And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
- KJV And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
- NKJV And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
- NASB Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
- NLT And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever does not bear his own cross and follow Jesus cannot be His disciple. Discipleship means willingness to suffer and die to self for Christ.
Overview
Bearing one's cross evokes the condemned man carrying the instrument of his execution. It calls for daily self-denial and readiness to face shame and death for following Jesus. This points to the cross Christ Himself would bear and the path of cross-shaped obedience for all who follow Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Matt 10:38and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.
- Luke 9:23–25Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
- Matt 16:24–26Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- Mark 10:21Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
- Mark 8:34–37Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- 2 Tim 3:12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- Matt 13:21But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.
- 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
- John 19:17Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
- Mark 15:21Now Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and the soldiers forced him to carry the cross of Jesus.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 14:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.