Luke 9:24

9:24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, ¹  but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

Luke 12:47

12:47 That ²  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ³  will receive a severe beating.

Luke 15:12

15:12 The ⁴  younger of them said to his ⁵  father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate ⁶  that will belong ⁷  to me.’ So ⁸  he divided his ⁹  assets between them. ¹⁰ 

Luke 16:1

The Parable of the Clever Steward

16:1 Jesus ¹¹  also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations ¹²  that his manager ¹³  was wasting ¹⁴  his assets.

Luke 20:26

20:26 Thus ¹⁵  they were unable in the presence of the people to trap ¹⁶  him with his own words. ¹⁷  And stunned ¹⁸  by his answer, they fell silent.

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¹ sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “or do according to his will”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This example deals with the slave who knew what the command was and yet failed to complete it.

⁴ tn Grk “And the.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

⁵ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

⁶ tn L&N 57.19 notes that in nonbiblical contexts in which the word οὐσία (ousia) occurs, it refers to considerable possessions or wealth, thus “estate.”

⁷ tn L&N 57.3, “to belong to or come to belong to, with the possible implication of by right or by inheritance.”

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the father’s response to the younger son’s request.

⁹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

¹⁰ sn He divided his assets between them. There was advice against doing this in the OT Apocrypha (Sir 33:20). The younger son would get half of what the older son received (Deut 21:17).

¹¹ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn These are not formal legal charges, but reports from friends, acquaintances, etc.; Grk “A certain man was rich who had a manager, and this one was reported to him as wasting his property.”

¹³ sn His manager was the steward in charge of managing the house. He could have been a slave trained for the role.

¹⁴ tn Or “squandering.” This verb is graphic; it means to scatter (L&N 57.151).

¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “thus” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ unexpected answer.

¹⁶ tn On this term, see BDAG 374 s.v. ἐπιλαμβάνομαι 3.

¹⁷ tn Grk “to trap him in a saying.”

¹⁸ tn Or “amazed.”