Luke 18:22

18:22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have ¹  and give the money ²  to the poor, ³  and you will have treasure ⁴  in heaven. Then ⁵  come, follow me.”

Matthew 4:19-21

4:19 He said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” ⁶  4:20 They ⁷  left their nets immediately and followed him. ⁸  4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ⁹  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ¹⁰  he called them.

Matthew 8:22

8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ¹¹ 

Matthew 16:24

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.

John 1:43

The Calling of More Disciples

1:43 On the next day Jesus ¹⁵  wanted to set out for Galilee. ¹⁶  He ¹⁷  found Philip and said ¹⁸  to him, “Follow me.”

John 12:26

12:26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow ¹⁹  me, and where I am, my servant will be too. ²⁰  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

John 21:19-22

21:19 (Now Jesus ²¹  said this to indicate clearly by what kind of death Peter ²²  was going to glorify God.) ²³  After he said this, Jesus told Peter, ²⁴  “Follow me.”

Peter and the Disciple Jesus Loved

21:20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. ²⁵  (This was the disciple ²⁶  who had leaned back against Jesus’ ²⁷  chest at the meal and asked, ²⁸  “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”) ²⁹  21:21 So when Peter saw him, ³⁰  he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 21:22 Jesus replied, ³¹  “If I want him to live ³²  until I come back, ³³  what concern is that of yours? You follow me!”

[18:22]  ¹ sn See Luke 14:33.

[18:22]  ² tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:22]  ³ sn See Luke 1:50-53; 6:20-23; 14:12-14.

[18:22]  ⁴ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: …you will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[18:22]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the conversation.

[4:19]  ⁶ tn The Greek term ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”

[4:20]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:20]  ⁸ sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[4:21]  ⁹ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

[4:21]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:22]  ¹¹ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

[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.

[1:43]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Jesus is best taken as the subject of εὑρίσκει (Jeuriskei), since Peter would scarcely have wanted to go to Galilee.

[1:43]  ¹⁶ sn No explanation is given for why Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee, but probably he wanted to go to the wedding at Cana (about a two day trip).

[1:43]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:43]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and Jesus said.”

[12:26]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”

[21:19]  ²¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ²³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. The phrase by what kind of death Peter was going to glorify God almost certainly indicates martyrdom (cf. 1 Pet 4:16), and it may not predict anything more than that. But the parallelism of this phrase to similar phrases in John 12:33 and 18:32 which describe Jesus’ own death by crucifixion have led many to suggest that the picture Jesus is portraying for Peter looks not just at martyrdom but at death by crucifixion. This seems to be confirmed by the phrase you will stretch out your hands in the preceding verse. There is some evidence that the early church understood this and similar phrases (one of them in Isa 65:2) to refer to crucifixion (for a detailed discussion of the evidence see L. Morris, John [NICNT], 876, n. 52). Some have objected that if this phrase does indeed refer to crucifixion, the order within v. 18 is wrong, because the stretching out of the hands in crucifixion precedes the binding and leading where one does not wish to go. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 2:1108) sees this as a deliberate reversal of the normal order (hysteron proteron) intended to emphasize the stretching out of the hands. Another possible explanation for the unusual order is the Roman practice in crucifixions of tying the condemned prisoner’s arms to the crossbeam (patibulum) and forcing him to carry it to the place of execution (W. Bauer as cited by O. Cullmann in Peter: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr [LHD], 88).

[21:19]  ²⁴ tn Grk “After he said this, he said to him”; the referents (first Jesus, second Peter) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:20]  ²⁵ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[21:20]  ²⁶ tn The words “This was the disciple” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied for clarity.

[21:20]  ²⁷ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:20]  ²⁸ tn Grk “and said.”

[21:20]  ²⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[21:21]  ³⁰ tn Grk “saw this one.”

[21:22]  ³¹ tn Grk “Jesus said to him.”

[21:22]  ³² tn Grk “to stay” or “to remain”; but since longevity is the issue in the context, “to live” conveys the idea more clearly.

[21:22]  ³³ tn The word “back” is supplied to clarify the meaning.