"Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.…"
I have never even looked up a commentary on that verse. Even the other day posting it I never looked up a commentary on it. Simply no need to.
Pulpit Commentary
"Not only is it hurtful to thee to impede me and to be displeased at my Passion, but it will be impossible for thee even to be saved, unless thou thyself too be continually prepared for death."'
(Pretty much the same thing as I was saying this morning without having ever read it.)
"Jesus mentions three points which belong to the character of a true disciple.
The first is self-denial.
Let him deny himself. There is no better test of reality and earnestness in the religious life than this. (See a sermon of Newman's on this subject, vol. 1. serm. 5.) If a man follows Jesus, it must be by his own free will, and he must voluntarily renounce everything that might hinder his discipleship, denying himself even in things lawful that he may approach the likeness of his Master. Take up his cross.
This is the second point. St. Luke adds, "daily."
He must not only be resigned to bear what is brought upon him - suffering, shame, and death, which he cannot escape, but be eager to endure it, meet it with a solemn joy, be glad that he is counted worthy of it. Follow me. (See Matthew 5:11-12).
The third point.
He must be energetic and active, not passive only and resigned, but with all zeal tracking his Master's footsteps, which lead on the way of sorrows. Here too is comfort; he is not called to a task as yet untried; Christ has gone before, and in his strength he may be strong.
Said what the commentaries said without having ever read them.
I reiterate:
MYSTICISM
ys-ti-cism (mis'te-siz'em) n.
1 Any of various disciplines, usu. involving meditation and asceticism, by which one can supposedly attain intuitive knowledge of or direct union with God or some ultimate reality. 2 The experience of such knowledge or union. 3 Any theory or belief which states that it is possible to have immediate, intuitive experience of realities beyond man's senses or rational faculties. 4 Vague or obscure thinking.
INTUITIVE
in·tu·i·tive
/inˈt(y)o͞oədiv/
adjective
Using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive.
"I had an intuitive conviction that there was something unsound in him"
Similar:
instinctive
intuitional
instinctual
innate
inborn
inherent
untaught
unlearned
natural
congenital
inbuilt
built-in
ingrown
automatic
unconscious
subconscious
involuntary
spontaneous
impulsive
unthinking
gut
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