Jesus Christ's approach to His own death, as recorded in Matthew 16:21, reveals a purposeful and dispassionate resolve. He informed His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised on the third day. Despite the intense emotional pain He endured the evening before His arrest, anticipating the torture, crucifixion, and the absence of the Father, His attitude at this earlier point in His ministry remained calm and focused on fulfilling God's will. When Peter rebuked Him, expressing fear and hostility toward the idea of His death, Jesus sharply responded, identifying such resistance as an offense and influenced by satan, for it disregarded the divine plan. He saw His death as a necessary work of God, a major event in the plan to pay for humanity's sins and ensure eternal life through His resurrection. Additionally, in John 11, Jesus demonstrated a unique perspective on death through His response to Lazarus' passing. Despite His close bond with Lazarus and knowing the illness was fatal, He deliberately delayed His arrival for two days, showing calm and confidence. Upon plainly stating that Lazarus was dead, He expressed gladness for the disciples' sake, not out of morbid joy, but from a righteous outlook, knowing the resurrection He would perform would strengthen faith, provide a powerful witness, and set the path to Calvary. Even when He wept, it was not for Lazarus but out of frustration at the unbelief and lack of hope among those mourning, revealing His mastery over death and His view of it through a lens of hope and the good that lies beyond.

The principle of death and denial, as exemplified by Jesus Christ, is a central theme in the journey of faith. Romans 6:5-7 speaks to this, stating that if we have been united in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing that our old self was crucified with Him to free us from the body of sin. Galatians 2:20 further emphasizes this, declaring that we are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us, through faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. Additionally, Galatians 6:14 urges us to boast only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to us, and we to the world. This principle of death is not one we naturally embrace, yet it is essential for victory in the Christian life. Like Thomas, who declared in John 11:16, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him," we must be willing to turn our backs on worldly desires and follow Christ, even to the point of giving up our own lives. To become a Christian means to reject anything contrary to God's way and accept by faith what God has done through Christ. Jesus Himself is the supreme example of self-denial, having relinquished the glories of heaven to become human and die for our salvation. As John 12:24 illustrates, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. Jesus indicates that it was only through His death that He would be glorified and honored, as seen in Hebrews 2:9, where He, made lower than the angels, suffered death to taste it for everyone, being crowned with glory and honor. Philippians 2:8-9 reinforces this, noting that He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross, and therefore God exalted Him with a name above every name. Hebrews 12:2 adds that He endured the cross for the joy set before Him, despising the shame, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God. Practically, this means that when we surrender our attempts to control our lives or cling to things we deem indispensable, we find the true joy of living God's way. As Jesus states in John 12:25, he who loves his life will lose it, but he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life, emphasizing the need to value God above all else, even to the point of sacrificing everything for Him. This principle of death, followed by resurrection, transforms us, enabling us to live free from past obsessions and to experience the joy of new life in Christ.