What do these Bible verses mean to you?

[Trailblazer]

This is mostly directed at Christians but anyone can answer.

How do you interpret the verses below?
What do you believe Jesus is saying?

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I have my own personal reasons for asking but I do not want to reveal those yet.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

This is mostly directed at Christians but anyone can answer.

How do you interpret the verses below?
What do you believe Jesus is saying?

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I have my own personal reasons for asking but I do not want to reveal those yet.

I can't read KJV

John 12:24-26
…23But Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.…

If you love your earthly life (the life of the flesh) you cannot simultaneously live for eternal life.

Matthew 16:24-26

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.…

Satan is the "god of the earth" and blocks people from eternal life. So, if one I guess stands up to satan pushing their earthly life aside (denies himself) and follows the cross (the medium to salvation), that person will live eternal life. However, if you want to save your earthly life, you will loose eternal life.

It's talking about one loving their earthly self at the expense of eternal life. Satan is blocking them from their goal but if one wants to reach it, they have to deny their earthly life and follow the cross by crucifying their sin to live eternally with christ's father.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

It's saying you can't live for eternity if you're stuck with the life of the flesh. Since flesh/sin can't be one with eternal life/divinity, one must choose one or the other. Jesus emphasized to choose eternal life/divinity but to do so, you must leave your flesh as christ did and be "crucified" in him. Galations 2:20. I don't know why I remember that. I saw it coming from work when a homeless man had it on his sign. I guess it stuck.

 

[epronovost]

Basically, cast aside your humanity and what life and nature offers you; do as I do and do as I say and you will get a second immortal life in a heavenly realm after you die. Refuse and you will not have this massive reward.

Or in "evil atheist lingua": "Worship and give me your life and I'll pay you back once you're dead.".

 

[Trailblazer]

Basically, cast aside your humanity and what life and nature offers you; do as I do and do as I say and you will get a second immortal life in a heavenly realm after you die. Refuse and you will not have this massive reward.

Or in "evil atheist lingua": "Worship and give me your life and I'll pay you back once you're dead.".

Yes, that is the gist of it as I see it.
He was saying to cast aside the physical for the spiritual.

There is certainly a lot at stake if Jesus was right.
Imo, nobody in their right mind would exchange their soul for the petty things of this world, especially if they knew what they were bartering away.

 

[sun rise]

This is mostly directed at Christians but anyone can answer.

How do you interpret the verses below?
What do you believe Jesus is saying?

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I have my own personal reasons for asking but I do not want to reveal those yet.

To me he's underlining the Greatest Commandments. To truly love, you must give not take. We see people all the time who sacrifice their own well-being for others in many different ways. Those people are living the commandments and getting closer to God.

So to me "lose his life" is a dramatic way of saying "deny his own wants and desires for other's sake".

And those who are selfishly trying to "gain the whole world" are moving farther and farther away from the Divine.

 

[Deeje]

This is mostly directed at Christians but anyone can answer.

How do you interpret the verses below?
What do you believe Jesus is saying?

John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

I also have problems with the archaic English of the KJV so will quote the NASB...
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

This is an apt illustration, showing the necessity for Christ's sacrificial death. A grain of wheat cannot be fruitful in providing more grains unless it is put in the ground and dies as a seed. Once it sprouts, the seed is no more, but the potential for many new grains will come from the death of that one seed.
If Christ or his followers loved their lives more than they loved their God, they would end up accomplishing nothing good for themselves or for others. But even if it meant death, they would not love their life more than their faith. They would willingly lay down that life in imitation of their Master rather than to surrender to the very human fear of death. Honoring the son brings honor from the Father.

As Paul said: “For to this end Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.” (Isaiah 9:6; Romans 14:9) Those who have died are not forgotten nor has their courage and integrity in defense of their faith, been in vain.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Jesus knew that others would be invited to pursue a similar course of disowning themselves, picking up their instrument of torture, (facing life-threatening persecution) and following him no matter what. This is confirmed by what Jesus said earlier, just before his transfiguration, and recorded in almost identical wording by each of the other Gospel writers. (As above)

 

[1213]

...John 12:24-26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

I think that means what it says. And wheat part is also like metaphor of Jesus. Because Jesus died, he had opportunity to be raised from the death, which then gave courage for his disciples to continues and go to preach the saving message to many nations. In that ways Jesus was like s seed that falls and dies and then produces new life.

Matthew 16:24-26 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I think this also is direct words that I don’t think needs any added meanings.

 

[Ancient Soul]

This forum thread proves the point I keep making that all these so-called books from "god" are just man made bombastic gobbledygook meant to bedazzle people into thinking there's something clever "spiritual" meaning to it, when it just leaves everyone scratching their heads and try making it mean something that it doesn't mean.

God has ALWAYS given me answers to all my spiritual questions in a clear, concise, and all encompassing manner. As God wants me to completely understand everything in full context. So I will never believe that any of these bombastic gobbledygook religious dogmas/scriptures/mythologies came from any "god". After all, what 'god" would give everyone a garbled message that makes no sense and leaves everyone coming up with different interpretations as to what they think it means? The answer is that no "god" would, only spiritually clueless MAN would write such bombastic gobbledygook.