Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves
Luke 9:23 - Jesus is the ideal that Christians must strive to emulate, and the only way to do that is to build understanding of His teachings.
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“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23 NIV
Luke 9 marks a change in the relationship between Jesus and His disciples. Up to this point, Jesus has been performing miracles, giving the disciples proof that He is the son of God and also providing a benchmark for what they can do with enough faith and prayer.
In Luke 9:1, Jesus sends the disciples out to “to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” with the power He has given to them.
On this mission, they are not to take anything with them, but instead rely on the goodness of people that they heal and preach the Gospel to. While they’re on mission, Herod Antipas, who had recently beheaded John the Baptist to please his wife, wants to meet Jesus although he has no real spiritual interest. Herod would eventually meet Jesus on the morning of His crucifixion…
The disciples return from their mission, at which point Jesus preaches to a multitude and we have the feeding of the 5,000, another situation in which Jesus challenges the disciples to perform a major miracle. We find that Peter “gets it” — understands that Jesus is Messiah — and Jesus informs the disciples of what must happen to Him in the near future.
That is when Jesus reveals His true mission, and we get to today’s verse. The disciples have just heard that their teacher is going to be arrested, tried, flogged, and then crucified, which was bad enough news. Now Jesus tells them that to be His disciples, they must be willing to bear the same fate.
What did Jesus mean by “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily”? David Guzik of Enduring Word explains:
b. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me: As Jesus spoke these words, everybody knew what Jesus meant. In the Roman world, before a man died on a cross, he had to carry his cross (or at least the horizontal beam of the cross) to the place of execution.
i. When the Romans crucified a criminal, they didn’t just hang them on a cross. They first hung a cross on him.
ii. Carrying a cross always led to death on a cross. No one carried a cross for fun. The first hearers of Jesus didn’t need an explanation of the cross; they knew it was an unrelenting instrument of torture, death, and humiliation. If someone took up his cross, he never came back. It was a one-way journey.
iii. In the real-life crosses of the Roman world, no one took them up (suggesting a voluntary action). Instead, crosses were impressed upon people, quite apart from their willingness. Here Jesus said that those who follow Him must voluntarily take up their cross.
iv. This isn’t to suggest that we can choose our way to die a living death as followers of Jesus; but as the unchosen circumstances come into life, we choose to bear them as a way to daily die for Jesus’ glory.
c. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily: Jesus made deny himself equal with take up his cross. The two phrases expressed the same idea. The cross wasn’t about self-promotion or self-affirmation. The person carrying a cross knew they couldn’t save themselves, and that self was destined to die.
i. Denying yourself means to live as an others-centered person. Jesus was the only person to do this perfectly, but we are to follow in His steps.
d. Take up his cross daily: Jesus made it clear that He spoke spiritually when He added the word daily. No one could be crucified literally everyday. Daily they could have the same attitude as Jesus had.
i. This is following Jesus at its simplest. He carried a cross, so His followers carry one. He walked to His self-death, so must those who would follow Him.
The disciples, with the exception of John, would all suffer violent and agonizing deaths, although only two — Peter and Andrew — were crucified (Peter was crucified upside-down, while Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross called a saltire. Both felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus). The twelve very literally took up the cross of Jesus through their martyrdom.
For modern Christians, denying oneself means putting aside personal ambition and desires, and devoting one’s life to Christ. Our society puts an emphasis on self-fulfillment and being autonomous, the polar opposite of self-sacrifice, obedience, and humility. That’s why studying the Gospels and not just zipping through them on a “Bible In One Year” plan, is so important. Jesus is the ideal that Christians must strive to emulate, and the only way to do that is to build understanding of His teachings.
Although humanity has devised many horrible ways of torturing and killing, we’re blessed that crucifixion is no longer one of the methods. The cross that we are to take up daily is the commitment to endure hardship and persecution for the sake of Christ. That means putting up with a constant flow of negative messages from the secular world without complaint.
Jesus asked all of His followers to “follow me.” To do that requires us to obey His commands, a few of which are:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near
Come and follow Me
Love your neighbor as yourself
Make disciples of all nations
Rejoice when you’re persecuted in My name
Be reconciled to one another
Keep your word
Turn the other cheek
Love your enemies
Practice forgiveness
Do you follow each of these commands every day? I know I don’t. Following Jesus is a lifetime process that requires us to persevere and be faithful. As sinners, we will never be perfect… but we can be transformed to a closer imitation of Him.
The call of Jesus to follow Him is central to the Gospels. He began by inviting the disciples to follow him, and eventually has thousands (and 2,000 year later, billions) of followers. In the context of the Old Testament, this reflects the narrative of following God in the manner of the patriarchs and the prophets.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to “deny myself, take up my cross daily, and follow You”. Guide me to live a life that reflects Your will and purpose. May I surrender my desires and ambitions to You, trusting in Your plan for my life. Strengthen my faith and help me to walk in Your footsteps each day. AMEN