And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:21-27, ESV)
Jesus was heading into Jerusalem to be handed over to the authorities and and killed for crimes against the religious order of the day. He was telling the disciples this to set up the next part.
How many of you have a cross? A cross on your wall? A cross you wear around your neck?
I have at least 20 crosses on my wall and probably just as many necklaces I wear for different occasions. I also have one on my body at all times. We look upon the cross as a symbol of our Lord and savior, as the sacrifice He made. We see it as a beautiful thing. But it is not a beautiful thing. The cross was the cruelest mode of death anyone could face in Jesus’ day. The person hung on the cross actually suffocated because of the lungs collapsing and air not entering due to the collapsed space.
So why then does Jesus tell us to take up our cross? Why is it we have to go to the death again? Did we not suffer with Him in His death? Yes we did suffer with Him and He paid the price for all of us so we could stand before God. But you see Jesus has a way for us to do things that is not our way. God’s ways are not our ways. His path is not the path we would openly and willingly choose. So we must take up our cross and deny ourselves. Jesus’ way is the way we need to go and if we leave it up to us, we will not go the right path.
You see if you take up your cross and follow Him, you will gain life, the life He has planned for you. We can struggle through life knowing that He has our back, and He will not let us down.
So the next time you look upon a cross remember the reason we have it, because Jesus died upon it so that you might have life, and then take it up and follow Him, leaving your wants and desires at the door.
aSacredRebel 