Following Jesus costs everything, but it gives us far more in return. In Mark 8:31-9:1, Jesus explains for the first time that he must suffer, die, and rise again. When Peter objects, Jesus rebukes him and then calls everyone who wants to follow him to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow. The paradox at the center of this passage is that those who try to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for Jesus will find real life.
Setting the Scene in Mark 8:31-9:1
Moments earlier, at Caesarea Philippi, Peter declared that Jesus is the Messiah (Mark 8:27-30). It was the high point of the disciples’ understanding so far. But like the blind man who first saw people as walking trees, Peter’s sight was still blurry. He had the right title, but he didn’t yet understand what kind of Messiah Jesus came to be.
From this point, Mark’s Gospel turns toward Jerusalem and the cross. Jesus will predict his death three times (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34). Each time, the disciples misunderstand, and each time Jesus responds by teaching them what it really means to follow him. This is the first of those three cycles.
The Son of Man Must Suffer
For the first time, Jesus spoke openly about the cross.
Mark 8:31-33 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
Notice the word “must.” In Greek, it’s dei, a word that expresses divine necessity. Jesus’ death wasn’t a tragic accident or a plan gone wrong. It was God’s plan from the beginning, foretold in passages like Isaiah 53. Jesus also named the people who would reject him: the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the law. These three groups made up the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of Israel. The very leaders who should have welcomed the Messiah would condemn him.
Jesus called himself “the Son of Man,” his favorite title for himself. It comes from Daniel 7:13-14, where “one like a son of man” receives authority and an everlasting kingdom from God. But Jesus combined that glorious figure with the suffering servant of Isaiah. The Son of Man would reign, but first he would suffer.
Get Behind Me, Satan
Peter couldn’t accept it. He took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. It’s a stunning reversal: minutes after calling Jesus the Messiah, Peter was correcting him. In his mind, the Messiah was supposed to conquer, not be crucified. The word Mark uses for Peter’s rebuke is the same word used when Jesus rebuked demons and the storm (Mark 1:25; 4:39). Peter was trying to silence Jesus.
Jesus turned, looked at all the disciples, and rebuked Peter in front of them: “Get behind me, Satan!” These are some of the harshest words Jesus spoke to anyone. Peter wasn’t possessed, but he was repeating Satan’s temptation in the wilderness (Mark 1:12-13): a crown without a cross. “Get behind me” also put Peter back in his place as a follower. A disciple’s place is behind the master, not in front of him giving directions.
Jesus summed up the problem: Peter had in mind “merely human concerns” rather than the concerns of God. From a human point of view, power and safety looked like success. From God’s point of view, the path to glory ran straight through the cross.
Take Up Your Cross
Then Jesus called the crowd and explained that the cross wasn’t only for him.
Mark 8:34-38 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
To deny yourself doesn’t mean denying yourself chocolate for Lent. It means saying no to self as the center of your life and saying yes to Jesus as Lord. To take up your cross was a shocking image to Jesus’ first hearers. Under Roman rule, a condemned criminal was forced to carry the crossbeam, called the patibulum, through the streets to the place of execution. Everyone who saw a person carrying a cross knew he was a dead man walking. Jesus was saying that following him means dying to your old life.
Many scholars believe Mark wrote his Gospel to Christians in Rome, possibly around the time of Nero’s persecution in the mid-60s AD. The Roman historian Tacitus records that Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome and had many of them crucified or burned. For Mark’s first readers, Jesus’ words about the cross weren’t a metaphor. They were a real and present danger. And yet they kept following.
The German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis for resisting Hitler, famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” He knew exactly what this passage meant.
Lose Your Life to Find It
Jesus gave a paradox that has transformed countless lives: whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Jesus and the gospel will save it. The Greek word translated “life” is psychē, which can mean both physical life and the soul, the real you. Jesus was saying that clinging to control, comfort, and self-protection actually destroys the very life we’re trying to keep.
Then he asked two piercing questions: What good is it to gain the whole world but forfeit your soul? What can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Think of the most successful people you can imagine. If they gain everything but lose their soul, they’ve made the worst trade in history. Paul described what it looks like to lose your life and find it in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
That is the heart of discipleship. It isn’t just giving up things for Jesus. It’s exchanging your life for his, and discovering that his life in you is far better.
Some Will See the Kingdom
Jesus ended with a promise.
Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Commentators have debated what Jesus meant. Some point to the resurrection, to Pentecost, or to the spread of the gospel. But the most natural reading is the very next scene. Six days later, Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured in glory on a mountain (Mark 9:2-13). They got a preview of the kingdom coming with power. After hearing about the cross, the disciples needed to see the glory on the other side of it.
What This Means for Us
Many people want Jesus as a helper, a coach, or an upgrade to their lives. Jesus offers something more radical: a new life that begins when we let go of the old one. Following Jesus will cost us. It may cost comfort, reputation, relationships, or plans. For some believers around the world, it still costs their lives.
But Jesus never asks us to carry a cross he hasn’t carried first. He went to the cross to pay for our sins, and he rose again to give us eternal life. Whatever following him costs, it is nothing compared to what we gain. If you haven’t yet put your faith in Jesus, the first step is trusting what he did for you on the cross. Learn more at How can I become a Christian?
The Takeaway
What does it cost to follow Jesus? Everything. Jesus said the Messiah must suffer, die, and rise, and he calls his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. But losing our lives for Jesus is the only way to truly find them. No trade in the world is worth your soul.
