Matthew 16:24–28
Since the disciples did not yet have “power from on high,” (Luke 24:49) it was likely they might somehow also fall into human weaknesses and, having thought something of the sort, say: How will someone deny himself? Or how, having lost his own soul, will he find it? And what equal-honoring prize is there for those who have suffered this?
Therefore, so that he might stand them away from such reasonings and, as it were, reforge them toward courage by instilling desire for the fair fame about to be theirs, he says, “There are some of those standing here,” (Matthew 16:24–28) and what follows — hinting at Peter and the sons of Zebedee. For these were taken along at the transfiguration, which he calls a kingdom as having shown the ineffable of his authority and the unvarying genuineness of his relation to the Father. In it he also indicated the dignity of the second coming and a frightful prelude — showing this as confirmation, as it were, of that. For he will come in the glory of God the Father, not in the smallness that is ours.
Greek
Ἐπεὶ οὔπω τὴν "ἐξ ὕψους δύναμιν" ἐσχηκότας τοὺς μαθητὰς εἰκὸς ἦν τάχα που καὶ ἀνθρωπίναις 22 περιπεσεῖν ἀσθενείαις καί τι τοιοῦ τον ἐννενοηκότας εἰπεῖν· πῶς ἀρνήσεταί τις ἑαυτόν; ἢ πῶς ἀπολέσας τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν εὑρήσει αὐτήν; τί δὲ τοῖς τοῦτο παθοῦσιν τὸ ἰσοτιμοῦν γέρας; διὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα τῶν τοιούτων αὐτοὺς ἀποστήσῃ λογι σμῶν καὶ οἷον μεταχαλκεύσῃ πρὸς εὐανδρίαν τῆς ἐσομένης αὐτοῖς εὐ κλείας ἐπιθυμίαν ἐντεκών, φησίν· εἰσίν τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, Πέτρον αἰνιττόμενος καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου· οὗτοι γὰρ ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει συμπαρελήφθησαν, ἣν καλεῖ βασιλείαν ὡς ἐκ φήνασαν τῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ ἄφατον καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν πατέρα γνησιότητος τὸ ἀπαράλλακτον· ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ τῆς δευτέρας παρουσίας τὸ ἀξίωμα καὶ τὸ φρικτὸν ὑπεδήλωσε προοίμιον ταύτην ἐκείνης καὶ οἷον βεβαίωσιν ἐνδειξάμενος. ἥξει γὰρ ἐν δόξῃ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρός, οὐκ ἐν σμικρο πρεπείᾳ τῇ καθ' ἡμᾶς.