Jesus says, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine…” The implication is that he is the leader, and leaders have followers. The statement comes from Jesus after Peter’s confession of him as the Christ of God – the Messiah. The Messiah is someone Peter would naturally want to follow because the Messiah is going to lead his people out of slavery into liberation and freedom. Life will be better by following the Messiah. No more oppression by the Romans. No more violence from the zealots. No more religious oppression from the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Messiah is someone you would want to follow.
But, Jesus says, if anyone wants to follow him there are conditions. Internal conditions of attitude, and external conditions of behaviour. Internally, the follower must renounce themselves. What does that mean? How do you renounce yourself? I am who I am, and so cannot be someone I am not.
I seem to be thinking of ‘renouncing’ as a negative and destructive act to myself. If I renounce myself, then who am I? Am I lost? Am I ruined? Am I nothing? Is that what Jesus means by renouncing? What is his demand of an internal condition of attitude that is summed up in ‘renounce’?
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