What will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mark 8:11-38   From the daily reading in the One Year Bible (link available on links page)

¹¹ The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him. ¹² Sighing deeply in His spirit, He *said, “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side... 

²² And they *came to Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *implored Him to touch him. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

²⁷ Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

³¹ And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Signs and wonders, miraculous healings and deliverences were happening everywhere Jesus went. Yet the text says that the Pharisees argued with Him,  seeking from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him.  All they needed to do was watch and believe, but that wasn't their goal. Their goal was to test Jesus, to try to disprove not to believe who Jesus really was. Many people today do the same thing, they lay out their own specific guidelines for how God should prove Himself to them. Saying things like if God is really God then He wouldn't allow this or that. They are like the Pharisees, not willing to look at all the good that God does, not willing to believe that Jesus, God's Son, came to live as a man without sin and  die on the cross to redeem all sin. Rather, they want God to do things their way. To prove Himself according to their criteria. Jesus says:  “Why does this generation seek for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.”

In Exodus 20 God says:  ² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ³ “You shall have no other gods before Me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God

When we try to make God fit into the mold or image we have of what He should be or do, we are essentially creating another god. Even though we might not make an idol of wood, metal or stone, when we try to change the character of God to line up with our standards we are creating a false likeness of God.  Jesus who was the human embodiment of God on earth, said when He was tempted by the devil,

⁹ And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: ¹⁰ For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: ¹¹ And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. ¹² And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

God doesn't need to prove Himself to anyone. Paul says it well in Romans 1:18-23

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

The evidence is in. God is God! He gives man free will and the right to decide what they want to do with the evidence.

As we rturn to the text, we see Jesus continuing to persue this idea with the disciples. In verses 27-30 Jesus asks the disciples who the people are saying that Jesus is. They give Him a variety of opinions that people have. Then Jesus asks:  “But who do you say that I am?” Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.”  In Matthews account of this he elaborates a bit more.  Matthew 16:16-19    ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” 

Peter looked at all the evidence, not taking into consideration the opinions of man, but receiving a revelation from the Father. Jesus blessed Peter and declared the authority that His church would have based on the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Lord of lords and the King of kings.  Look what happens next though when Jesus tells the disciples of His coming death. 

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter didn't like the plan Jesus was describing. He thought he had a better way. After all if Jesus really was the Christ, why...?   How quickly we can turn from the revelation of the Father by the Holy Spirit, to setting our minds on the interests of man rather than God. Jesus says:  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

It's a fair question and one that needs to be answered by every individual. What will a man give in exchange for his soul? There is nothing we can gain here on earth that can compare to what we have in Christ. We need to decide what to do with the evidence. Will we seek first the kingdom of God? Will we set our minds on the interests of God rather than man? It begins with denying self, taking up our cross, following Jesus. Here's the good news. Jesus is no longer on the cross and he is no longer dead in a grave. He is risen! We are to follow Him. Not just to the cross and death of self, but also to the resurrection and the new life, the abundant life we have in Him. Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies... (John 11:25) Jesus was speaking about Lazarus who had died and was in a tomb. But He wasn't speaking about rising to eternity in heaven. Jesus says:

 “Lazarus, come forth.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

We too are called to both a present and future resurrection life. To Be unbound and let go.  Follow Jesus, to the cross, to the grave and to resurrection life and all that the kingdom of heaven holds.