort of the believer, He decides this: a man would make a bad bargain if he took the whole world (supposing he could get it) in exchange for a share in the glory that is to be revealed. Most people take this passage to be settling the question of personal safety. It is not so much about that as about profit and loss.
Verses 36 and 37 describe the man whose whole aim is profit:
But suppose his profits in this world increase so enormously that they give him control of the whole world. What real profit is that, when he loses his own soul chasing it? Could he then give his great wealth in exchange for his soul? No: death leaves him utterly destitute.
Even the wealthiest cannot buy back a soul — not their own, and not anyone else's:
That is a striking word in Psalm 49. It speaks of those who trust in their wealth: "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice." None could touch that matter. How it shows the value of the soul!
No money can buy a soul back. But one place shows what a soul is worth.
What is the worth of your soul? The blessed Son of God gave Himself for my soul. If I want to know the value of the soul, I look at the cross. I look at this holy, sinless, spotless One going down to death to redeem it. That is the value of the human soul.
- Exchange. Jesus uses trading words: profit, loss, exchange. Trading the whole world for your soul is a bad bargain.
- Silence. He asks and gives no answer, because none exists. That impossibility is itself the answer.
- Word. "Soul" here is the same Greek word that verse 35 calls "life" — one word for what a man gains and what he loses in the same act.
- Bankruptcy. Death strips the richest man of everything. Psalm 49 says no one can buy back another's life. No human purse holds the price.
- Cross. The one price ever paid was Christ Himself, and it is at the cross that the true value of a soul becomes visible.