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.