What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."

- Mark 8:34-9:1

In yesterday's reading, we had three distinct stories or episodes. First, Jesus was brought a blind man for healing. He took him aside for a special healing, and the healing proceeded in stages. Next, Jesus asked His disciples who men say He is. While the answers varied, He asked them, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Peter warned the disciples to say nothing of this to others. Then He began to teach them about the things that will happen, His suffering and rejection, His death and Resurrection. Peter took Him aside and rebuked Him for this. But Jesus said, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Jesus has just taught the disciples what will happen to Him, that He will be rejected by the leadership and be killed. But here, His teachings take another turn: what He will undergo will be an example for all those who wish to be His disciples. My study bible remarks that here He is speaking of self-denial in obedience to Christ, and that to take up one's cross is a symbol of suffering. It notes, "By saying let him deny himself, and take up his cross, Jesus means His followers should separate themselves from their sins and from the inclination of their hearts toward evil (Gen. 8:21), crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal. 5:24)." In some sense, what we are talking about is an exchange: we exchange our ways of thinking for His, our ways of being and doing in a worldly sense -- that is, those things we know that are of the kingdom "of this world" -- for the things that are of His kingdom.

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Here, the word "life" and "soul" are translated from the same Greek word, psyche. This is soul or life as distinguished from the word pneuma which is spirit (or Spirit, as in the Holy Spirit). We must consider what self-denial is, what it is to carry this cross for the sake of the kingdom. It all depends on relationship, essentially. Is it the things of the world that we cultivate -- that is, the things we learn in a worldly sense, of selfishness and self-interest -- or the things we are taught to understand and cultivate in a life of related to Christ, bringing this other kingdom into the world? To desire to save one's life, says my study bible, "means to base one's earthly life on self. . . Discipleship is costly; it requires giving up all claim to everything the world holds dear." What is necessary, then, becomes this relationship that gives us the kingdom and participation in it, so that we become light-bearers as well, those who dwell in this world while also bearing His kingdom within us. Isaiah the prophet has written, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD." The ways of the world, and its notions of power, effect and importance, are not the ways of the kingdom. Repeatedly throughout Mark's gospel, we are given the differences between this kingdom and the one of the oppression of the demons in spiritual battle, so that we understand the difference between oppressive power in all its forms and this kingdom of love. As we bear His cross, we too seek that kingdom of love in exchange for what we may know or understand that is short-sighted, based on personal notions that need expanding beyond what we know, and to be a part of that kingdom that breaks through into this world of expediency, manipulation, and ignorance of a better way. We learn one thing through the "ways of the world" and another when we choose spiritual relatedness to the kingdom. We seek to undo the first when we undertake a life of faith in the latter, when we take up the cross. The use of the word psyche teaches us that there is always room for expansion and growth in our own understanding, even with the best of intentions. For this reason, we seek relationship and prayer, to learn; it is about a lifetime of such discipleship. We seek His transfiguration of our very notion of ourselves.

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." Christ's radical self-denial will, of course, become a stumbling block. He will follow the Father's will even to the cross. In this, He will set us our great example. To be radically transformed by that discipleship is to give up worldly notions of what is good, or what must be (see yesterday's reading) in exchange for what we find is best for us in this relationship to the Kingdom -- no matter what it looks like to others. By bearing the kingdom within us, we become a part of that kingdom. By refusing it, we in effect keep ourselves out of it.

And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." What is the power of the kingdom of God? Is it like worldly power? or is there something else to it altogether? In tomorrow's reading, we will find a glimpse of the sort of transfiguring power Jesus speaks about here. It is a part of the true glory He speaks of in the previous sentence.

Tomorrow's reading (of the Transfiguration) will take us into a glimpse of this glory -- of the power and the life that is in Christ. According to my study bible, it "anticipates future revelatory moments of God's great power: the Resurrection of Christ and Pentecost, as well as the consummation of the Kingdom." That glory gives us a sense that what we perceive in worldly terms is not the full truth of identity, and therefore of the identity of what we can be with God's help, and by participation in that kingdom which He offers to us. To be transfigured is to live a kind of life that enriches through meaning and power, through life itself. We may go through all kinds of difficulties and suffering in that pursuit -- and from a worldly perspective, from the outside, it may not look like the things we associate with a conquering, powerful kingdom. But in relationship, we may find the meanings and values that truly save our psyches, our souls, that expand and grow us in meanings and values and in this kingdom of love. We remember once again that "the Lord's ways are not our ways." But the Lord incarnate teaches us in His still-radical example what this means. He has come into the world in order to show us His Way. Can you take up that cross and follow where it leads you? We all think we know, but there is so much more to find out and to be a part of, to exchange a worldly understanding for that of the kingdom, and to be transformed by its power working in us. In relationship to the Kingdom and the King whose very reality is love, we grow in His expanse of that gift of love to us. Hopefully, we may bear it more fully, and give up whatever gets in the way of the greater fullness of our ability to love, His true spiritual gift to us.