Self-Denial

A New Testament View

Stuart T. Rochester

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781532603822, 9781532603846
• eBook ISBN: 9781532603839
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

In Mark 8:34 and parallels Jesus challenges his disciples to "deny themselves." The concept of "denying the self" seems to be unique to Jesus, for this saying is never quoted or referred to in the New Testament outside the Gospels. What did Jesus mean? What is the "self" or the aspects of the self that must be denied? What would such a denial entail? Can we find similar concepts in Paul's letters? This book examines the self-denial passages in the Gospels and then investigates how this theme is expressed in many other books of the New Testament.

Chapter 1

Jesus’ Self-Denial Sayings

The self-denial sayings in Mark’s Gospel (Mark 8:34–38)

Self-denial is one of the topics about which Christians might wish that Jesus had been more explicit, since it has prompted a variety of interpretations. Although much of the Gospel material is relevant to the topic, only once in Jesus’ recorded teachings do the words “let him deny himself” (aparnēsasthō heauton) occur.

If any wish to follow after me, let them deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, but those who lose their life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:34–35)1

These two verses are found also in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, who almost certainly wrote their versions later. This challenging (even shocking) passage mentions self-denial without explicit clarification, in association with mysterious figurative language about “taking up the cross,” and a paradoxical saying about saving and losing lives. These “self-denial” sayings present a challenge for exegesis, since their meaning is not immediately clear. In seeking an authentic reconstruction of what these words would have meant to first-century Christians, questions such as these must be asked:

• What does “self-denial” entail?

• What concept of “self” does “self-denial” require?

• How is “self-denial” related to “taking up the cross” and “following” Jesus?

• How is it related to “losing one’s life” and “saving” it, and what do these expressions mean?

• What would be the motivation for a person to self-deny?

• How would “self-denial” be related to the social, cultural, and spiritual sensitivities of the original disciples?

• Do Jesus or the Gospel writers elsewhere clarify the meaning of these sayings?

Of course, Jesus’ audiences may have had no need to ask these questions, at least not in this modern form. While seeking answers to these exegetical problems, however, Christians in our time will do well to give attention also to the hermeneutical problem: what does self-denial mean for us? The difficulties involved in interpreting these sayings for Christians today stem from several sources.

First, we have inherited two thousand years of Christian history in which these sayings have already been interpreted in diverse ways. Influential writings and practices of our Christian forebears have shaped our concepts of self-denial in ways which may or may not truly reflect the original intention of the sayings.

Second, the great social and intellectual changes brought about over the last 200 to 300 years of secularization, industrialization, and education have resulted in a cultural gap that has distanced us from the milieu of the biblical societies and their ways of thinking and behaving. Not only do we participate in a vastly different kind of society in which we employ a much greater degree of personal autonomy (at least in the West) but we have also become accustomed to thinking of “self” in highly individualized terms, often using well-developed psychological language. We relate to ourselves and to others in patterns different from those of the first century.

The problem of self-denial, then, is twofold. We must first understand it, as best we can, from the perspective of the New Testament writers. We must then recontextualize it, so that we can receive Jesus’ words in ways that not only retain authentic interpretation but also enable their application in our modern cultures, which are often hostile to the idea of self-denial.

And calling the crowd with his disciples, he said to them,

A If any want to follow me,

B let them deny themselves

B' and take up their cross

A' and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

Grammatically, this first part of Jesus’ saying (I will refer to it as the “following” saying) is in the form of a protasis (A) and a compound apodosis of three parts (B, B' and A'). On the literary level, however, the saying is chiastic: forms of the verb “follow” (akoloutheō in A and A') frame two expressions (self-denial and cross-bearing, in B and B' respectively) that appear to be parallel. This parallelism may help to interpret both expressions.2

“Following” is used both literally and figuratively in the New Testament. Multitudes literally follow Jesus on his travels without becoming truly committed to his cause (e.g., Matt 4:25; 8:1; 12:15; 14:13). The literal use of the word can be seen even in Matt 19:27–28, where both Peter and Jesus are referring primarily to the Twelve. The figurative use is found in Rev 14:4, where redeemed believers “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” Here in Mark 8:34 and the subsequent verses, Jesus is ostensibly speaking to those physically present who may want to follow him literally, and yet, because he is addressing an apparently general audience (“anyone” and “whoever”) and because his words have proved to be universally applicable, it is right to acknowledge a figurative “following.” Thus, the possibility of following Jesus is open, even in our own time, to all who desire to enter committed discipleship.3

According to this saying, the first requirement is self-denial. The basic meaning of the verb aparneomai (and its simpler form arneomai) is to “say no” or to “deny” either by giving a negative verbal answer to a question (e.g., Luke 8:45) or by an act of refusal (e.g., Heb 11:24, referring to Moses’ refusal of Egyptian honors) or of renunciation (e.g., Isa 31:7 LXX, with idols as the object). These instances reflect the classical usage. However, the New Testament and later Christian writings extend the meaning of this verb by using it with reference to denying a person, that is, Christ. For example, in Mark 14:30 and 72 Peter denies Jesus; in Acts 3:13, 14 the people of Jerusalem deny/reject Jesus. Only in Mark 8:34 and parallels and in 2 Tim 2:12, 13 is the object of the verb “oneself.”4 This usage naturally leads to the question, what does it mean to deny oneself?

Jesus had just been teaching his disciples that he would undergo great suffering and be rejected (apodokimazō) by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes (Mark 8:31). This rejection could well be what Jesus has in mind when later in the Gospel he refers to himself cryptically as “the stone which the builders rejected (apodokimazō)” (Mark 12:10, quoting Ps 118:22). The rejection ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Jesus’ Self-Denial Sayings
• Chapter 2: Self-Denial in Other Teachings of Jesus
• Chapter 3: Self-Denial in the Pauline Letters
• Chapter 4: Self-Denial in the General Letters and Revelation
• Chapter 5: Summary
• Bibliography