Mark 8:34--9:1

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ¹  Jesus ²  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ³  he must deny ⁴  himself, take up his cross, ⁵  and follow me. 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ⁶  will lose it, ⁷  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 ⁸  to gain the whole world, yet ⁹  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 ¹⁰  when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹¹  there are some standing here who will not ¹²  experience ¹³  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ¹⁴ 

[8:34]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ³ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  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.

[8:34]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[8:36]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:38]  ¹⁰ 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.

[9:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ¹² tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:1]  ¹⁴ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.