Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 

 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 and the disciples came to Bethsaida; and some  brought a blind man to Jesus, 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 his 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."  The cross, my study Bible explains, was a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment.  However, it is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  We practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this suffering is not punishment, my study Bible says, neither is it an end in itself, but rather it is a means by which to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom, and to crucify 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."  My study Bible comments that the central paradox of Christian living is that in grasping for temporal things, we lose the eternal; but in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches that are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9).  

 

 "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." Jesus asks, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  My study Bible comments that this question emphasizes the utter foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, for none of this can redeem a person's fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  

 

 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 calls this a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-13 - tomorrow's Gospel reading), as well as those in every generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.  

 

Today is the day of the celebration of the Transfiguration in many denominations across the world.  Tomorrow will be the day that we read the account of this event in St. Mark's Gospel.  But it's important to consider -- especially in light of Jesus' teaching in today's reading -- how the Cross is deeply related to the event of the Transfiguration, and the principle of our faith which we understand through this significant event in Christ's ministry (especially for the witnessing disciples).  In Greek, the Transfiguration is called Μεταμόρφωσις/Metamorphosis, and we should understand this word to understand the event.  Of course, metamorphosis is also a borrowed word in English.  It quite literally means to be transformed.  More specifically it involves a transformation from being with something or someone, a change in form due to particular influence or participation.  In Jesus' case, the Transfiguration will reveal identity as He truly is, a deeper and more full understanding of the reality Christ brings with Him into the world.  But for us, the Transfiguration works hand in hand withe the Cross, and its message of change or exchange for us.  Jesus sets this out clearly when He speaks of taking up one's cross, and this as necessity for those who would follow Him and be His disciples.  To take up one's cross is, in this sense, to be actively becoming something -- to be transformed through discipleship.  He makes this even more clear when He says, "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?"  To lose one's life for Christ's sake is to exchange one way of life for another, to give up what we know -- or think we know -- for the life He offers to us instead.  To take up our cross in this sense is a question of the heart.  For He offers us an exchange:  will our lives be lived with the understanding we have and its limitations, or are we ready to follow Him, to come to know what life He wants for us, and the way of life He teaches?  Some people would believe that this is just a matter of learning principles or values, or following rules written down somewhere.  But it is not.  This taking up of one's cross is a matter of truly following Him; that is, to be transformed, as the word "metamorphosis" indicates, by being in proximity with Him, by being His disciples, and participating in His life, death, and Resurrection.  As noted in other readings and commentary, to do so is to understand the concept of "energies" and to know that participation with Christ is a sacramental kind of a life in which we learn to be "like Him" just as the disciples did.  For each person, this "exchange" of the cross, of one way of life for another, of losing our lives in order to find them, will likely take on different forms, depending upon what God deems we need to exchange and to learn or accept.  But the process is similar for all of us in terms of Christ's transfiguring power.  The same is true of our prayers; when we take things in our lives, give them up to Christ, and ask for direction and understanding of how God would direct us in our lives and responses to circumstances, we open the door to a kind of transfiguration even of our environment and the ways we live.  So let us consider Christ's Cross, and the taking up of our own as He asks, the exchange we make.  For this is an ongoing process that lasts a lifetime, just as it did for the disciples.  What do you exchange today, when you ask for His way, and His teaching for you today?

 

 

 

 

Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me

 

 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.  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 8:27-9:1 

 

Yesterday we read that the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Jesus, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.  But he sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?  Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation."  And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.  Then He charged them, saying, "Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."  And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "It is because we have no bread."  But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?  Do you not yet perceive nor understand?  Is your heart still hardened?  Having eyes, do you not see?  And having ears, do you not hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  They said Him, "Twelve."  "Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"  Then He 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 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 his 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.  My study Bible comments that, "Who do you say that I am?" is the greatest question any person can ever face, for it's the question that defines Christianity.  As Peter answers correctly, this prevents the Christian faith from being seen as merely another philosophical system or path of spirituality, as it names Jesus as the Christ.  That is, the one and only Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16).   This position, it says, excludes all compromise with other religious systems.  Peter's understanding cannot be achieved by human reason, but only through divine revelation through faith (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Christ means "Anointed One."  It is equivalent to the Hebrew title "Messiah."  My study Bible also asks us to note that Christ first draws out erroneous opinions about Himself.  He does so in order to identify these incorrect ideas, as a person is better prepared to avoid false teachings when they've been clearly identified. 

