Mk 8:34—9:1
Powerlessness: Jesus’ understanding of discipleship in the Gospel of Mark does not consist of power but of powerlessness. Up to Peter’s confession about Jesus, Mark has presented a Jesus of power—one who heals the sick, casts out unclean spirits, and works great miracles of feeding thousands of people. This characterization of Jesus is all wrong, Mark states, as he reverses the thrusts of the whole first half of the Gospel and begins a new theme of powerlessness.
Authentic discipleship consist of denying self. This is not meant in some masochistic sense, but it does mean that Jesus is the center of a person’s life instead of the individual.
Taking up the cross may not involve carrying a physical piece of wood to the place of execution, as many early Christians did, but it does involve a willingness to stand up to the point of death for what one believes.
Following Jesus means being powerless. Authentic power, as Mark understands it and presents it, is derived from suffering and death. This is why if a person supposedly saves his or her life, he or she has in fact lost it—for a saved life, one of power, means nothing. But if a person has lost his or her life for the sake of Jesus, this individual has, in fact, saved it and is powerful.