Matthew 16:24 - Meaning and Application

Christ has already shown his disciples that he must suffer, and that he was ready and willing to suffer. Now he tells them that they must suffer too, and that they must be ready and willing as well. These verses give us a serious and weighty lesson.

Here Christ lays down the rule of discipleship and sets the terms on which we may have its honor and benefit (Matthew 16:24). He said this to his disciples, not only so they could teach others, but also so they could test themselves by this rule. To be a disciple of Christ means to come after him. When Christ first called his disciples, his command was, “Follow me.” A true disciple follows Christ in duty and will follow him into glory. He does not go before Christ or tell Christ what to do, as Peter had just tried to do. Instead, he comes after Christ, like sheep after a shepherd, servants after a master, or soldiers after a captain.

A disciple aims at the same end Christ did, the glory of God and the glory of heaven. He walks the same path Christ walked, is led by the Holy Spirit, steps in Christ’s footprints, submits to his rule, and follows the Lamb wherever he goes (Revelation 14:4). Christ’s words, “If any man will come,” mean, “If anyone is willing to come.” This points to a deliberate choice, made with cheerfulness and firm purpose. Many people are called disciples more by chance or by other people’s wishes than by their own decision, but Christ wants his people to come willingly (Psalm 110:3).

It is as if Christ were saying, “If any who are not yet my disciples are firmly minded to come to me, and if any of you who are my disciples are firmly minded to stay with me, these are the terms, and there are no others. You must follow me in suffering as well as in everything else. So when you count the cost, count on that.” The first term is this: let him deny himself. Peter had just advised Christ to spare himself, and would likely have done the same for himself. But Christ tells them all that they must go far beyond sparing themselves, they must deny themselves.

In this they must follow Christ, because his birth, life, and death were all one long act of self-denial, a complete emptying of himself (Philippians 2:7, 8). If self-denial feels hard and goes against our natural desires, it is no more than what our Master learned and practiced before us and for us, both for our redemption and for our instruction. The servant is not greater than his lord. All Christ’s disciples must deny themselves. This is the basic rule for entering Christ’s school, and the first great lesson to learn there. It is the narrow gate and the narrow way.

We must deny ourselves in a full and complete way. We must not admire ourselves, give in to our own moods, trust our own understanding, seek our own interests, or make ourselves our chief goal. We must also deny ourselves in a relative way. We deny ourselves for Christ, for his will and glory, and for the good of his cause in the world. We deny ourselves for our brothers and sisters and for their good. And we deny ourselves for our own sake, by refusing the body’s cravings for the good of the soul.

The second term is, let him take up his cross. Here the cross means all kinds of suffering, whether as human beings or as Christians, including troubles sent by providence, persecution for doing right, and every hardship that comes because we do good or refuse to do evil. Christian troubles are rightly called crosses because they remind us of Christ’s death on the cross, which he obeyed. That should make us more willing to bear trouble and take away some of its fear, since these are burdens we share with Christ and burdens he carried before us.

Every disciple of Christ has his own cross and must expect it. Just as each person has a special duty to do, so each has a special trouble to bear, and everyone feels his own burden most sharply. Crosses are the common lot of God’s children, but each child has a personal share in that lot. Our cross is what infinite wisdom has appointed for us, and what God’s sovereign providence has laid on us as best for us. It is good for us to call the cross we are under our own and receive it that way.

We are often tempted to think we could bear another person’s cross better than our own, but what God gives us is best, and we should make the best of it. Every disciple must take up the cross that wise God has made his. The phrase points to the Roman practice of forcing condemned people to carry the crossbeam to their execution. When Simon carried Christ’s cross behind him, this saying became especially clear.

First, this assumes the cross is already in our path and ready for us. We must not make crosses for ourselves, but fit ourselves to the crosses God has placed before us. Our rule is not to step out of the way of duty, either to meet a cross or to avoid one. We must not bring trouble on ourselves through rashness or poor judgment. But when trouble is set before us, we must take it up. We must handle affliction so that it does not become a stumbling block or a barrier in any duty we owe to God. We must lift it out of the way by rising above the offense of the cross, saying, “None of these things move me,” and then go on with it, even if it still feels heavy.

Second, our duty is not only to bear the cross, as a post or stone might bear it, or even just to stay quiet under it. We must take up the cross, meaning we must make some good use of it. We should not say, “This is evil, and I have to bear it because I cannot help it,” but rather, “This is evil, and I will bear it because God will make it work for my good.” When we can rejoice in our afflictions and glory in them, then we truly take up the cross. This fits naturally after denying ourselves, because a person who will not deny himself the pleasures of sin and the gains of this world for Christ will not have the heart to take up his cross. As Archbishop Tillotson said, the person who cannot resolve to live as a saint shows within himself that he is unlikely ever to die as a martyr.

