Matthew 10:38

10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross ¹  and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16:24

16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ²  he must deny ³  himself, take up his cross, ⁴  and follow me.

Matthew 27:31-33

27:31 When ⁵  they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then ⁶  they led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

27:32 As ⁷  they were going out, they found a man from Cyrene named Simon, whom they forced ⁸  to carry his cross. ⁹  27:33 They ¹⁰  came to a place called Golgotha ¹¹  (which means “Place of the Skull”) ¹² 

Mark 8:34

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ¹³  Jesus ¹⁴  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ¹⁵  he must deny ¹⁶  himself, take up his cross, ¹⁷  and follow me.

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 ¹⁸  to the poor, and you will have treasure ¹⁹  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 15:21-22

The Crucifixion

15:21 The soldiers ²⁰  forced ²¹  a passerby to carry his cross, ²²  Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country ²³  (he was the father of Alexander and Rufus). 15:22 They brought Jesus ²⁴  to a place called Golgotha ²⁵  (which is translated, “Place of the Skull”). ²⁶ 

Luke 9:23

A Call to Discipleship

9:23 Then ²⁷  he said to them all, ²⁸  “If anyone wants to become my follower, ²⁹  he must deny ³⁰  himself, take up his cross daily, ³¹  and follow me.

Luke 14:27

14:27 Whoever does not carry his own cross ³²  and follow ³³  me cannot be my disciple.

Luke 23:26

The Crucifixion

23:26 As ³⁴  they led him away, they seized Simon of Cyrene, ³⁵  who was coming in from the country. ³⁶  They placed the cross on his back and made him carry it behind Jesus. ³⁷ 

Luke 23:33

23:33 So ³⁸  when they came to the place that is called “The Skull,” ³⁹  they crucified ⁴⁰  him there, along with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.

[10:38]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “to come after me.”

[16:24]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[27:31]  ⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:31]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[27:32]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:32]  ⁸ tn Or “conscripted”; or “pressed into service.”

[27:32]  ⁹ 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. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.

[27:33]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:33]  ¹¹ tn This is an Aramaic name; see John 19:17.

[27:33]  ¹² sn A place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”). This location is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for the Greek term κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” is derived (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[8:34]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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.

[10:21]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Grk “They”; the referent (the soldiers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

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

[15:21]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).

[15:22]  ²⁴ tn Grk “him.”

[15:22]  ²⁵ tn Grk “a place, Golgotha.” This is an Aramaic name; see John 19:17.

[15:22]  ²⁶ sn The place called Golgotha (which is translated “Place of the Skull”). This location is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for the Greek term κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” is derived (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[9:23]  ²⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:23]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to come after me.”

[9:23]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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.

[14:27]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Grk “and come after.” In combination with the verb ἔρχομαι (ercomai) the improper preposition ὀπίσω (opisw) means “follow.”

[23:26]  ³⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[23:26]  ³⁵ 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. Cyrene was located in North Africa where Tripoli is today. Nothing more is known about this Simon. Mark 15:21 names him as father of two people apparently known to Mark’s audience.

[23:26]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps, “was coming in from his field” outside the city (BDAG 15-16 s.v. ἀγρός 1).

[23:26]  ³⁷ tn Grk “they placed the cross on him to carry behind Jesus.”

[23:33]  ³⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the conclusion of the preceding material.

[23:33]  ³⁹ sn The place that is called ‘The Skull’ (known as Golgotha in Aramaic, cf. John 19:17) is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for Greek κρανίον (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” derives (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).

[23:33]  ⁴⁰ sn See the note on crucify in 23:21.