Q.U.E.S.T.I.O.N.S.

1. "What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?" (Matthew 16:26) - Deal or no deal? No deal! As for the second question, in reality we can and do trade our souls for many, many things: love, acceptance, friends, power, materialism. Perhaps a better question (I hope this is just me questioning Peterson and not Jesus!) would be, "What could you ever trade your soul for that would be a fair trade?" The answer to that is nothing. And it doesn't end in a preposition either.
2. "How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this?" (Matthew 17:18) - Wow, Jesus sounds fed up. I think so many times we have this image of Jesus being this yes-man weenie. Sure he overturned tables, but he's as patient as the day is long. He's not, and we get a glimpse here. I think it's a credit to Peterson's translation that we get this hard-edged of a Messiah, but I can't imagine it's not accurate (double negatives are a no-no). I'd be frustrated if I was dealing with me, let alone millions of me :P
3. "Then the children get off free, right?" (Matthew 17:26) - This one is so very rhetorical I have to ask myself what I'll do with it. Did Peter lie to the tax man? I don't quite get it. But it's interesting to me that Jesus is quick not to raise the rancor of the tax men, not "upset them needlessly." This Jesus, he picks his battles well. Even then the IRS was intimidating, even to God! ;)