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."  Here, following Peter's confession of faith that He is the Christ, Jesus reveals the true nature of His messiahship:  this is the mystery of Christ's Passion.  My study Bible explains that it was expected that the Messiah would reign forever, so the idea that Christ would die was perplexing to Peter and remained scandalous to the Jews even after the Resurrection (1 Corinthians 1:23).  Here Peter unwittingly speaks for Satan, as the devil did not want Christ to fulfill His mission and save humankind through suffering and death.  

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."    The cross was a dreaded instrument of Roman punishment, reserved for the worst of criminals.  But it is also a symbol of suffering by Christians in imitation of Christ.  My study Bible comments that we practice self-denial for the sake of the love of God and the gospel.  To accept this suffering is not a punishment, and neither is it an end in itself.  Rather, it's a means to overcome the fallen world for the sake of the Kingdom and to crucify 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."  My study Bible notes that the central paradox of Christian living is that in grasping for what is temporal, we lose the eternal.  But in sacrificing everything in this world, we gain eternal riches which are unimaginable (1 Corinthians 2:9). 

 

"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."   Jesus asks, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?"  My study Bible says that this question emphasizes the utter foolishness of accumulating worldly wealth or power, for none of this can redeem a fallen soul, nor benefit a person in the life to come.  

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."  This is a reference to those who would witness the Transfiguration (tomorrow's reading), as well as those in each generation who will experience the presence of God's Kingdom.  

My study Bible emphasizes Christ's gospel of the Kingdom as making that presence real to those who may experience it through faith.  Jesus will teach, as reported in Matthew's Gospel, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20).  Here in today's reading, Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ makes the presence of God's kingdom real and palpable in the midst of the disciples, for He is the only-begotten Son.  Therefore, Christ's final comment in today's reading is illumined through His real identity as the Christ.  He introduces the great paradox of saying that, although that kingdom of God may be present with power to some, nonetheless that Kingdom will be achieved and claimed for Him with all authority through the means of a tremendous sacrifice, His suffering and death on the Cross.  There are many, many things that can be inferred and understood from this sacrifice, Christ's mission in the world as the Incarnate Son of God and human being Jesus, and no doubt many more to come.  But for now let us pause to consider that in teaching the disciples about taking up their own crosses, He invites us into perfect participation in His life, death, and Resurrection.  These things do not simply mean the life of this one human and divine Person, but the entirety of the life of the Kingdom.  For in so doing, Jesus invites us to live the life of the Kingdom, and for that Kingdom to be present to us even in the here and now.  Let us remember that through His mission and the Cross, Jesus assumes all authority as Lord.  So, He teaches here, "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?"  How will we know what life of the soul is in store for us?  How can we understand these grave questions except in terms of participating in the life of the Kingdom, and what that holds for us?  There is no other way, except to understand that in imitation of Him, and through His invitation to us here to take up our own crosses, He invites us into that eternal life of the Kingdom, that "more abundant" life with Him.  We are asked to participate in His sacrifice ourselves so that we may also participate in His life and Kingdom.  Let us understand this great mystery, and the tremendous invitation to the gift of this life and this Kingdom.  Moreover, the gift of the soul is the gift of identity, and the "more abundant" life possible therein.  We can look at the saints and understand their sacrifices for the life of the Kingdom, and note that these lives are dynamic and powerful, people becoming somehow "more" themselves through such sacrifice, not less.  That door is open to us, and He is the Door Himself.

Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it

 

 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."

Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!'  Do not go after them or follow them.  For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.  But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  

 

"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise as it as also in the days of Lot:  They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 

 

"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.  And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed:  the one will be taken and the other will be left.  Two women will be grinding together:  the one will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field:  the one will be taken and the other left."  

 

And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?"  So He said to them, "Wherever the body is,  there the eagles will be gathered together."

 

- Luke 17:20-37 

 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus went to Jerusalem He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  So when He saw them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."  And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks.  And he was a Samaritan.  So Jesus answered and said, "Were there not ten cleansed?  But where are the nine?  Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?"  And He said to him, "Arise, go your way.  Your faith has made you well."

 

  Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  Here my study Bible comments that the kingdom of God is a spiritual reality present within the Christian believer and within the community of the Church.  Within you can also be translated "among you" or "in your midst."  This double meaning is important.  In John 1:5, we read, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."  In Greek, as in English, the word translated as "comprehend" means both to understand, and to take in.  Both meanings are implied and important to our understanding. So it is also here in this teaching.  Jesus implies both understandings about the kingdom of God.  It is at once "within" believers, and also "among" them and "in [their] midst."

 

 Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!'  Do not go after them or follow them.  For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.  But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation."  Here Jesus clearly teaches the disciples that they should not be dissuaded or distracted by those who preach another Messiah.  This is made clear when He says that "as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day."  In other words, the return of Christ will be obvious to all, and immediate as a lightning flash.  But first, they must know that in their lifetimes, He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

 

"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise as it as also in the days of Lot:  They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed."  My study Bible notes that the warning not to be preoccupied with worldly matters applies both to believers and to parishes.  Additionally, it reinforces the idea that the Second Coming will be sudden and unexpected when it occurs.

"In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.  And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed:  the one will be taken and the other will be left.  Two women will be grinding together:  the one will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field:  the one will be taken and the other left."  My study Bible comments that Christ's second coming will entail a sudden revelation of judgment.  One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation.  The separation of the saints from the wicked will occur on "the day when the Son of man is revealed" (see the verse previous to this section), and not, as some speculate, at an event that occurs before His return.

And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?"  So He said to them, "Wherever the body is,  there the eagles will be gathered together."  My study Bible explains that the body refers to Christ, while the eagles refer to the angels and the saints.  

Jesus gives us a certainty that He will return, and He also gives us other certainties about that return.  One thing of which we are to be certain is that it will happen suddenly, and all at once.  It will be unmistakable to all.  Both St. Peter and St. Paul tell us that that "day of the Lord" will come upon us as "a thief in the night" (2 Peter 3:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8).  There is an intriguing statement in today's reading, in which Jesus tells us in the middle of this teaching, "Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."  This seems to be a message to us not to resist this process of judgment that will come, not to look back.  We are meant to keep in mind the kingdom of God that is within us and among us, and that we carry this kingdom within us and in our communities.  We don't want to look back on the things that we are meant to leave behind, but forward to the life worth saving -- the new life in Christ.  It is parallel teaching to that in which Christ tells us to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23), and the teaching of St. Paul when he writes, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).  Perhaps relevant to these warnings is the understanding of precisely where the kingdom of God is to be found.  I recently heard a saying by St. Jerome:  "The graves of the martyrs are altars to Christ."   This speaks at once to looking forward toward the way of the kingdom of God, remembering Lot's wife, and to the way in which we do not seek to save our lives but instead to lose them to Christ.  This is symbolically found in the vision and prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37), in which Ezekiel is told to prophecy to the "breath of life."  Dry bones appeared to him, as symbols of the deadened state of Israel, and the Lord said to Israel, "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live."  It may all seem like paradoxical language, but it is directly related to the understanding that the kingdom of God both within us and among us.  For if the kingdom of God is where the Holy Spirit dwells, then we have an understanding of St. Jerome's statement, in addition to the ancient practice of the relics of saints in the earliest Christian churches and specifically in altars.  This is because they are where the Holy Spirit has dwelt, particularly in those who have been martyred for their faith, following the example of the Lord.  It is the Holy Spirit who dwelt in the tabernacle with Israel, the Holy Spirit in the faith of the martyrs and their sacrifice, the Holy Spirit that makes the statement possible that the kingdom of God is both within us and among us.  Without the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel's Israel had no life.  And indeed, it is the Holy Spirit, given to us through the saving mission of Christ, whose ongoing work in this world lead us to that day of His return and revelation.  Just as the Holy Spirit made possible Christ's birth to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-38), and the Holy Spirit who led Christ into the wilderness to be tempted on the eve of His public ministry (Luke 4:1-2), so it is the Holy Spirit that brings the kingdom of God within and among us.  We, like the tabernacle of Israel in the wilderness, like the saints before us, carry that Kingdom through our faith, and today's reading teaches us what to go forward to, and also what not to cling to even as we go forward in faith.  For, just as Jesus speaks of that day to come, so we accept this truth.  The world, Jesus implies, continues and will continue just as it always has -- with so many people completely unaware of this reality.  And so it is today.  Let us, however, be those who don't look back but accept this mission of the Kingdom within us and among us, and trust in His promise.