The Christ of God
18 As he was praying alone, the disciples were near him, and he asked them, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?” 19 They answered, “‘John the Baptizer,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others, that one of the old prophets has risen again.” 20 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” 21 But he warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.” 23 He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self? 26 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here who will in no way taste of death until they see God’s Kingdom.”
The confession comes while he is praying alone — and the cross that follows it is to be taken up daily.
As he was praying alone, the disciples were near him, and he asked them, “Who do the multitudes say that I am?”
The exchange is in the earliest account Mark 8:27–38. This telling sets it where it sets every turning point: in prayer. The phrasing is almost a contradiction — praying alone, with the disciples near — and it is exactly right for a man who withdraws inside a crowd.
The public answers are the three Herod had just been offered Luke 9:19, all of them respectful and all of them a category from the past.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
The genitive is this account's — not merely the Christ, but God's. The anointing has an owner.
But he warned them and commanded them to tell this to no one,
The confession is correct and immediately embargoed, and the next sentence explains why.
saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.”
That must is the word this book has used since a twelve-year-old said it in the temple Luke 2:49. The rejection is specified by office — the three groups that constituted the council — so what is predicted is a formal verdict rather than a mob.
He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
The opening words are this account's own. To all — the terms are not for the twelve but for anybody, and there is no second tier of ordinary follower on easier conditions. The image itself needs no softening: a man carrying a crossbeam through a street was going one place, and everyone who saw him knew it.
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?
The doubled verb is careful: a man may lose himself by force or forfeit himself by trade, and the second is what the sentence is warning about.
But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here who will in no way taste of death until they see God’s Kingdom.”
The saying is answered by the next paragraph, which begins about eight days later on a mountain.
settled What this mark means