He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
23 Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?
Jesus begins by telling his disciples what must happen to him. He calls himself “the Son of Man” and says that he “must suffer greatly” and be rejected by Israel’s recognized leaders: “the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes” (Lk. 9:22). The word “must” signals that this is not an accident or a tragic turn of events. Jesus is describing the road his mission will take. Rejection and death are not the end of the sentence. He adds, “and on the third day be raised” (Lk. 9:22). Luke places suffering, death, and resurrection together, so readers understand from the start that, in God’s plan of salvation, Jesus’ path runs through the cross and into the resurrection—so that humanity can be reconciled to God through him.
After Jesus speaks about what will happen to him, he turns to what it will mean for anyone who follows him. Luke is careful to say, “Then he said to all” (Lk. 9:23). This call is not limited to the Twelve or to especially strong disciples. It is the condition of discipleship itself. Jesus describes it in three linked actions: “deny himself,” “take up his cross daily,” and “follow me” (Lk. 9:23). “Deny himself” means that a disciple does not keep the self at the center. It is not self-hatred and it is not contempt for the body. It is the choice to let Jesus set the terms of life rather than the demands of ego, comfort, and control.
The image of taking up a cross would have sounded severe to Luke’s first readers. In the Roman world, carrying a cross was tied to public shame and punishment. Jesus is not telling disciples to chase suffering for its own sake. He is saying that following him can bring rejection, loss of status, and the kind of humiliation that comes from standing with him and living by his way. Luke adds a single word that sharpens the meaning: “daily” (Lk. 9:23). This is not only a warning about a final crisis. It points to steady loyalty. Discipleship is not a single heroic moment. It is a repeated, day-by-day choice to keep walking behind Jesus. This kind of daily faithfulness is also the ground of the moral life: a conscience formed by truth helps a disciple choose, day by day, what belongs to Jesus.
Jesus then gives a paradox that explains why the cross belongs to discipleship. “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Lk. 9:24). “Saving” one’s life can mean making self-preservation the highest goal—protecting the self at all costs, refusing anything that threatens comfort, reputation, or control. Jesus does not abolish ordinary prudence or responsible self-care. He is exposing a deeper danger: a life curved inward on the self. When self-protection becomes the ruling principle, a person can end up losing the very life he is trying to secure.
To “lose” one’s life “for my sake” (Lk. 9:24) means entrusting one’s life to Jesus in a way that reshapes priorities. It means accepting that loyalty to him will sometimes cost something real. It means being willing to be misunderstood, to be resisted, and to be set aside when Jesus’ way conflicts with the expectations of the world. In Luke’s Gospel, this kind of discipleship shows itself in lived love of neighbor, including love that crosses boundaries and love that does good even when it is not returned (see Lk. 6:27). In that sense, “losing” one’s life is not romantic. It is the willingness to spend oneself in faithful obedience and in love shaped by Jesus.
Jesus ends with a question meant to realign one’s thinking: “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?” (Lk. 9:25). The issue is not only what someone owns or achieves. The issue is what becomes of the person. A disciple can accumulate status, security, and influence and still end up diminished within—losing the self God created, losing the soul’s orientation toward God, losing the freedom that comes from living in truth. Jesus forces the comparison. Nothing gained in “the whole world” is worth the loss of the person.
Luke places these words right after Jesus’ first clear prediction of his suffering and resurrection (Lk. 9:22). That placement matters. Jesus does not invite disciples into an abstract philosophy or a private spirituality. He invites them onto his road. The cross is not an optional extra for intense believers. It belongs to the shape of following him. And Luke’s “daily” makes it concrete: the cost of following Jesus is the cross, carried in the steady, faithful choices that keep a disciple behind him.
Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to follow you each day with a faithful heart. Teach me to deny what pulls me away from you, and to carry the cross that comes with living as your disciple. Keep me from gaining what cannot last while losing what matters most. Amen.
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Sources and References
- New American Bible Revised Edition: Lk. 9:22-25.
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, p. 125.
- New Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 699-700, para. 114.
- The Navarre Bible: St. Luke, p. 287.
- The Paulist Biblical Commentary, pp. 1062-1063.
- The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, p. 1322.
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