Mark 8:38, commentary and pictures

Christ warned His disciples that following Him requires self-denial, cross-bearing, and loyalty even at the cost of life, and that whoever is ashamed to openly own Him and His words before a corrupt and sinful age will be disowned by Him when He returns. To be ashamed of Him is to hide one's identity as His follower, lacking the moral courage to take a conscientious stand, clinging to the world's fashions and approval, and refusing to imitate His self-denying life. He will come a second time without sin unto salvation, with power and great glory, clothed with the light of heaven in both His own glory and His Father's glory with the holy angels, not with the splendor of an earthly throne. Those who would share that glory must also share His reproach, self-denial, and suffering now, willingly bearing shame for His name and sacrificing earthly treasure and ease, which enriches them spiritually now and increases their joy and reward in the kingdom of glory. He is ashamed of those who have no desire to follow Him and whose lives do not reflect His Spirit, so His followers must reveal the reality of the world to come in character, words, conduct, and teaching, remaining distinct from the world in order to influence it.

Meaning and Warning

Christ gave the warning to His disciples about what they might expect in following Him. It belongs with the call to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Him even at the loss of life. Whoever is ashamed of Him and His words in this adulterous and sinful generation will be disowned by the Son of man when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. If believers would share His glory at His coming they must also share His reproach and self-denial, and His suffering must be completed in all who believe through all time.

To be ashamed of Christ and His words is to hide one's identity as His follower instead of openly sharing Bible truth and letting one's light shine. Those who deny their connection with Him in this way will face His rejection when He comes in His Father's glory. Being ashamed of Jesus is lacking the moral courage to take a conscientious stand and position for Him in the face of unbelievers. It is keeping the fashions of the world instead of leaving them, and not imitating His self-denying life and example, which shows lack of love for His example. By this it will soon be known who is on the Lord's side.

Being ashamed is being unwilling to acknowledge Christ and confess Him, and to obey His authority before the world. The unwillingness comes because obedience brings disapproval from those around them, so cowardice hides the truth and refuses to bear the cost of following it. The warning applies to young people who refrain from serving Christ because they are unwilling to acknowledge that they are Christians. Yet faithfulness to God is not weak or undignified, for serving God is the highest and noblest work, and young people honor Christ openly through faithful Christian integrity. The phrase perverse and adulterous generation describes a generation marked by prevailing error, and Christ's true disciples teach people away from those errors and toward God.

Coming in Glory

The Son of man will come a second time without sin unto salvation, with power and great glory, clothed with the light of heaven in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. He comes bearing both His own glory and His Father's glory, accompanied by the holy angels. That coming will not be with the splendor of an earthly throne but with the glory of God with the hosts of heaven. At that second appearing His servants will receive the light of His glory, and those regarded as lowly will then be truly exalted.

The transfiguration displayed that coming glory beforehand and fulfilled the promise of it by representing the future kingdom of glory in miniature. In that representation Christ appears as the King, Moses as representative of those who shall come forth from the grave at the resurrection of the just, and Elijah as representative of those who will be living on earth at the second coming and be changed. The disciples heard this promise of glory yet did not comprehend it, because the glory seemed far away while their eyes were fixed on the nearer view of earthly poverty, humiliation, and suffering. The warning is linked with Christ's willing endurance of the cross, for though it brought shame and suffering He endured it for the joy of saving people and restoring the world to loyalty to God.

Following Without Shame

Following Jesus means bearing reproach and shame for His name just as He Himself endured humiliation, and His suffering and death teach His followers to be crucified to the world by giving up all hope in its pomp and pleasures, for those who refuse this cost cannot share His glory. If believers would share His glory at His coming they must also share His reproach and self-denial, and His suffering must be completed in all who believe through all time. This requires willingness to sacrifice earthly treasures and to endure suffering and reproach for His name, and refusing that reproach is being ashamed of Him. Such self-denial and reproach enrich believers now with present spiritual gain and increase their final joy and immortal reward in the kingdom of glory.

Being ashamed of Christ includes refusing to do right or to follow Him from fear of financial loss, reproach, trials, persecution, danger, or suffering. Those who neglect duty to avoid such costs are among the fearful and unbelieving who face the second death, which is not the same as being timid or lacking self-confidence while conscientiously doing one's duty. Christ is ashamed of those who have no desire to follow Him, and they will not be accepted as His nor acknowledged as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to the immortal inheritance, and He prepares no home for them in God's city. He is ashamed of those whose lives do not reflect His Spirit, for His followers are to reveal in character, words, conduct, and teaching the reality of the world to come. They must not conform to the world in order to improve it, for their distinctness from it is to influence others and show that they belong to the Lord.

Christ will be ashamed of professed followers who do not resemble Him, and their dress is questioned as a sign of whether they conform to biblical requirements, since worldliness and pride do not excuse a Christian from following Christ rather than the crowd. He is ashamed of a person because of sinful deeds and words, including unlawful love, perverted senses, indulgence, flattering speeches, love-making and illicit intercourse, and lack of respectful courtesy and attention to those who should be treated with respect. None of these doings are alone or unseen, but are watched by an unseen witness and registered in the books of heaven by the same divine hand that wrote on Belshazzar's wall. Not being ashamed of Him or His truth in a wicked generation means willingness to stand with Sabbath-keepers despite opposition, and followers should therefore watch and pray and speak and act in ways that rightly represent their faith. A faithful life lets its light shine through words, spirit, and conduct, and connection with God — being in Christ and having Christ in oneself — is necessary for teaching and leading others. Warnings, counsel, and appeals connected with this warning may be rejected, and even those with much light may refuse to receive a truthful rebuke of the immoral character of powerful rulers.