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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
Yesterday, we read that Jesus came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And he looked up and said, "I see men like trees, walking." Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then He sent him away to the house, saying, "Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town." Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, "Who do men say that I am?" So they answered, "John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ." Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him. And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "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." My study bible tells us, "After Peter's confession, Jesus injects a new, solemn tone into His ministry by speaking about suffering and by teaching the people and the disciples the cost of discipleship: self-denial, carrying one's cross (a symbol of suffering), and obedience to Christ. 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 towards evil (Genesis 8:21), crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)."
"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." A note in my study bible tells us, "To save one's life means to base one's earthly life on self. This is the opposite of self-denial, and ultimately results in the loss of eternal life. To lose one's life is to accept suffering and sacrifice for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, which ultimately brings salvation. Discipleship is costly: it requires giving up all claim to everything the world holds dear."
"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?" A note here reads: "Soul (Gr. psyche), also translated 'life' (v. 35), can refer to our spiritual nature or the whole human being. Nothing is more valuable to us than our souls." This soul (psyche) is like the breath of God, the breath God breathed into us to give us life. Our lives, the implication is here, transcend far beyond the material and the worldly, all the things we tend to base our fears and anxieties on. There is a much greater issue of survival and life beyond the things we're usually consumed with.
"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." Sometimes the things we suffer for Christ make us ashamed in the sense that they may call us out of the norm, the group, a worldly sense of belonging. You may find yourself standing up for things others don't care about, even against the things others are concerned with. Some examples come to mind of including those who are not as socially desirable as others in a particular group, or perhaps standing up for a scapegoat or bullying victim, because we choose to follow Christ. But more pertinently, He's speaking to them as the One who will be a stumbling block because He will suffer and be crucified. Will they be ashamed of Him? Will we be ashamed to say that the material life and all the status, for example, that goes with it, isn't everything?
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."
My study bible says, "The kingdom of God present with power is connected to the previous words about the Son of Man coming in glory. A foretaste of this glory is granted at the Transfiguration [tomorrow's Gospel reading], which anticipates future revelatory moments of God's great power: the Resurrection of Christ and Pentecost, as well as the consummation of the Kingdom."
Christ's words about self-denial hit home. We always have to ask ourselves, "In what way am I called to carry my cross?" I think that His words tells us that in all times and places there are ways in which we, too, will be called to carry our own crosses in following Him. Perhaps the type and shape and meaning and form of that cross will vary from generation to generation or place to place. Most likely it will vary from person to person. The emphasis on the cross that belongs to each one (that is, He doesn't tell us to take up His cross, but the separate one that belongs, in some sense, uniquely to each of one us) tells us that somehow, in ways that might be unique to each of us, we'll be called upon to take up our own crosses, and thus doing so, we will be following Him. It kind of doesn't matter in what way we are crucified; that is, in each of our lives there may be things we hold dear and precious that we have to let go of, we should consider losing, because this is the way that we are called by Him, in order to follow Him. If you value a social reputation beyond all else, there may be times in your life when you are called to suffer as outcast, simply because in that place you will find life -- the things that are beyond what you hold dear, where Christ is still with you. This thing that my study bible calls the focus on the self is really a kind of tiny and limited version of ourselves, one constructed by the thoughts based purely on worldly things rather than the things of God (as Jesus told Peter in yesterday's reading). The soul, the psyche in the Greek, on the other hand, is something we're given by God. And that is eminently flexible and capable of growth far beyond the limitations of our worldly sense of ourselves, the self that only knows its own constructions, and cannot imagine the places Christ will call us to go. This is a life -- the life of the Cross -- that consists of transcendence: transcendence of the things that limit us, and keep us away from becoming more like Him. The mystery is in the nature of that process with its continual stripping away, that sense of sacrifice that is in fact opening us up and emptying us in order to be filled with that which is far beyond our own sense of ourselves -- taking us to a place where Christ has us become like Him. The journey of faith may call upon us to give up many things we cherish. Perhaps we hold certain relationships dear that call us to wear blinders. Perhaps there are ways we think of ourselves that need to change. Perhaps we're used to giving in, when we need to stand up to someone or something in truth. Perhaps, in other ways, we're used to defending ourselves, and we need to let things go. Whatever it is, in that place of giving up, of sacrificing, of crucifixion to the "old self," we find the discipleship in His words telling us to "Follow Me."
