Lesson 3396

 (Lesson 3396)(04-21-21) Luke 9:23-27

    “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 quote, Jesus, speaking directly to His apostles, demanded that if they were to be His apostles, they were to abandon all else, including home and family. Each of them was to “take up his cross” and follow Jesus.

   The word “cross” as applied in today’s quote, is NOT a reference to the type of cross that Jesus would soon be crucified upon. Rather, the word “cross”, as it is applied in today’s quote, is a reference to the very foundation or pylons, upon which someone would build a house near rising water, such as Peter and the others, being fishermen. (The ancient greek word for “cross” is ‘staurou’, which when translated to English means pole, ‘pale’, or pylon.)

    In essence, the apostles Jesus chose to follow Him were to leave everything behind committing  totally to the Lord’s work. 

    So far as I have been able to establish, this demand concerned the chosen apostles and those who are called to preach His word, and does not apply to everyone who commits their soul to Christ.~

NOTE: If someone has reason to believe I am wrong with this analysis, please feel free to show me my error.

I apologize foe being late with today’s lesson. I will try to do better.