Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 16:26-28

"For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? or what shall a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds. Verily I say unto you, there are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." — Matthew 16:26-28 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Because He had said, Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will save it, He contrasted saving with losing. To prevent anyone from concluding that the “losing” on one side and the “saving” on the other were equal, He added, What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul? This is as if He had said, “Do not say that he who escapes the dangers that threaten him for Christ’s sake saves his soul—that is, his temporal life. Instead, add the whole world to his temporal life, and what profit will any of these things be to a man if his soul perishes forever?”

Suppose you were to see all your servants in joy while you yourself were placed in the greatest of evils; what profit would you gain from being their master? Consider this in your own soul when, through indulgence of the flesh, that soul seeks its own destruction.

Origen of Alexandria: I also suppose that the one who gains the world is he who does not deny himself or lose his life to carnal pleasures, and from this suffers the loss of his soul. With these two options set before us, we must choose to lose the world and gain our souls.

St. John Chrysostom: But even if you were to reign over the whole world, you would not be able to buy your soul, from which it follows, Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This is as if to say, if you lose your possessions, you can give other possessions to recover them; but if you lose your soul, you can give neither another soul nor anything else as a ransom for it. And what wonder is it that this happens to the soul, when we see the same thing happen to the body? For if you were to surround a body afflicted with an incurable disease with ten thousand crowns, they would not heal it.

Origen of Alexandria: Indeed, at first sight, one might suppose the ransom for the soul could be a person's own wealth—that by giving his possessions to the poor, he could save his soul. But I believe that a man has nothing he can give as a ransom for his soul to deliver it from death. God Himself gave the ransom for the souls of men: namely, the precious blood of His Son.

St. Gregory the Great: Or, the connection may be understood this way: The Holy Church has a period of persecution and a period of peace, and our Redeemer accordingly distinguishes between these periods in His commands. In a time of persecution, our lives are to be laid down; but in a time of peace, those earthly lusts that might gain too much power over us are to be broken. This is why He says, What does it profit a man? ¹

St. Jerome: Having thus called upon His disciples to deny themselves and take up their cross, the hearers were filled with great terror. Therefore, this severe news is followed by more joyful news: For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels. Do you fear death? Hear of the glory of the triumph. Do you dread the cross? Hear of the attendance of the Angels.

Origen of Alexandria: This is as if to say: The Son of Man has now come, but not in glory, for He was not to be ordained in His glory to bear our sins. But He will come in His glory then, after He has first prepared His disciples by being made as they are, so that He might make them as He is Himself, in the likeness of His glory.

St. John Chrysostom: He did not say “in a glory like the Father’s,” so that you would not suppose a difference in glory. Instead, He says, the glory of the Father, to show that it is the very same glory. If the glory is one, it is clear that the substance is one. What then do you fear, Peter, when you hear of death? For then you will see Me in glory. But if I am in glory, so also will you be. But in making mention of His glory, He mixes in terrible things by bringing forward the judgment, as it follows: And then he will repay each person according to his works.

St. Jerome: For there is no difference between Jew or Gentile, man or woman, poor or rich, where people are not accepted based on who they are, but on what they have done.

St. John Chrysostom: He said this to remind them not only of the punishment for sinners but also of the prizes and crowns for the righteous.

St. Jerome: But a secret thought might have caused the Apostles to stumble in this way: “The killings and deaths you speak of are for now, but the promise of your coming in glory is postponed to a distant time.” Therefore, He who knows secret things, seeing that they might raise this objection, counters a present fear with a present reward, saying, Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

St. John Chrysostom: Wanting to show the glory in which He will come in the future, He revealed it to them in this present life—as far as they were able to receive it—so that they would not be sorrowful over their Lord's death. ²

Remigius of Auxerre: What was said here, therefore, was fulfilled in the three disciples to whom the Lord, when transfigured on the mountain, showed the joys of the eternal inheritance. These saw Him coming in His kingdom; that is, shining in His brilliant radiance, in which He will be seen by all the saints after the judgment has passed. ³

St. John Chrysostom: Therefore, He does not reveal the names of those who would ascend the mountain, because the others would have been very eager to accompany them where they could look upon the model of His glory, and would have been grieved as if they had been overlooked.

St. Gregory the Great: Or, the kingdom of God can be understood as the present Church. And because some of His disciples were to live long enough in the body to see the Church of God built up and raised against the glory of this world, this comforting promise is given to them: There are some standing here.

Origen of Alexandria: Morally, to those who are new to the faith, the Word of God has the form of a servant. But to those who are perfect, He comes in the glory of the Father. His angels are the words of the Prophets, which cannot be comprehended spiritually until the word of Christ has first been comprehended spiritually. Then the words of the prophets will be seen in the same majesty as His.

Then He will give of His own glory to every person according to his deeds. For the better each person is in his deeds, the more spiritually he understands Christ and His Prophets. Those who stand where Jesus stands are those who have the foundations of their souls resting on Jesus. Of these, those who stand firmest are said not to taste death until they see the Word of God.

The Word comes in His kingdom when they see that excellence of God, which they cannot see while they are involved in various sins. To be involved in sin is to taste death, for the soul that sins, dies. For just as He who came down from heaven is life and the living bread, so His enemy, death, is the bread of death. Some eat only a little of these breads, just tasting them, while others eat more abundantly. Those who do not sin often or greatly only taste death. Those who have partaken more perfectly of spiritual virtue do not just taste it but feed forever on the living bread.

That He says, until they see, does not fix a time at which something will be done that had not been done before. Instead, it mentions only what is necessary, for he who once sees Him in His glory will by no means taste death after that.

Rabanus Maurus: He is speaking of the saints as “tasting death,” by whom the death of the body is experienced as if it were just a sip, while the life of the soul is held securely in their possession. ⁴

1. Hom. in Ev., xxxii, 4
2. Hom. lvi
3. see Bed. in Luc. 9, 27
4. e Bed. in Luc., 9