Commentaries:
Jesus teaches self-denial to His disciples not only with His words but also by His actions. Notice that His call to self-denial comes immediately after predicting His own sacrificial death. He is the supreme model of the self-denial to which He calls others. He even denies Himself any urge to avenge Himself or to threaten His persecutors for what they had done to Him. In Jesus' example, we see that, by committing ourselves to God who judges rightly, we deny ourselves the temptation of worldly lusts.
Martin G. Collins
Overcoming (Part 5): Self-Denial
Even the chief priests and Pharisees remembered His sign. They tell Pilate after the crucifixion, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise'" (Matthew 27:63).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
'After Three Days'
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Mark 8:31:
Ecclesiastes 3:12-14
Matthew 12:38-40
John 21:2-3