Matthew 16:24-28
In order to see the connection of these verses we must remember the mistaken impressions of our Lord’s disciples as to the purpose of His coming into the world. Like Peter they could not bear the idea of the crucifixion. They thought that Jesus had come to set up an earthly kingdom; they did not see that He must needs suffer and die. They dreamed of worldly honours and temporal rewards in their Master’s service; they did not understand that true Christians, like Christ, must be made “perfect through suffering.” Our Lord corrects these misapprehensions in words of peculiar solemnity, which we shall do well to lay up in our hearts.
Let us learn in the first place from these verses, that men must make up their minds to trouble and self-denial if they follow Christ.