To follow · To save and to lose · Elias Thorn
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To follow · To save and to lose

Mark 8:27–9:1

8:27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?

8:28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.

8:29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.

8:30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.

8:31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

8:32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.

8:33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

8:34 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.

8:35 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.

8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

8:38 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.

9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

Reading notes

Peter names Jesus as the Christ, but then objects to the predicted suffering. Naming him correctly does not yet mean accepting what that name will entail within the account.

The call to take up a cross addresses someone who wishes to follow Jesus. It does not, without further argument, give another person authority to assign suffering to someone else. The distinction between following and coercion matters when reading the passage today.

King James Version (1611), historical English translation, in the public-domain electronic text. This is an independent English edition of the same passage, not a back-translation of the Russian text; wording and textual readings can differ. The Russian text renders the Greek in 8:31 as “after three days” and 8:33 as “behind me,” preserving its link with following in 8:34. KJV uses its traditional wording.

Open source ↗ (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10)

Greek text (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%208%3A27-9%3A1&version=WHNU)