Matthew 16:24-28 - Taking Up One's Cross To Follow Jesus

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and lift up his cross [of responsibility] and [then he can] become my follower. ²⁵ For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [is willing to] lose his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake will find it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. ²⁶ For what benefit is it to a person if he gains the whole world [of material things] but [has to] give up his life [i.e., all the spiritual blessings]? Or what should a person give in exchange for his life? ²⁷ For the Son of man will return in the splendor of His Father, accompanied by His angels. Then He will reward or punish every person in proportion to what he has done [with his life]. ²⁸ It is true when I tell you, some of those standing here will not die before they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom."

³⁴ And He called the crowd to Him, along with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny himself [i.e., of always having his own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] and then he can become my follower. ³⁵ For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [is willing] to lose his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake and [the work of] the Gospel's sake, will save it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. ³⁶ For what would it benefit a person to gain the whole world [i.e., of material things] and give up his life [i.e., of spiritual blessings]? ³⁷ Or what should a person give in exchange for his life? ³⁸ For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this [spiritually] unfaithful and sinful generation, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when He returns in the splendor of His Father, accompanied by the holy angels."

¹ And Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are some people standing here who will surely not experience death until they see that God's kingdom has come in [a demonstration of] power."

²³ Then He said to everyone, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] everyday, and [then he can] become my follower. ²⁴ For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [willingly] loses his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake, that person will save it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. ²⁵ For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world [i.e., of material things] and [yet] loses [his spiritual life] or gives himself up [to spiritual ruin]? ²⁶ For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of man will [also] be ashamed of him when He returns in His own splendor and that of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you the truth, there are some people standing here who will surely not experience death until they see that God's kingdom has come [i.e., in a demonstration of power. See Mark 9:1]."