I have heard this phrase many times and often wondered what it meant.  So I went to find out.  We find this verse in the Gospel of Mark 8:34 “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”  The verse follows the story of where Jesus asks His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”  Now Peter correctly stated that “You are the Christ.”  In the Gospel of Matthew after this exchange Jesus calls Peter the Rock on which I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

Back into Mark, it’s the next few verses where Jesus is telling His disciples that; 31-32; the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.  This is where Peter was unwittingly used of Satan to rebuke what Jesus had just said.  And Jesus said 8:33, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”  No matter how sincere Peter’s heart was, he let his mind settle on the power and strength of Jesus as a Messiah instead of the suffering servant Jesus. 

 

Following the rebuke is where Jesus made the statement, Deny himself, and take up his cross.

 

It is denial of self and placing Jesus first in our lives, which is quite frequently reflected in ministering to others without any notice among men that we are doing it, Discipleship.  In fact Jesus warns specifically about that, Matthew 6:1 Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Denying self is to live others-centered, not self-centered.  Living as an others-centered person does not take away from our lives, it will add to it.

 

As we grow in Christ, we realize, as we continue to die to our own self-centeredness, that we must, Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others, Philippians 2:4.  We begin to see that it is through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that it is Christ ministering in and through us to others.  In Luke’s Gospel he adds a word to the phrase, take up your cross, daily!   Denying yourself daily means to say no to self-centeredness and yes to God.  In Luke’s Gospel, NLT version it’s worded slightly different; 9:23 “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.  I think the word ‘selfish ways’ speaks to us more than deny yourself.  We all understand selfishness, although they mean the same.  Selfishness and discipleship don’t mix.

 

So, as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, we are asking to do His will, in our daily walk, not our own.  But, it is a prayer that we should do more than on Sunday’s in church, as it states in Luke’s Gospel, daily.  We should strive to be a daily disciple, helping others.  Strangers should be able to see Christ in us in what we do and what we say, how we live.  Thank God, a person is never too old to start.  Romans 10:13, Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.