"Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. 'The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things. He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.' Then he said to the crowd, 'If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life [if you 'will' to save it], you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels" (Lk 9:22-26).

I found Leon Morris' Tyndale Commentary really helpful on this passage and didn't feel confident enough myself to tackle its challenging message.

"Followers of Jesus must deny themselves; they cannot be self-centred. There is nothing self-indulgent about being a Christian. The disciples had probably seen a man take up his cross, and they knew what it meant. When a man from one of their villages took up a cross and went off with a little band of Roman soldiers, he was on a one-way journey. He would not be back. Taking up the cross meant the utmost in self-denial. Christ's followers have died to a whole way of life. This is not something that can be finished and got out of the way once and for all. It must be done daily. This, says Jesus, is the way a person follows me."

"Paradoxically, one can lose one's life trying to save it. The words 'will to save' point to the attitude of one who puts his emphasis on getting the best out of life for himself. That way means certain loss. It is the one who actually loses his life for Christ's sake who saves it. When he gives up all for Christ, he finds that he has entered that life which is life indeed. The Christian must realize that he is given life, not to keep it for himself, but to spend it for others; not to husband its flame, but to burn himself out for Christ and for others."

"Jesus reinforces this with a reference to eternal issues. He now speaks of a time when he will come in glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. This clearly refers to the end of this world-order and the breaking in of something quite new, the final state of things. To be ashamed of Jesus and his teaching now is to ensure that he will be ashamed of us in that glorious day" (Leon Morris). (It should be noted that Jesus is addressing the crowd at this point.) "Those who have rejected him through love of the world or of their own honour, their own convenience or anything else, will receive eternal condemnation as their self-chosen portion" (J Norval Geldenhuys).