If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it

 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."

- Luke 9:18-27

On Saturday, we read that Jesus called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.   Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty."  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.
 
And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"  So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."  My study bible suggests that, "as in every generation, what the crowds have to say about Jesus is usually unpredictable and misguided."    It adds that "Who do you say that I am?" is the ultimate question both in Scripture and in all theology.  The answer to the question really defines the universe and its nature.  Christ (Messiah in the Hebrew) means "Anointed One."  Peter's declaration thereby reveals that Jesus isn't just another anointed King or prophet, but rather the long-awaited Savior.

And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."   Jesus wishes to keep His identity secret (that is, His identity as the Christ) so that He may avoid popular political and theological misunderstandings.  When He preached about "new wine" needing "new wineskins," it was an indication of the broadening out of faith concepts that comes with His ministry and mission.  It is He who must define this Himself.  My study bible tells us that it is only after His Passion and Resurrection that His identity as Messiah can be understood.  Despite the growing hostility of the religious leadership, Jesus calls all to faith through love -- not based on outward signs, nor "worldly" power of any kind.

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."   My study bible suggests two things here:  First, each must take up his or her own cross.  This may mean a different sort of burden for each person, and each "has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for his own salvation and the salvation of those around him."  Second, the cross is to be taken up daily.  This faith commitment isn't just a one-time event, but rather a continual practice of faith and obedience to Christ -- and this is before all things, even to the point of persecution and shaming by the world.  We're called to be like Him.

"But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God."  My study bible tells us this is a reference to those who will witness the Transfiguration (which follows these verses), as well as to those in each generation who experience the presence of God's kingdom.

This is a turning point in Jesus' ministry, in the sense that now His identity as Christ is fully revealed -- at least as far as the Gospel is concerned.  Peter's confession of faith brings it out into the open and confirms all the "signs" we've seen, all the things Jesus has done as part of His public ministry and His teachings to the disciples.  Listening to a lecture by Fr. Thomas Hopko on the names of God in Christian tradition, I was struck by part of his lecture in which he noted that in the Jewish tradition, a name is given in response to what someone or something does.  For example, in the Old Testament, Adam gives the animals names based on his observation of them.  It reminds me of Jesus' teaching that "by their fruits you shall know them."  In this sense, doing becomes a key to identity, to being.  That's another important way we can look at Christ -- at Jesus.  We observe His ministry, we watch what He does, we listen to what He teaches, and all of these things have, all along, been clues to who He really is.  The thing is, if we come to Christ in love, then it becomes about how He's truly identified, and not by simply knowing a name.  We see His love, we observe what He does for others, we note His relationship of love to the Father, His loyalty to His disciples, His kindness and compassion, His deep feelings for His friends, and protection of His disciples -- and desire to do so even for those who reject Him.  All these things are clues to who He is.  They are the things that compel us to love Him and to want to know Him via a depth of relationship to Him.  In today's reading, He also immediately calls all of us -- truly all of us -- to be like Him, in ways that He predicts but haven't been fulfilled yet in the Gospel.  He tells Peter and all of the disciples that awful things are going to happen to Him at the hands of the religious leadership and that He will be killed.  But immediately His teaching goes to what we must do:  we must be like Him.  We must take up our cross daily.  We deny ourselves.  And, "whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."  He lives out these words Himself, and there is so much more to come, so many trials and traumas, and so much faith that must be drawn upon, made strong, tested, and built up through experience.  All of this is to say that our very human Jesus is also the Christ, which we know not just because He says so, and not just because somebody thinks so, but because of what we know and what we see and what He does.  This extends into our own lives where His presence, and our dialogue via prayer, can play a great role in shaping how we know who Christ is.  We are able to enter into an intimate relationship, a true dialogue, and know what He does in our own lives.  Given all of this, we can think also about His call to us to take up our own crosses and to be like Him.  We can think about how whatever we do reflects who we are, and think about our choices in life.  This isn't an easy judgment of people.  There are plenty of things Jesus "does" that seem offensive, in particular to the religious authorities who will deem Him not only a sinner but a blasphemer.  This is not to say that we judge by appearances, which Christ Himself has spoken against.  Rather, it is a way to understand that "a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.  For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (see this reading from Luke 6).   We're to look to what we do, to what we say, how we affect others, what kindness we can practice, what hope and reconciliation we can bring, and -- perhaps most importantly -- how we handle averse situations.  We do "like" He did.  We turn to God and find our way, so that what we do or choose reflects this commitment, this faith.   In this sense, His teaching about losing our lives to save them takes on the condition of giving up our ideas of who we are or can be to Him, and bearing His likeness into the world.

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 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."