Several commentators put a section heading before verses 24-28 which reads something like “The way of suffering that the disciples must follow.” The impact of these verses is to remind the followers of Jesus that they must walk the same route that he went.

In the previous verse the exchange was between Peter and Jesus. What Jesus says now is to all the disciples, so that even if translators do not have a section heading here, most of them will begin a new paragraph. Barclay makes the transition quite clear with “Jesus went on to say to his disciples.”

Any man is obviously inclusive, with the meaning “anyone” (Good News Translation, Moffatt, New International Version).

If … would come after me is in reality a call to discipleship; therefore New Jerusalem Bible has “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine,” and New English Bible “If anyone wishes to be a follower of mine.” Although come after does assume a nonliteral meaning for later Christians, it was required of the first disciples that they accompany Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. Thus one may wish to retain the literal form as much as clarity will allow: “If anyone wants to come with me” (Good News Translation; An American Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch are similar). It will be important, however, to make sure the readers don’t think Jesus is only talking about his trip to Jerusalem. “Be my follower,” “follow after me,” or “go with me” are frequent translations.

Deny himself (so also New American Bible, New International Version, Moffatt) represents the traditional rendering of most English translations, though some modern translations are more dynamic: “renounce himself” (New Jerusalem Bible), “leave self behind” (New English Bible), “disregard himself” (An American Translation), “give up all right to himself” (Phillips), and “once and for all say No to himself” (Barclay). Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition translates “no longer thinks of himself.” In the only other occurrences of the verb in this Gospel, it is used of Peter’s denial that he knows Jesus (26.34, 35, 75).

The phrase beginning with let him has often been expressed as “he should” or “he must” (Good News Translation). It may be easier in some languages to restructure the sentence as “The person who wants to follow me should no longer think of himself” or “Before a person can follow me, he has to stop thinking of himself.”

Take up (so also New English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) is the root meaning of the verb translated “carry” in Good News Translation. Depending on the context, however, the verb may mean “take up” or “carry,” or even “take up and carry.” Many languages will require the use of two verbs: “take up and carry.”

For a discussion of take up his cross, see 10.38.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .