Mark 8

Reading the following four verses has a strong impact on me.

Mar 8:34
And calling near the crowd with His disciples,
He said to them, Whoever will come after Me,
let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow Me.
Mar 8:35
For whoever will save his life
shall lose it;
but whoever shall lose his life
for My sake and the gospel's,
he shall save it.
Mar 8:36
For what shall it profit a man
if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37
Or what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul?
Mar 8:38 Therefore
whoever shall be ashamed of Me
and of My Words
in this adulterous and sinful generation,
the Son of Man shall also be ashamed of him
when He comes in the glory of His Father
with the holy angels.

It speaks out to me.

It strikes me as the essential kernel of what He came here to say.

The core of a life built on Christian belief.

As soon as I write this, I remember arriving at a similar place
as I was reading the book of Matthew.
I wrote that Mat_11:28-30 was
"the personal crescendo of the Gospel" for me.
(did I really write that? personal crescendo? ha.)

But immediately I was curious to find out:

Were they the same verses?

Looking back, I discover that they are not ! ! !

Mat 11:28 Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Mat 11:29 Take My yoke on you and learn of Me,
for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest to your souls.
Mat 11:30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

interesting.

They are similar,
but there are verses in the previous chapter that correspond exactly,
and I glossed right over them.

Mat 10:38 And who does not take up his cross and follow after Me
is not worthy of Me.
Mat 10:39 The one finding his life shall lose it.
And the one losing his life on account of Me shall find it.

I'm not mentioning this to try and claim that some teachings
are more important than others.
I am simply making the observation
that my concept of "the central message" shifted a bit from then to now.

Anyway, so what is it about these verses?

It seems to me that up until now,
Jesus has been speaking in parables,
and healing people but then telling them to remain quiet,
and avoiding crowds and towns at particular times.
Often choosing a low profile, in other words.

But now its like he just gathers everyone together
and states it in no uncertain terms.
Just a straight-to-the-point no-nonsense
bet-your-life-on-it kinda thing.

I can't imagine there is any way to misinterpret this!

Not only that;
We are given an awesome prophecy in verse 38, when
(speaking of himself in the third person to avoid an instant blasphemy charge)
He promises that

the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father,
along with the holy angels.

That will be a day I don't want to miss...!