Matthew 16:24 English Standard Version
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Do not answer the question posed yesterday until Jesus asks.
What happened in all the passages before these Disciples of Christ were asked this very question?
Matthew 9:9 English Standard Version
Jesus Calls Matthew
9 As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
It would appear that Matthew understood what Jesus was saying to him in that moment. There was no debating over what was to come next or what it would cost Matthew to leave his job. We do not know what was going on in Matthew’s life at that time. We can gather from the scriptures how people felt about Jews who were tax collectors. We can only imagine what stirred Matthew to get up and leave his job.
The larger point here is that Jesus said follow me. There was no historical significance for Matthew in what was to come next. He just obeyed. We have the sayings, deeds, conflicts, observations, teachings, parables, conclusions and consequences that occurred before Jesus got around to asking this question in Matthew 16:24.
These men followed Jesus for some time and endured many things before He ask them the question “If anyone would come after me”. Note that Jesus did not say if anyone would follow me because they were already following Jesus. Coming after Jesus has a meaning that is more substantial than simply following Jesus. We should consider that before we answer the question and we should definitely wait on Him to ask it of us.