Section 9:23–27

Jesus spoke about what a person must do to be his disciple

In the preceding section Jesus was speaking to his disciples. This section is addressed to “all.” According to the parallel passage in Mark, Jesus called the crowd of people who were there to come and listen to him. Luke does not make this detail explicit, but it is implied by the word “all.” So in these verses Jesus was speaking to the crowd, as well as to his disciples. This meant that most of the people to whom Jesus spoke were not his followers.

In 9:23 Jesus told the people what a person must do in order to be his disciple. A person must deny himself, take up his cross every day, and follow Jesus. In the next verses (9:24–26) Jesus explained why a person must do this. Sometimes a person chooses not to follow Jesus because he wants to avoid death and shame in the present life. If, for that reason, he does not follow Jesus, he will be shamed in the future at the final judgment. He will forfeit true life with God. By contrast, a person who chooses to follow Christ may lose his present life, but he will gain true life with God.

It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it. Some other headings for this section are:

Jesus told people how to be his true disciples
-or-
The Life of a Person who Becomes Jesus’ Disciple
-or-
What it Means to Follow Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 16:24–28 and Mark 8:34–9:1. See also Luke 14:27, 17:33; John 12:25.

Paragraph 9:23–27

9:23a

Then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then here introduces the next event in the story. It happened immediately after the event in the preceding section. Some English versions do not begin a new section here. Introduce this new event in a natural way in your language.

Jesus said to all of them: In the preceding section, Jesus had been addressing only his twelve apostles. Now he began to speak to all the other people along with his disciples. See the introduction to Section 9:23–27.

In some languages it may be necessary to make explicit to whom the word all refers. It should not mean “all the disciples.” Other ways to express this meaning include:

Then Jesus said to all the people (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Then Jesus began to speak to all ⌊the people who were there, including his disciples⌋

9:23b–27

In these verses Jesus talked about anyone and everyone who wanted to be his disciple. Indicate this in a natural way in your language. In some languages it may be more natural to use a plural subject. For example:

If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing to give up their lives daily to follow me. (New Century Version)

In other languages it may be more natural to use a pronoun like “you.” For example:

If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
If you want to come with me, you must forget yourself, take up your cross every day, and follow me. (Good News Translation)

9:23b

If anyone wants to come after Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wants to come after Me is literally “wants/desires after me to come.” It refers to anyone who wanted to become Jesus’ disciple and follow him. Other ways to translate this are:

If any want to become my followers (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
Anyone who desires/decides to be my disciple

wants to: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as wants to means “desires to,” “wishes to,” or “wants to.” In this context, it may imply “⌊truly⌋ wants to.”

9:23c–e

he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me: The Greek phrases that the Berean Standard Bible translates as must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me are three indirect commands. A person who desires to be one of Jesus’ disciples must do three things:

(1) He must deny himself.

(2) He must take up his cross daily.

(3) He must follow Jesus as a disciple.

Indicate in a natural way in your language that a person must do each of these actions in order to be a follower of Jesus.

9:23c

he must deny himself: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates literally as deny himself means “reject oneself” or “refuse to please oneself.” A disciple must do what his master wants him to do, whether or not it is what the disciple himself wants to do. Disciples of Jesus must give up the right to fulfill their own ambitions. Some other ways to translate deny himself include:

forget about yourself (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
turn from your selfish ways (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
renounce self (Revised English Bible)
-or-
refuse his own desires

9:23d

take up his cross: The phrase take up his cross refers to the way that Roman soldiers executed criminals. They forced a condemned criminal to pick up a large wooden cross. He had to carry it to the place where he would be put to death. Then the soldiers nailed him on the cross to die.

When Jesus used this phrase, he knew that the Romans would soon force him to carry a literal cross. But in this context, he used the phrase figuratively. Jesus probably meant that anyone who wanted to become his disciple should live each day as if he were already dead to his own desires. He may also have meant that anyone who wanted to become his disciple had to be willing to suffer and die in order to obey him.

Some ways to translate the phrase take up his cross are:

• Translate the figure of speech literally and add a footnote that explains the meaning. A sample footnote is:

In the time of Jesus, a person who was condemned to be crucified was forced to carry the cross to the place where he would be nailed to it. Jesus probably means here that a person who follows him must consider himself to be like a dead person. He must obey Jesus and not choose his own way. Jesus may also mean that a person must be ready to suffer and die in order to follow him

• Omit the figure of speech and translate the meaning directly. For example:

must consider themselves daily to be dead as far as their own lives/desires are concerned
-or-
must be willing to give up their lives daily (New Century Version)

If you follow this option, consider adding a footnote that gives Jesus’ literal words.

Translate this phrase in the way that is most natural in your language.

cross: A cross refers to two large wooden boards or beams that were attached to each other. Roman soldiers used crosses to kill criminals. They nailed or tied a criminal to these wooden beams, then set them upright. They did this in order to cause the criminal to die slowly and painfully.

The word cross comes from the fact that the beams were crossed and attached. This made the shape of a + or ✝ (or sometimes a T).

In many languages there may be no word for cross. If that is true in your language, you may need to use a descriptive phrase. For example:

board/wood of death
-or-
crossed-beam(s) of death
-or-
a tree for killing people
-or-
a stake/plank to which they fasten/nail someone to kill him

daily: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as daily means “every day.” Other ways to translate this include:

day by day
-or-
day after day

9:23e

follow Me: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as follow means “be my disciple.” This means the same thing as “come after me” in 9:23b.

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