Lesson 893

(Lesson 893)(02-08-14) Mark 8:34-38

"And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

It is easy to understand the intent of this lesson, it is simply saying that we as Christians, are to abandon all other beliefs or isms and place our faith wholly in Jesus Christ. We are to totally dedicate our lives unashamedly to the principals laid out in the gospel Jesus taught.

However, some of what appears in this quote calls into question the possible intent of those who later translated, transliterated, or those who otherwise had authority over the content of the text.

This translation, as well as others of the book of Mark, recount Jesus as having said, "let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS, and follow me."

Although I fully understand the intention of the text, I can't imagine why that part of the statement was made. It serves absolutely no purpose other than to lend credence to the symbol of the cross. A symbol, by the way, that should have no significance at all until after Jesus was crucified.

The statement would have meant the exact same thing, actually made better sense, and would have been just as forceful, if those words had been left out leaving 'let him deny himself and follow me'.

The cross is an important symbol of "Christianity" to many, but none more so than the Roman Catholic "church". We must remember that Constantine's vision of a "cross" was the reason he supposedly chose the Roman Catholicism of Paganism in the first place. (Study Constantine and His influence on the written word.)

Since there was no awareness, during the time of His ministry, that Jesus would eventually die on a "cross", that statement would have made no sense at all at the time. Therefore, I believe the statement "take up thy cross" was added to Marks account by the Roman Catholic "church" long after the writing of the original text.

The bible is the un-disputable word of our living God, but we are told in 2 Timothy 2:15,"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth."

If there are any questions, PLEASE ask. It is never my intent to confuse of mislead anyone.~