"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God."
In today's lesson, Jesus gave directions to His Apostles, demanding of them absolute devotion.
As was discussed in yesterday's lesson, special attention must be paid to whom Jesus made these demands.
He was speaking directly to the twelve Apostles. These twelve had been hand selected by Jesus to have a special place in the history of Christianity. They were also given the power of the Holy Spirit, to heal and perform miracles, before He (The Holy Spirit) had descended upon the Church at Pentecost.
Those twelve were very unique in that Jesus exempted them from the Law of Moses in many ways, while they were still bound in many others. For example, Jesus would not allow them to preach to Gentiles, or even go into their lands.
Therefore, as some claim, the redeemed today are NOT subject to the absoluteness of the demands Jesus made upon His Apostles in today's lesson. Although we are to indeed, to live out our lives fully devoted to God through Jesus Christ. We are not bound to the rigid standards set forth in this lesson by Jesus.
We, those of us whom have been saved by grace, have had our sins remitted by and through the sacrifice made by Jesus. Our actions are "justified" by His grace.
In the latter part of today's lesson, Jesus went on to tell His Apostles, knowing that Judas would betray Him and not be a part of the twelve when the Holy Spirit descended on His Church, that SOME of them would be present when the Kingdom of God appeared. (Matthew would take Judas' place among the Apostles and was present with the eleven at Pentcost.)
As we know, the Church began when Jesus selected, and ordained, Peter as the first Apostle. Therefore Peter was the first member of the Church, the others being ordained and added as they were selected.
The Church was restricted to Jesus and the twelve Apostles until the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. That is the reason for the rigid demands Jesus placed upon His Apostles.
As we will learn, as these lessons progress, the Church expanded by several thousand on that same day.
To sum up, I say again, it is very important to pay close attention to the context of any New Testament lesson, and to whom it was originally addressed.~
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