Matthew 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹  he must deny ²  himself, take up his cross, ³  and follow me.

Matthew 19:21

19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money ⁴  to the poor, and you will have treasure ⁵  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Matthew 21:9

21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, ⁶  “Hosanna ⁷  to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ⁸  Hosanna in the highest!”

[16:24]  ¹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ² 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]  ³ 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.

[19:21]  ⁴ 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.

[19:21]  ⁵ 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.

[21:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “were shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[21:9]  ⁸ tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.

[21:9]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.