Digging Deeper Days...are a pretty big deal at GT!
We search God's Word together, ask questions as we read, dig around to find the original intentions at the time of writing, and then make some applications to our everyday lives.
Along the way, we hope you'll pick up some new tools to study Scripture and you'll see truth in a new and accessible way!
Dig In!
The Passage
Matthew 16:24-26 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
The Questions
1) In what ways are we called to “deny ourselves”?
2) How do we “lose” our lives because of Jesus?
3) What point is Jesus making with His questions in verse 26?
The Findings for Intention
1) In what ways are we called to “deny ourselves”?
To be a disciple in Jesus’ day, was to be an apprentice. Young Jewish boys, whose fathers wanted them to become religious leaders, would spend their days following specific rabbis, copying what they did and learning from them. Over time, their entire identities would become shaped by the teachings and lifestyles of these rabbinic leaders. They had to be willing to give up everything about themselves in order to be molded and shaped in this apprenticing relationship. With Jesus, the disciples did not come to Him, rather He chose them. And in His choosing, He chose fishermen and tax collectors, those least likely to become religious leaders. He was turning the world upside down. The then-current idea of apprenticeship would take on a deeper meaning as Jesus drew His disciples out of their current lives to give them all new ones, lives they didn’t even know they wanted. He was inviting them to drop their old life for an entirely new one that required full commitment.
2) How do we “lose” our lives because of Jesus?
James and John and other disciples were fishermen by trade before Jesus called them. They owned the family business with their father and likely would be handed down the business when their father passed. They had dreams. Lives. Goals. Matthew (or Levi) was a tax collector. He had education, wealth, a reputation, and was seemingly doing quite well with his course in life. But Jesus’ invitation to become His disciple came, and everything changed as their lives were turned upside down. James and John immediately left their nets, the huge cash flow of fish they had just caught, their father, and the business they were to inherit. Matthew also immediately left his money changing tables, his profitable business, and his reputation to follow Jesus. These men were “losing their lives” for Christ. They were giving up their ideas for how their lives should go as they surrendered their plans to Jesus.
3) What point is Jesus making with His questions in verse 26?”
We only have one and if we do not care for it, no one else will, no one else even has the ability to do so. We are the stewards of our souls. The essence inside of us, that makes us…”us”. Our will, emotions, hopes, dreams, fears, all of it is wrapped up in our soul. To lose the soul is to lose everything, it is to lose “life” as the word is translated in the passage above. All would be meaningless without a soul, so it would seem of utmost importance to both care for the soul now on earth and for eternity. Jesus’ words imply that our souls can indeed be in danger of being lost. “For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life (soul)?” None can buy back their own soul after having lost it, it’s simply gone forever. With this weighty understanding, the supreme importance of following Jesus is brought into perspective. Choosing Jesus isn’t a matter of planning for retirement or whether we like attending church or have an aversion to moral decay, rather the eternal destiny of our souls hangs on the balance of what we do with our lives. Will we lose them for Christ or hold onto them for ourselves, finding in the end that we really couldn’t grasp them anyways?
The Everyday Application
1) In what ways are we called to “deny ourselves”?
Jesus’ offer for discipleship extends far beyond the first century to our own. He is still choosing disciples; He has extended His offer for new life to each one of us! But there is a cost we must consider. Luke recounts Jesus teaching, “whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27). This “cross” signifies the crucifixion of one’s self, our desires and the way of life that was common to us before coming to Christ. When Jesus, the great Rabbi, or disciple-maker, extends His invitation, He brings newness of life that will overrun the former way of living. The old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) If you’re a disciple of Jesus, what “old ways” of thinking and living are you still holding onto? Where are you clinging to the safety of familiarity rather than surrendering your ways to the Master? The cost seems great indeed, but the reward is infinitely greater than the sacrifice! For Gomer, in yesterday’s Journey Study, “denying herself” would have meant exchanging the empty identities she carried for the love and acceptance she was being offered in Hosea.
2) How do we “lose” our lives because of Jesus?
Luke’s gospel tells of Jesus inviting some to follow Him, but they replied with excuses. Family matters, other relationships, other priorities, these were their excuses and Jesus responded by warning them that unless they were “all in” for becoming a disciple of Jesus, then they had no place in His kingdom. Following Jesus will cost us our lives, but He gives His own in exchange. You will never find a genuine Christ-follower who, after choosing to “lose their life” for Jesus is met with regret. The fullness that Jesus brings satisfies every desire we have in ways that we never dreamed possible the more that we choose to surrender to Him. Whatever your passions, your dreams, your talents, your job, or your social status, Christ is inviting you to lose your life and find full satisfaction in what He will bring! Does it mean all will become pastors and teachers? Not at all, but it does mean He will shift your focus to amplify His glory and as He brings you good. Losing your life for Christ results in truly finding it!
3) What point is Jesus making with His questions in verse 26?
In yesterday’s Journey Study we see that Israel “chose to be her own savior and lost everything.” This is exactly the picture portrayed here in Matthew by Christ’s words and it should motivate us to consider what we are chasing, why we are chasing it, and if the investment of our lives is worth the price of our souls. What we give our lives to, the manner we do it in, and the motivation of our doing, is the proof of who the Master of our souls is. Have we lost our lives for Christ or are we trying to hold onto control while still trying to make our lives appear Christian-like? Only if our lives, our very souls, are turned over to Jesus, allowing Him to bring us real life and guide us with how to steward our lives, will the things we do in this life even matter.
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I Can Do That!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!
The Community!
Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into
Bride Week One!
Don’t miss out on the discussion.
We’d love to hear your thoughts!
The Tools!
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources. Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
The Why!
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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Looking for other journeys from this theme?
See all past studies in Bride!