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.

John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ⁴  “I am the light of the world. ⁵  The one who follows me will never ⁶  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 13:13-15

13:13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, ⁷  for that is what I am. ⁸  13:14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you too ought to wash one another’s feet. 13:15 For I have given you an example ⁹  – you should do just as I have done for you.

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ¹⁰  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ¹¹  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 3:13

3:13 For this reason I ask you ¹²  not to lose heart because of what I am suffering for you, ¹³  which ¹⁴  is your glory. ¹⁵ 

Ephesians 3:3

3:3 that ¹⁶  by revelation the divine secret ¹⁷  was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. ¹⁸ 

Ephesians 1:11

1:11 In Christ ¹⁹  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ²⁰  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

[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.

[8:12]  ⁴ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ⁵ sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ⁶ tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[13:13]  ⁷ tn Or “rightly.”

[13:13]  ⁸ tn Grk “and I am these things.”

[13:15]  ⁹ sn I have given you an example. Jesus tells his disciples after he has finished washing their feet that what he has done is to set an example for them. In the previous verse he told them they were to wash one another’s feet. What is the point of the example? If it is simply an act of humble service, as most interpret the significance, then Jesus is really telling his disciples to serve one another in humility rather than seeking preeminence over one another. If, however, the example is one of self-sacrifice up to the point of death, then Jesus is telling them to lay down their lives for one another (cf. 15:13).

[5:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “become.”

[5:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “become.”

[3:13]  ¹² tn Grk “I ask.” No direct object is given in Greek, leaving room for the possibility that either “God” (since the verb is often associated with prayer) or “you” is in view.

[3:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “my trials on your behalf.”

[3:13]  ¹⁴ sn Which. The antecedent (i.e., the word or concept to which this clause refers back) may be either “what I am suffering for you” or the larger concept of the recipients not losing heart over Paul’s suffering for them. The relative pronoun “which” is attracted to the predicate nominative “glory” in its gender and number (feminine singular), making the antecedent ambiguous. Paul’s suffering for them could be viewed as their glory (cf. Col 1:24 for a parallel) in that his suffering has brought about their salvation, but if so his suffering must be viewed as more than his present imprisonment in Rome; it would be a general description of his ministry overall (cf. 2 Cor 11:23-27). The other option is that the author is implicitly arguing that the believers have continued to have courage in the midst of his trials (as not to lose heart suggests) and that this is their glory. Philippians 1:27-28 offers an interesting parallel: The believers’ courage in the face of adversity is a sign of their salvation.

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Or who is your glory?” The relative pronoun ἥτις (Jhti"), if divided differently, would become ἤ τίς (h ti"). Since there were no word breaks in the original mss, either word division is possible. The force of the question would be that for the readers to become discouraged over Paul’s imprisonment would mean that they were no longer trusting in God’s sovereignty.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “namely, that is.”

[3:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “mystery.”

[3:3]  ¹⁸ tn Or “as I wrote above briefly.”

[1:11]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

[1:11]  ²⁰ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.