The third term is, follow me in this matter of taking up the cross. Suffering believers must look to Jesus and take from him both direction and courage in suffering. Do we bear the cross? Then we are following Christ, who carries it before us, for us, and so takes it away from us. He bore the heavy end of the cross, the end under the curse, and made the other end light and easy for us. Or, more generally, we must follow Christ in every act of holiness and obedience.

The disciples of Christ must learn to imitate their Master and match his example in everything. They must keep doing good, no matter what obstacles come their way. To do what is right and to suffer for it is to follow Christ. So when Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him follow me,” he is saying more than the same thing twice. He means, if anyone wants the name of a disciple, let that person also do the work of a disciple. Or, if anyone starts well in following Christ, let him keep on following him with full perseverance, like Caleb, who followed the Lord fully.

These words are meant to persuade us to submit to Christ’s demands. Self-denial and patient suffering are hard lessons, and we will never learn them if we only listen to our own desires. We should listen to the Lord Jesus and take his counsel. He gives strong reasons for these duties, especially the call to deny ourselves and suffer for him.

One reason is the weight of eternity that depends on our present choice (Matthew 16:25). “Whoever wants to save his life” by denying Christ “will lose it,” and “whoever loses his life” for Christ “will find it.” Life and death, blessing and curse, are set before us here. The worst kind of falling away is often the one that seems most reasonable. A person may think he is saving his life in this world by sin, but he will lose it in the next. If he turns from Christ to protect his temporary life and avoid a temporary death, he will certainly miss eternal life and suffer the second death forever.

There is no fairer excuse for abandoning Christ and doing wrong than saving one’s life. Self-preservation is a powerful instinct, but even that can lead to ruin. In the end, it becomes self-destruction. The life saved is only for a moment, and the death avoided is only like sleep. But the life lost is everlasting, and the death embraced is the full weight of misery, an endless separation from all good. Any sensible person should think carefully about whether apostasy really gains anything in the long run, even if a man saves his property, status, or life by it.

On the other hand, there is great gain in the hardest kind of faithfulness. Whoever loses his life for Christ’s sake in this world will find it in a far better life, to his endless benefit. Many people lose their lives for Christ by serving him with great labor and zeal. Others lose them in suffering, when they choose death rather than deny him, his truth, or his ways. Christ’s holy religion has come down to us sealed with the blood of thousands who did not value even their own lives above duty and the witness of Jesus (Revelation 20:4).

Though many have lost even life itself for Christ, no one has ever truly been a loser by him in the end. Losses of other comforts for Christ may sometimes be restored in this world (Mark 10:30), but the loss of life cannot be restored here. It will be repaid in the next world with eternal life. The faithful hope of that life has been the great support of suffering believers in every age. Their confidence in what they would gain in place of what they risked has helped them triumph over death in all its terror, go smiling to the scaffold, stand singing at the stake, and call their enemies’ worst rage only light trouble.

There is also the value of the soul, and the worthlessness of the world beside it (Matthew 16:26). “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?” The word for “soul” here is the same word translated “life” in the previous verse, because the soul is the life (Genesis 2:7). At the simplest level, this means that if a man gains everything but loses his life, he cannot enjoy what he has won. But it also points higher. The soul is immortal, and if it is lost after death, the whole world cannot make up for it.

Every person has a soul of his own. The soul is the spiritual and lasting part of us. It thinks, reasons, reflects, looks ahead, and now gives life to the body. Soon it will act apart from the body. Our souls are our own, not because we own ourselves, for we do not, since God says, “All souls are mine.” They are ours because they are ourselves.

It is possible for the soul to be lost, and there is real danger of that. The soul is lost when it is forever cut off from all good and given over to all the evil it can suffer. It is lost when it dies as far as a soul can die, separated from God’s favor and sunk under his wrath and curse. A man is never truly ruined until he is in hell.

If the soul is lost, the sinner has lost it himself. He destroys his own soul by doing what surely harms it and neglecting what alone could save it (Hosea 13:9). The sinner dies because he chooses death. The blood is on his own head.

One soul is worth more than the whole world. Our own souls are more valuable to us than all the wealth, honor, and pleasures of this present life, even if we had them all. Here the whole world is placed on one side of the scale and one soul on the other, and the world is found too light. That is Christ’s judgment, and he is fully qualified to judge. He knows the value of souls because he redeemed them, and he would not undervalue the world, since he made it.

