To Be A Disciple Means You Deny Your SELF
Deny literally means "to say no", to say one does not know about or is in any way related to some person or some thing. Webster says that to deny implies a firm refusal to accept as true, to grant or concede or to acknowledge the existence or claims of.
Classical writers understood deny to mean “to refuse.” Under certain conditions other shades of meaning appear, such as “to reject” or “to decline”; the word can even mean “to deny something or someone.” It was during the Hellenistic period that deny first denoted the meaning so dominant in the New Testament— “to renounce, to deny.” Deny is rare in the canonical writings of the Septuagint; it appears only in Genesis 18:15 where Sarah denied that she had laughed.
Here are a few passages from the New Testament that use deny:
But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.”
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.
saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.
instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
To Be a Disciple Means To Take Up Your Cross
The cross, a Roman instrument of execution, symbolizes suffering, shame, and death. For Jesus' audience, this imagery would be stark and shocking. Taking up one's cross "daily" suggests a continual, ongoing commitment to endure hardship and persecution for the sake of Christ. This phrase foreshadows Jesus' own crucifixion and aligns with Paul's teaching in Galatians 2:20 about being crucified with Christ.
The cross is not a minor inconvenience; it is an instrument of death. Jesus is calling for daily dying to self‑will. This is a continual, ongoing lifestyle, not a one‑time heroic act. Most commentaries connect this with Paul’s language of “dying daily” and being “crucified with Christ.”
WEDNESDAY
To Be A Disciple Means To FOLLOW Jesus
Following Jesus implies obedience and imitation of His life and teachings. It is an active, ongoing process that requires perseverance and faithfulness. This call to follow is consistent with Jesus' earlier invitations to His disciples (Matthew 16:24) and is a central theme in the Gospels. It also connects to the broader biblical narrative of following God, as seen in the lives of the patriarchs and prophets.
Follow means to walk the same road. Literally to follow (like the crowds followed Jesus) and in a figurative sense to follow Jesus as a disciple. To follow (closely) was used of soldiers, servants and pupils. Early in the history of the Greek language follow came to mean to imitate or follow someone's example. This dual meaning colored the New Testament use of our use of the word follow.
Note that most of the uses of follow are in the Gospels and thus this verb is firmly linked with the life of Jesus, for He is the One to follow. When Jesus issued a call to "Follow Me" follow was always indicated that Jesus is calling for this to be one's lifelong path, ultimately one which can only be successfully trodden by yielding to His Spirit who enables us to obey that command as our lifestyle. There is a big difference between the disciples who followed Jesus in Mt 4:20, 22+ and the crowds following Him (Mt 4:25+, Mt 8:1+, etc) for the former left their possessions (nets, boat), while the latter left nothing. In the Gospels follow is always related to Jesus as the object of following in discipleship.
THURSDAY
What does it take to be a disciple of Jesus? How does someone know if they are a disciple of Jesus? Once we become a disciple, are we always a disciple of Jesus? This Sunday, we will explore the question, “Are You A Disciple?” You may want to read Luke 9:23 in preparation for Sunday’s sermon.