Following Jesus In The Way Of Self-Sacrifice

⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. (^NIVLk 24:45-48)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (^NIVAc. 1:8).

¹⁴But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, ¹⁵and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. (^NRSVAc. 3:14, 15)

⁴…Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness (Gk. ho martus ho pistos), the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. (^NIVRev. 1:4, 5)

• “πιστός^b, ή, όν: (derivative of πιστεύω^b ‘to trust,’ 31.85) pertaining to being trusted—‘faithful, trustworthy, dependable, reliable.”

I know where you [church in Pergamum] live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness (Gk: ho martus mou ho pistos mou; “faithful martyr,” NKJV), who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives (^NIVRev. 2:13)

And when the blood of Your witness (“martyr,” NIV) Stephen was being shed, I was standing by and approving, and I guarded the clothes of those who killed him.’
(^HCSBAc 22:20)

¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life…. (^NIV2 Cor. 2:14-15)

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (^NIVCol. 1:24)

• ²⁴At present I am full of joy because of the things I am suffering in order to help and serve you; as I serve on the Messiah’s behalf, his sufferings are represented in this weak and mortal body of mine for the sake of his body, the assembly, ²⁵of which I became a servant according to the stewardship that God entrusted to me with respect to you, namely, to fully proclaim the word of God… (^BHTCol. 1:24, 25).

³⁴Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (^NIVMk. 8:34, 35)

• “Crucifixion. Form of execution employed in the death of Jesus Christ. Two concepts related to crucifixion occur in Scripture: the “cross,” a pagan mode of capital punishment, and the “tree,” which was a Jewish form… Literally, the word “cross” in Greek referred to a pointed stake used for various purposes, including a means of agonizing execution. As an instrument of death it could be an upright stake, used to impale a victim, or a vertical stake with a crossbeam either across the top (T) or across the middle (+), used to hang or crucify a criminal, with the added disgrace of public display. Evidently crucifixion was practiced first by the Medes and Persians and later by Alexander the Great (356–323 bc), the Carthaginians, and the Romans. Both Greeks and Romans restricted its use to slaves, considering it too barbaric for citizens. In the imperial era the Romans extended the use to aliens, but even so it was used mainly for crimes against the state.”

³⁷Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. ³⁸Two robbers (Gk: duo lēstai; “two revolutionaries,” NLT) were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. (Mt. 27:37, 38)

¹⁸But they all shouted out together, “Take this man away! Release Barabbas for us!” ¹⁹(This was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city, and for murder.) (^NETLk 23:18, 19)

³⁵And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” ³⁷And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory (Mt. 20:21: “in your kingdom”).” ³⁸Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup (“the bitter cup of suffering,” NLT) that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism (“the baptism of suffering,” NLT) with which I am baptized?” ³⁹And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, ⁴⁰but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” (^ESVMk. 10:35-40)

¹⁸“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (^NIVJn. 15:18, 19)

²³Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. ²⁵What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? ²⁶If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (^NIVLk. 9:23-26)

• “Crucifixion. Form of execution employed in the death of Jesus Christ…. The term “cross” was also used figuratively by Jesus to portray the sacrifice required in discipleship and by the apostle Paul to symbolize the death of self in the process of sanctification.”

³⁰And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³²If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (^NIV1 Cor. 15:30-32)

¹⁶Therefore I urge you to imitate me (“follow my example,” NCV). ¹⁷For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. (^NIV1 Cor. 4:16, 17).

¹⁷Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. (^NIVPhp. 4:17-19)

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (^NIVPhp. 4:9)

¹When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. (^NIV1 Cor. 2:1-3)

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (^NIV1 Cor. 11:1)

Eph. 5-6; Col. 3-4; 1 Pt. 2-4