Luke 9:23-25

A Call to Discipleship

9:23 Then ¹  he said to them all, ²  “If anyone wants to become my follower, ³  he must deny ⁴  himself, take up his cross daily, ⁵  and follow me. 9:24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, ⁶  but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 9:25 For what does it benefit a person ⁷  if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

Matthew 10:38

10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross ⁸  and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16:24-26

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁹  he must deny ¹⁰  himself, take up his cross, ¹¹  and follow me. 16:25 For whoever wants to save his life ¹²  will lose it, ¹³  but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 16:26 For what does it benefit a person ¹⁴  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Mark 8:34-37

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ¹⁵  Jesus ¹⁶  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹⁷  he must deny ¹⁸  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁹  and follow me. 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ²⁰  will lose it, ²¹  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 ²²  to gain the whole world, yet ²³  forfeit his life? 8:37 What can a person give in exchange for his life?

Mark 10:21

10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money ²⁴  to the poor, and you will have treasure ²⁵  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 15:21

The Crucifixion

15:21 The soldiers ²⁶  forced ²⁷  a passerby to carry his cross, ²⁸  Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country ²⁹  (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus).

John 19:17

19:17 and carrying his own cross ³⁰  he went out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” ³¹  (called in Aramaic ³²  Golgotha). ³³ 

John 19:2

19:2 The soldiers ³⁴  braided ³⁵  a crown of thorns ³⁶  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ³⁷ 

John 3:12

3:12 If I have told you people ³⁸  about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ³⁹ 

[9:23]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:23]  ² sn Here them all could be limited to the disciples, since Jesus was alone with them in v. 18. It could also be that by this time the crowd had followed and found him, and he addressed them, or this could be construed as a separate occasion from the discussion with the disciples in 9:18-22. The cost of discipleship is something Jesus was willing to tell both insiders and outsiders about. The rejection he felt would also fall on his followers.

[9:23]  ³ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[9:23]  ⁴ 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.

[9:23]  ⁵ sn Only Luke mentions taking up one’s cross daily. 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.

[9:24]  ⁶ 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.

[9:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[10:38]  ⁸ 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.

[16:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 25-26).

[16:25]  ¹³ 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.

[16:26]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:34]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[10:21]  ²⁴ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[10:21]  ²⁵ 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.

[15:21]  ²⁶ tn Grk “They”; the referent (the soldiers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:21]  ²⁷ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[15:21]  ²⁸ sn Jesus was beaten severely with a whip before this (the prelude to crucifixion, known to the Romans as verberatio, mentioned in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1), so he would have been weak from trauma and loss of blood. Apparently he was unable to bear the cross himself, so Simon was conscripted to help (in all probability this was only the crossbeam, called in Latin the patibulum, since the upright beam usually remained in the ground at the place of execution). Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon.

[15:21]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).

[19:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “carrying the cross by himself.”

[19:17]  ³¹ sn Jesus was led out to the place called “The Place of the Skull” where he was to be crucified. It is clear from v. 20 that this was outside the city. The Latin word for the Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria. Thus the English word “Calvary” is a transliteration of the Latin rather than a NT place name (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[19:17]  ³² tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

[19:17]  ³³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[19:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ³⁵ tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ³⁶ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ³⁷ sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[3:12]  ³⁸ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:12]  ³⁹ sn Obviously earthly things and heavenly things are in contrast, but what is the contrast? What are earthly things which Jesus has just spoken to Nicodemus? And through him to others – this is not the first instance of the plural pronoun, see v. 7, you must all. Since Nicodemus began with a plural (we know, v. 2) Jesus continues it, and through Nicodemus addresses a broader audience. It makes most sense to take this as a reference to the things Jesus has just said (and the things he is about to say, vv. 13-15). If this is the case (and it seems the most natural explanation) then earthly things are not necessarily strictly physical things, but are so called because they take place on earth, in contrast to things like v. 16, which take place in heaven. Some have added the suggestion that the things are called earthly because physical analogies (birth, wind, water) are used to describe them. This is possible, but it seems more probable that Jesus calls these things earthly because they happen on earth (even though they are spiritual things). In the context, taking earthly things as referring to the words Jesus has just spoken fits with the fact that Nicodemus did not believe. And he would not after hearing heavenly things either, unless he first believed in the earthly things – which included the necessity of a regenerating work from above, by the Holy Spirit.