Whosoever doth not bear his cross
All reproach, afflictions, persecutions, and death itself, cheerfully and patiently; the Ethiopic version renders it, "of his death the cross"; it signifies whatever is trying and disagreeable to flesh and blood:
and come after me;
bearing his cross; as Christ himself was about to do, and which doubtless he had in view;
cannot be my disciple;
he is not so in reality, nor does he deserve the name.