Big Idea: Discipleship demands becoming like Jesus in self-sacrificial service to others. His people must embrace diversity in the group and defeat sin and temptation in their lives.

Understanding the Text

The disciple-centered movement of Jesus from Caesarea Philippi to Jerusalem continues in this section. The series of interactions carry on the gradual uncovering of the disciples’ inability to understand and their self-seeking responses to the various stimuli that they receive.

Structure

This passage is organized via catchwords: “in my name” (vv. 37, 38, 39, 41), “stumble” (vv. 42, 43, 45, 47), “hell” (vv. 43, 45, 47), “fire”/“salt” (vv. 48–50). There are two primary units, each having three sections. First, there is the contrast between Jesus’s self-sacrificing second passion pre…