Mark 8:34-38

³⁴ 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.

³⁵ 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.

³⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?

³⁷ Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

³⁸ 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.”

Also found in Matthew 16:24-26 and Luke 9:23-25.

come (v.34) — become a disciple, enter fellowship with the Lord. The word is used in John 5:40 of those who will not come and will not have life.

deny (v.34) = forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s interest

cross (v.34) — death itself

cross (v.34) — The first mention in Mark of the cross is here, and with its familiar Roman associations the word must have fallen upon apostolic ears far more startlingly than it does upon ours. For the follower it means precisely what it meant for the Lord; not mere inconvenience or discomfort, but death. The mind of the disciple in relation to the world is defined in this way. He will experience an essential antagonism resulting in persecution and he will exhibit non-resistance to that persecution (John 15:19; Galatians 6:14). He will accept the last consequences of obedience and take the last risk. In relation to himself his attitude will be that of self-denial, which means the complete dethronement of self that the life may be Christ-centered. — Guthrie, page 869.

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follow (v.34) = take the same road as another — not following behind, but accompanying — taking the same road and fellowshipping along the way

The first two imperatives are aorist, giving a summary command to be obeyed at once. the “coming after” and the “taking up” are to be obeyed at once and are to be a once-for-all act. That is, these acts are to be looked upon as a permanent attitude and practice of life. The whole life is to be characterized by an habitual coming after and taking up of the cross. After having once for all given over the life to the Lord, the believer must henceforth count it ever so given over. he is not his own anymore. He belongs to the Lord. He is the Lord’s property. The word “follow” however, is in the present imperative, which commands the doing of an action and its habitual moment by moment continuance. — Wuest, pages 170-171.

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life (v.35) — not referring here to one’s physical existence and its needs but referring to the soul, that part of man which wills, and thinks, and feels, or in other words, to the  will power, the reason, and the emotions, the personality with his actions, hopes, and aspirations. The person who desires to so live that these will find self-gratification, will lose that which alone makes the activity of these things worthwhile and satisfying. God has so created man, that he does not find complete rest and satisfaction until his entire being is swallowed up in the sweet will of God. … Our Lord is not here giving the terms upon which God will give salvation, for self-denial never saved a soul from sin. Only Jesus’ blood can do that. Jesus is here giving His philosophy of life. — Wuest, page 171.

world (v.36) — the world system of evil of which Satan is the head, all unsaved people his servants, together with the pursuits , pleasures, purposes, people, and places where God is not wanted.

loses (v.36) = receives injury, suffers loss

While self-denial doesn’t save, a refusal to submit to God and the pursuit of self-satisfaction will result in eternal death.

Whoever is (v.38) — This is not a statement concerning the future conduct of a person, but about that person’s present attitude about Jesus. … The conduct of the individual now determines Christ’s future conduct with reference to that person. — Wuest, page 172.

when He comes (v.38) — Not the Rapture. This is the second coming at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom.

The conditions of discipleship are three: First: the attitude of the disciple to himself—let him deny himself. Second: the attitude of the disciple to the world—and take up his cross. Third: the attitude of the disciple to Christ—follow Me. — Williams, page 737.

All of this—the passage itself and all the comments above—must be understood in the proper dispensational context. Jesus was preaching under the Law. The dispensation of Grace had not yet been revealed.