Matthew 16:24—17:8 Transfiguration
The first part of the passage is a continuation of yesterday’s reading and the same conversation about confessing Jesus as Messiah. If you want to follow Jesus and be His disciple, you must deny yourself. This is an appropriate text as look to begin the season of Lent this week. What does it mean to take up your cross (this was before Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection)? If you are carrying your own cross, you are walking to your execution.
Jesus is not asking you to give up chocolate or alcohol for a few weeks, He is asking you to give up yourself. Your identity. Everything you think is important in this life. The American Dream is about personal happiness and security, the Kingdom of God asks requires us to give them up.
Then we will see Jesus.
Journey Through Scripture 