Mark 8:38

If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples in the immediate context of counting the cost of discipleship, right after asking what a man can give in exchange for his soul. He frames the warning within the present "adulterous and sinful generation" and His future return.

The words — The core term is ἐπαισχυνθῆς (epaischunthēs), a future passive subjunctive meaning "you will be put to shame" or "you will show shame." It is used twice in the verse to create a direct parallel between human shame toward Jesus and the Son of Man’s reciprocal shame toward the individual.

The thread — This reciprocal dynamic appears in Luke 12:8, where the Son of Man confesses those who confess Him before men, and in 1 John 2:23, which links denying the Son to losing the Father. The text establishes a direct correlation between present allegiance and future divine response.

Why it lands — The passage demands a clear choice: publicly identify with Jesus and His words now, or face exclusion when He returns in glory. It removes neutral ground by tying eternal standing to present allegiance.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Cross-references

Luke 12:8 I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
1 John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
James 4:4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
Matthew 10:32 Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.
2 Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Matthew 26:64 “You have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.