And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple.
- BSB And whoever does not carry his cross and follow 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 he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
- Luke 9:23–25And 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.
- Matt 16:24–26Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
- Mark 10:21Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
- Mark 8:34–37And 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.
- Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
- 2 Tim 3:12Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
- Matt 13:21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
- 2 Tim 1:12For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
- John 19:17And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
- Mark 15:21And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
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.