Take Up Your Cross?

February 3rd, 2025

Join us today for some timely wisdom from our very own Marc Glander, who takes the time to show us a more accurate interpretation of a familiar passage of Scripture.

When you hear the expression, “We all have our crosses to bear,” do you tend to associate the word cross with burden? I used to. When I read a reference to the word “cross” in Scripture, I would naturally assume that Jesus was telling us to push forward every day, no matter how difficult life becomes, while carrying our burdens. Imagine my surprise when I learned, to the contrary, that Jesus did not mean for us to shoulder our own burdens when He said, "Take up your cross." Let me explain.

The Cross During Jesus’s Day

During Jesus' lifetime, the cross was a grim symbol. People who were sentenced to death upon a cross knew they were about to endure a torturous demise. They were forced to carry their own execution device along a grueling path while being mocked, spat on, cursed, stoned, and various other forms of torment on their way to their death. Understanding the severe reality faced by those who carried a cross helps us grasp the true meaning behind Jesus' call to pick up our cross.

Here's the context of the key verse shared above (Matthew 16:21-27) to clarify even further:

²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord![a] This shall never happen to you.” ²³But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life[c] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

In Matthew 16:21, Jesus tells the disciples everything that will occur when they go to Jerusalem. In verse 23, we see that Jesus always has His mind on God’s interests.

The Cost of Following Christ

We, as humans, typically have our minds set on our own interests and try to figure out how to fit God within them. When Jesus stated in verse 24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me,” He was saying we must be willing to die to be considered disciples.

Dying to follow Jesus is figurative and literal all at the same time. We must be willing to die to ourselves―our passions, interests, hobbies, guilty pleasures, and anything that only serves a temporal purpose on Earth that doesn’t serve any purpose towards our eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven. Luke 9:24-26 further reminds us, “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 my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.”

The Blessing of Surrender

Taking up our cross and following Jesus ultimately means surrendering and submitting to God our Father in Heaven (Luke 14:25-33). Jesus paid the supreme sacrifice by picking up His cross and carrying it so that we could have everlasting life with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven for eternity. On another note, we know that on the cross at Calvary, Jesus took away the sting of death when He defeated death and resurrected on the third day. To us today, the cross can also symbolize hope, peace, joy, victory, and eternal life.