It is recorded in the Gospel of Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Presuming Jesus really spoke these words what do you think Jesus meant and why?
Jesus is like a "Doctor Who." I can't claim that The Doctor is patterned after him, but there are strong resemblances between The Doctor and
Mark's treatment of Jesus.
Mark begins with Jesus getting baptized by his own disciple, John, and suddenly Jesus is declared by heaven to be The Son or is adopted or is confirmed as the Son. It is supposed to be ironic. How can the lesser baptize the greater? How could Jesus allow John to baptize him? How can heaven approve of this? To Christians this is a symbol for becoming greater in terms of peace and power than the Jewish nation. Its a challenge, and it claims that the student can become greater than the teacher. As we ask
who Jesus is we also ask
who we are, because we are supposed to emulate Jesus.
Mark is saying yes you can be even greater if you try. Its a recurring theme in Christian texts, and for this reason Paul feels he must say "Don't boast against the original branches" when he is discussing why the Jews reject Jesus. Paul makes the point that Christians aren't the original stock and can be cut off, removed, gone; and the original plant will survive without us, making its own new branches. I mention this because its hard to simulate the original fervor of Christianity and to put ourselves there in that time where we are the underdogs, the unproven unknown, unaccomplished strangers. We are challenged to be better than the Jewish nation yet grafted to it, reliant, somewhat like seedless grapes which are possible through grafting one species of grape onto the stock of another. In this situation the Christian is faced with the question of "If I'm not Jewish then
who am I?"
Mark continually asks
who Jesus is and through this is also telling the Christian to think about
who they should be.
This phrase 'My Son' from chapter 1 turns into 'Son of Man' in chapter 8, alluding to the book
Daniel. The Christian ought to be both of these, ought to become them; but what are they? What are these things? Now we are asking
who is The Son, and
who is the Son of Man? People in
Mark continually ask the question "
Who is he?" Jesus is our example, so we should be asking
who is Jesus.
Mark gets us asking this right from the start and all throughout. Beware of the chapter endings, because the chapters are not in the original work. It is originally a book with only one chapter. In chapter 6 people say "Isn't this just the son of Mary and Joseph from down the street?" The Christian should be seeing themselves in Jesus when they read this. They should ask "Am I not just some regular person, and how can I outdo the righteousness of a Pharisee? Can I be chosen by heaven?" Its supposed to be read humbly. Over and over
Mark asks who Jesus is and gives hints. In chapter 8 (as we draw closer to the OP question) Jesus asks his disciples "
Who do you say that I am?" Then at the beginning of chapter nine comes his
transfiguration where he glows and stands with Moses and Elijah. He glows brightly, symbolizing several things. Its light which explores creation, which judges good from evil, which is wisdom, which drives away the dark. He becomes a source of light. The Christian is to be like that.
The most mysterious passage of all: Mark 8:31 says that Jesus teaches them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, by the chief priests, by the scribes, be killed, be dead for three days and rise again. No one has ever been, in my lifetime, been able to explain why three days. I continually return to this and wonder why it must be three. So far I have some clues, some ideas; no solid answers. I relate it to the three days required in the law for sacrifices to be consumed or destroyed, but there is not a solid connection there. If nobody can explain why three days, then why should I believe that they can explain why he must be rejected? Similarly if I can't explain it, then I should be humble and not claim to know why the elders have rejected Jesus. Should I accuse them? Should I blame them? I don't understand for myself, and there are many other reasons I have not mentioned why we mustn't boast against the original roots. You can't explain why Jesus must be dead for three days, and neither can I. Feel free to make a guess.
In this context lets treat the question of the OP, and no doubt you have your own ideas if you've already waded through the above.
What does it profit a man to gain the entire world but lose his own life in the process? Why should I do anything for the world's sake? The question reminds me of something -- Jesus temptation in the wilderness where he is tempted by this exactly. He can have all the kingdoms of the world, make any laws, help anyone. All he has to do is bow to someone, someone who is named 'Enemy'. Through Jesus conversation with Peter I infer that the enemy opposes Jesus death. The enemy in Peter argues "No Jesus you must not die," causing Jesus to rebuke Peter "Get behind me, Satan!" It also reminds me of the temptations you and I face. We want to preserve ourselves, but Jesus says "Deny yourself." We don't don't want to do that. Enemy within us doesn't want that.
As
Mark asks
who Jesus is, I the reader must also
who I am since Jesus it whom I am to imitate. Am I Satan - someone opposing God's will? Am I trying to preserve my life against the will of God, and why is it God's will that I should die?