Winning the world often means losing the soul. Many people have ruined their eternal good by caring too much, and in the wrong way, for their earthly success. It is love for the world, and a greedy chase after it, that sinks people into destruction and ruin. The loss of the soul is so great that even the gain of the whole world cannot balance it out. Whoever loses his soul, even to gain the world, makes a terrible bargain and ends up a complete loser. When he settles the account and compares profit with loss, he will see that, instead of the advantage he hoped for, he is ruined in every way.

What can a man give in exchange for his soul? If the soul is lost, it is lost forever. There is no equal payment, no substitute price, that can be offered or accepted. It is a loss that can never be repaired or recovered.

If, after Christ paid that great price to redeem our souls and restore them to our rightful place, people still neglect those souls for the world and lose them, that second claim on them will never be removed. There is no other sacrifice for sins, no other price for souls, and no later chance to buy back what has been lost. So it is wise to be careful now and to act for our own good while we can.

These verses also give strong reasons to deny ourselves and suffer for Christ. One reason is the sure hope of Christ’s glory when he comes again to judge the world (Matthew 16:27). If we think about how everything will look at the end, and how souls will stand then, we will judge the present very differently. What seems small now will look very different when seen in the light of that day.

The main support for steady faith comes from Christ’s second coming, viewed first as his honor. The Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father, with his angels. Looking at Christ only in his suffering, so humbled, mistreated, and despised, might discourage his followers from laboring or risking anything for him. But faith sees the Captain of our salvation coming in glory, with the power and splendor of heaven, and that strengthens us to do much and endure much for him.

He calls himself the Son of Man, a title that speaks of his humble human life, to show he is not ashamed of it. His first coming was in lowliness, sharing our flesh and blood. His second coming will be in the glory of his Father. At his first coming, he was accompanied by poor disciples. At his second coming, he will be attended by glorious angels. If we suffer with him, we will also be glorified with him (2 Timothy 2:12).

Christ’s coming is also our concern, because then he will reward each person according to what he has done. Jesus Christ will come as Judge, giving rewards and punishments far beyond anything earthly rulers can give. The fear of human courts (Matthew 10:18) is softened when we look ahead in faith to the glory of Christ’s court. People will then be judged, not by their worldly success, but by their works, by what they were and what they did. On that day, false believers will face eternal ruin, and faithful souls will receive the crown of life.

The best way to prepare for that day is to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ. That way, we make the Judge our Friend, and what we have done will stand well in the account. The final rewards and punishments are kept for that day. Here, good and evil often seem mixed together. We do not always see quick punishment for turning away from God, or quick reward for loyalty. But on that day, everything will be put right, so do not judge anything before the time (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

Another encouragement is the near coming of Christ’s kingdom in this world (Matthew 16:28). It was so near that some standing with him would live to see it. As Simeon was promised that he would not die before he saw the Lord’s Christ come in the flesh, so some here were told they would not taste death, meaning they would not experience death, before they saw the Lord’s Christ coming in his kingdom. At the end of time, he will come in his Father’s glory. But in the fullness of time, he was to come in his own kingdom, his mediatorial kingdom, that is, his rule as the appointed go-between between God and people.

A small sign of that glory was given a few days later in the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1). That was a kind of preview. But this also points to Christ’s coming in the pouring out of his Spirit, the planting of the gospel church, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the removal of the Jewish nation and its place, since they were the strongest enemies of Christianity. In this way, the Son of Man came in his kingdom. Many who were there lived to see it, especially John, who lived past the destruction of Jerusalem and saw Christianity spread through the world.

This should encourage Christ’s followers to suffer for him. Their work would succeed, even if they faced opposition. The apostles were building Christ’s kingdom, and they could be sure they would accomplish their task and see the fruit of their labor. It is a great comfort to suffering believers to know that Christ’s kingdom will grow among people, not only despite their sufferings, but through them. A hopeful view of the success of grace’s kingdom, as well as of our share in glory’s kingdom, can carry us through suffering with courage.

They can also be sure their cause will be defended. Their deaths will be avenged, and their persecutors will be brought to account. And this will happen soon, in that very age. The closer the church’s deliverance is, the more cheerful we should be in suffering for Christ. The Judge stands at the door. This was spoken as comfort to those who would live through that dark time, because they would see better days. It is a good thing to share in the church’s joys (Daniel 12:12).

Christ said some would live to see those glorious days, not all. Some would enter the promised land, while others would fall in the wilderness. He did not say which ones would live to see the kingdom, because if they had known, they might have stopped thinking about death. But some of them would. The Lord is near. The Judge stands before the door, so be patient, brothers and sisters.