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MATTHEW 16:24 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
Matt 16:23Matt 16:25
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Then Jesus told his disciples: if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. The discipleship requirement that follows the first passion prediction: self-denial, cross-taking, and following. The cross was not a metaphor in the first century but an instrument of Roman execution — the disciples who heard this knew what carrying a cross meant. The self-denial that takes up the cross is the discipleship that follows the suffering Christ rather than the triumphant messiah Peter envisioned.

Church Fathers on Matthew 16:24

Peter had said, 'Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee;' and had been answered, 'Get thee behind me, Satan;' but the Lord was not satisfied with this rebuke, but over and above desired to shew the impropriety of those things which Peter had said, and the fruit of His own passion; whence it is added, 'Then said Jesus to his disciples, If any man will to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me;' as much as to say, You say unto…

Chrysostom · 4th century · Hom. iv

For unless a man departs from himself, he does not draw near to Him who is above him. But if we leave ourselves, whither shall we go out of ourselves? Or if we have forsaken ourselves, who is it then that goes? Indeed, we are one thing when fallen by sin, another thing as we were made by nature. It is therefore then that we leave and deny ourselves, when we avoid that which we were of old, and strive towards that to which we are called in newness.

Gregory the Great · 6th century · Hom. in Ev., xxxii, 2

But though a man may seem to keep from sin, yet if he does not believe in the cross of Christ, he cannot be said to be crucified with Christ; whence it follows, 'And take up his cross.'

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 12 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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Matthew 16:24 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy