Luke 9:23-26 "Then he said to them all, 'If you want to become my followers...'"

“Then he said to them all, ’If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels’” (Luke 9:23-26).

Comment:

Metaphysically, the cross represents a point at which our forward spiritual progress (the upright post) is held back by resistance from our attachment to the things of this world (the cross bar). Jesus is here speaking as the Christ, the true spiritual identity of him and of each of us. Our spiritual path leads us to a full expression of that Christ Presence in our lives. It requires many “cross experiences”—times when we must choose to resist old attachments and move forward. If we choose instead to give priority to our mortal attachments, we will lose the experience of our immortal spiritual identity. If we are willing to “lose our life,” that is, to deny power to the human attachments and choose instead to continue our forward spiritual process, it may feel like a death; but it will, in Truth, lead us to the immortal spirit that is our true identity. And all our choices have consequences. So if we feel “ashamed” of our spiritual calling, “ashamed” of being out of step with the mortal world around us, then that sense of shame will be magnified and returned to us according to Divine Law.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed