24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” (Matthew 16)
These men had faithfully been following Jesus for months: listening to Him, watching Him, even preaching and performing miracles in His name. They had experienced being booed with Him, evicted with Him, and threatened as His accomplices. As they finally have stated that He is the Christ (verse 16), they have a picture in their minds of what it means to be His followers, so Jesus now clarifies that for them. It is not all glory and popularity; it is more suffering and sacrificing. It is not in this life or by its standards, but in God's kingdom and by His standards. It is also not the same thing every day. As Jesus says elsewhere, this "taking up the cross" is a daily thing, a surrending of our day to Jesus, to do with our time, our thoughts, words and actions what He wants done. May we follow Him today.
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