Matthew 16:24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Summary

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

If

And take

1 Peter 4:1

General references

Matthew 10:38

Hebrews 13:13

Bible References

If

And the person who does not accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities with all their difficulties] and become my follower does not deserve me.

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.

And Jesus looked at him, and filled with love, said to him, "There is one thing you [still] lack. Go and sell your possessions and give [the money] to poor people; become my follower, then you will have treasure in heaven."

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.

[And] whoever does not carry his own cross [i.e., his responsibilities with all their difficulties] and follow me cannot be my disciple.

[Along the way] they strengthened the hearts of the disciples, urging them to continue [to believe and practice] the faith and [explaining] that entering God's [heavenly] kingdom [See II Tim. 4:18] requires enduring many trials.

Now I rejoice in [spite of] my sufferings for your sake, and I am filling up [i.e., completing] in my physical body what was lacking in the afflictions Christ endured for His body's sake, the church.

so that no one would be shaken by [having to experience] these difficult times. [See 2:14]. For you yourselves know that we are destined to have such experiences.

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in [the service of] Christ will be persecuted.

By [having] faith, when Moses was grown up, he refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

And take

As they were leaving [i.e., probably the city of Jerusalem], they met a man from Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya]. His name was Simon and they forced him to go with them so he could carry Jesus' cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion].

They forced a passerby, named Simon of Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya], the father of Alexander and Rufus, who was coming in from the countryside, to go with them so he could carry Jesus' cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion].

Then, as they were leading Jesus away, the soldiers [See Mark 15:16-21] grabbed hold of a man named Simon, from Cyrene [Note: This was a city in the northern African country of Libya], who was coming in from the countryside, and placed the cross [i.e., probably only the cross-beam portion] on him, so he could carry it while following Jesus.

So, they took Jesus [away] and He went out [of the city] carrying the cross by Himself to a place called "The Place of the Skull," [also] called "Golgotha" in the Hebrew language [and "Calvary" in Latin].

Therefore, since Christ has suffered physically, you people should fortify yourselves with the same attitude He had. For the person who has suffered physically [i.e., in standing for Christ] has quit sinning.

General references

And the person who does not accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities with all their difficulties] and become my follower does not deserve me.

So, we should go out to Him, outside of the camp [Note: This probably signifies separating from the whole system of Judaism, as well as full commitment to Christ], bearing the abuse that He suffered.