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Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
There is an idea in some spheres of Christianity that implies that because Jesus did what he did that it doesn't matter what his followers do. But this Gospel passage would seem to contradict that. This is not to say that his disciples were merely meant to imitate him. They were to follow him. They were being led somewhere which, apart from grace, they could never and would never go. We can see this in the way that Peter was unable to stay close to Jesus during his trial but eventually was able to give his life for him.
Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” (see John 13:36).
Jesus' death made it possible for his disciples to die to self and to escape the narrow confinement of their egos. United to him, and acting for his sake rather than their own, they could make their lives into offerings of love, just as his own had first been. It was not enough to merely wish to escape selfishness and sin and to try to reproduce what Jesus had done. Rather, it was necessary for him to reproduce his own death and resurrection in each of his followers. Disciples, for their part, would only endure such a death to self for the sake of Jesus, since the ego would protest that such a path could lead only to extinction.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Jesus helped by these words to silence the ego's excuses and protests. He demonstrated that all of the promises for self-created happiness in this world, even if they could temporarily succeed, came with an expiration date. They have no more hope for ultimate success than did the Tower of Babel. The only way to true life was in the transformed life of the resurrection offered by Jesus himself.
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels.
The temptation to prefer self over Jesus and happiness in this life over the life to come would eventually result in compromise where the cost of discipleship would be too high and Christians would deny Jesus. As a consequence, respecting their freedom, he would in turn be ashamed of them at his coming. Fortunately, though, even most denials aren't definitive. Just as Peter was able to return and strengthen his brethren (see Luke 22:32) so too does exposure to our own weakness sometimes lead to greater strength.
He also said to them,
"Amen, I say to you,
there are some standing here who will not taste death
until they see that the Kingdom of God has come in power."
Though the power of the Kingdom of God is concealed from the eyes of the world it is revealed to those with eyes of faith, those who remain close to Jesus, and who are willing to hope again even after all hope seems lost. They are the ones who love him even as he undergoes agony for him. Even though none is perfect they become witnesses to his resurrection. They don't discover the power of this Kingdom on their own, nor do they earn or deserve it. It is a gift.
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