Welcome to the program today. My name is Monica Gonzalez here with a question and answers session, and I'm here with Karen.

Hi, everyone. It's always good to have Karen with us and we have a good time.

Fun. It's always awesome. I learn a lot every time. It's been, it's been great. We appreciate you

guys sending in your questions to questions at prophecy watchers.com and it is our goal to try to get to

as many as possible. Certainly impossible to get to all of them, but we appreciate you sending them in. Great questions, and we got some good ones this time too, so what do we have?

Yes, starting off, we have a question from Mark who asks, I am perplexed about the words of Jesus in Luke.

Luke 923, and he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

I never realized that Jesus spoke specifically of the cross before his crucifixion.

I know that he spoke of both his death and resurrection, but not that he spoke of the cross.

Maybe this is a Greek translation issue, which you please comment, clarify on, or instruct me in this matter.

You know, this is not a Greek translation issue.

But it's interesting to me because I back when I was a new believer,

I had the same kind of thought.

It was like, oh, well, Jesus was talking about the cross.

But we shouldn't be surprised by that because no doubt Jesus,

as he did ministry, there were thousands and thousands of people killed, crucified on a cross for sure.

So this wouldn't have been anything unusual to see.

But it's interesting the way that Jesus uses the phrase, the idea of the cross, in connection with following him, with being a disciple.

And I don't really think there's any distinction between if you're a follower of Jesus,

you're a follower of Jesus. There isn't a, you're not a follower of Jesus or a disciple.

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