Luke 14:26-27

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ¹  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ²  he cannot be my disciple. 14:27 Whoever does not carry his own cross ³  and follow ⁴  me cannot be my disciple.

Matthew 10:38-39

10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross ⁵  and follow me is not worthy of me. 10:39 Whoever finds his life ⁶  will lose it, ⁷  and whoever loses his life because of me ⁸  will find it.

Matthew 16:22-25

16:22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: ⁹  “God forbid, ¹⁰  Lord! This must not happen to you!” 16:23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” ¹¹  16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹²  he must deny ¹³  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁴  and follow me. 16:25 For whoever wants to save his life ¹⁵  will lose it, ¹⁶  but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Mark 8:34-38

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ¹⁷  Jesus ¹⁸  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹⁹  he must deny ²⁰  himself, take up his cross, ²¹  and follow me. 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ²²  will lose it, ²³  but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it. 8:36 For what benefit is it for a person ²⁴  to gain the whole world, yet ²⁵  forfeit his life? 8:37 What can a person give in exchange for his life? 8:38 For if anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him ²⁶  when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

John 12:25-26

12:25 The one who loves his life ²⁷  destroys ²⁸  it, and the one who hates his life in this world guards ²⁹  it for eternal life. 12:26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow ³⁰  me, and where I am, my servant will be too. ³¹  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Romans 8:13

8:13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will ³²  die), ³³  but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Colossians 3:5

3:5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: ³⁴  sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, ³⁵  evil desire, and greed which is idolatry.

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 3:12

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ³⁶  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

[14:26]  ¹ tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ² tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[14:27]  ³ sn It was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion for the prisoner to be made to carry his own cross. Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If the priority is not one’s allegiance to Jesus, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection; see Luke 9:23.

[14:27]  ⁴ tn Grk “and come after.” In combination with the verb ἔρχομαι (ercomai) the improper preposition ὀπίσω (opisw) means “follow.”

[10:38]  ⁵ sn It was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion for the prisoner to be made to carry his own cross. Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If the priority is not one’s allegiance to Jesus, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection.

[10:39]  ⁶ tn Grk “his soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[10:39]  ⁷ sn If there is no willingness to suffer the world’s rejection at this point, then one will not respond to Jesus (which is trying to find life) and then will be subject to this judgment (which is losing it).

[10:39]  ⁸ tn Or “for my sake.” The traditional rendering “for my sake” can be understood in the sense of “for my benefit,” but the Greek term ἕνεκα indicates the cause or reason for something (BDAG 334 s.v. 1).

[16:22]  ⁹ tn Grk “began to rebuke him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[16:22]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Merciful to you.” A highly elliptical expression: “May God be merciful to you in sparing you from having to undergo [some experience]” (L&N 88.78). A contemporary English equivalent is “God forbid!”

[16:23]  ¹¹ tn Grk “people.”

[16:24]  ¹² tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ¹³ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[16:24]  ¹⁴ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[16:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 25-26).

[16:25]  ¹⁶ 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.

[8:34]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ²⁰ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[8:34]  ²¹ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[8:35]  ²² tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ²³ 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.

[8:36]  ²⁴ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:38]  ²⁶ sn How one responds now to Jesus and his teaching is a reflection of how Jesus, as the Son of Man who judges, will respond then in the final judgment.

[12:25]  ²⁷ tn Or “soul.”

[12:25]  ²⁸ tn Or “loses.” Although the traditional English translation of ἀπολλύει (apolluei) in John 12:25 is “loses,” the contrast with φυλάξει (fulaxei, “keeps” or “guards”) in the second half of the verse favors the meaning “destroy” here.

[12:25]  ²⁹ tn Or “keeps.”

[12:26]  ³⁰ tn As a third person imperative in Greek, ἀκολουθείτω (akolouqeitw) is usually translated “let him follow me.” This could be understood by the modern English reader as merely permissive, however (“he may follow me if he wishes”). In this context there is no permissive sense, but rather a command, so the translation “he must follow me” is preferred.

[12:26]  ³¹ tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”

[8:13]  ³² tn Grk “are about to, are certainly going to.”

[8:13]  ³³ sn This remark is parenthetical to Paul’s argument.

[3:5]  ³⁴ tn Grk “the members which are on the earth.” See BDAG 628 s.v. μέλος 1, “put to death whatever in you is worldly.”

[3:5]  ³⁵ tn Or “lust.”

[3:12]  ³⁶ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.