Then 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
- NASB And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
- NLT Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
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
Jesus calls anyone who would follow Him to deny self, take up his cross daily, and follow Him. Discipleship means daily death to self for the sake of Christ.
Overview
Having spoken of His own suffering, Jesus extends the pattern to all His followers. Taking up the cross meant accepting shame, suffering, and even death, a daily and ongoing surrender. To follow Christ is to renounce self-rule and live under His lordship every day.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 10:38–39and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.
- Luke 14:26–27“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- Rom 8:13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- John 12:25–26Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
- Mark 8:34–38Then 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.
- Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Titus 2:12It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- 2 Tim 3:12Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- Matt 16:22–25Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”
- 1 Cor 15:30–31And why do we endanger ourselves every hour?
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 9:23 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.