<p>18:29 <i>And he said to them: Truly I say to you- </i>This is in response to Peter's claim that they had &quot;left all and followed You&quot; (Mt. 19:27). The Lord doesn't comment upon Peter's claim. This may well have been because He knew that Peter had not in fact &quot;left all&quot; to the degree that Peter thought he had. They hadn&rsquo;t then grasped the idea of what really following involved; they hadn&rsquo;t in one way or another laid down their lives with Christ. The Lord was so generous spirited towards His disciples. He knew that Peter would not follow Him as planned, to the cross- indeed, none of them would (Jn. 13:36,37), but He speaks to them as if they would be successful ultimately in following Him.</p><p><i>There is no one that has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake</i>- See on Acts 8:12. This list of things to be forsaken, with Matthew adding houses and lands, recalls the language of the Levites forsaking these things in order to serve God (Ex. 32:26-29; Dt. 33:8-10). The secular disciples again are encouraged to see themselves as the Levites of the new Israel the Lord was creating. And note that the Lord speaks of how His followers will each have left mother, brother etc. to serve Him, referring to how Moses blessed Levi for forsaking these very things so as to God's service (Dt. 33:9). And there is no Christian who has heart and soul committed themselves to the Gospel's work, either in the world or amongst their brethren, who has not lived to see the truth of this definition of priesthood.</p><p><i>&quot;</i>For My Name&rsquo;s sake<i>&quot; </i>is parallel with<i>&nbsp;</i>&ldquo;The kingdom of God&rsquo;s sake&rdquo; (Mt. 19:29). The things of the Name and the things of the Kingdom were therefore not two different things, rather were they different ways of referring to the same realities.</p>