Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24 ESV
Since obviously Jesus hadn't been crucified yet, I'm sure this statement seemed odd to his disciples. Today, knowing that he hadn't been crucified yet, this statement seems a little odd to me. What does that mean Jesus? I understand denying myself, I know what that looks like but what is this cross you speak of?
So in my mind, I place myself in Jerusalem, in the days Christ walked the earth. I look around and see men hanging on crosses throughout the region. Rome had come up with a horrible death sentence. To basically force the Jewish community to conform, they began to crucify criminals, but any one who publicly spoke against the Roman Empire, were subject to being crucified. Pretty scary times to be living in.
Take up your cross. Let's unpack that for a minute. What is a cross? Two extremely heavy pieces of wood, either nailed or bound together in a very cumbersome form that looks like a capital T. To pick this up is difficult all on its own. I'm so confused. The Lord promises rest. Now he is saying to pick up something I can barely lift and follow him. How far do I have to carry it Lord?
Hold up, maybe I'm getting ahead off myself. What do you do with a cross? Well, if you're a Roman, you nail your problems to it and walk away.
So let's take a step back and look at it. To be a follower of Christ, we need deny ourselves of the things of the world that take our attention off of Jesus, and take up our cross. So is he telling us to free ourselves from the things that weigh us down? To nail those things to the cross that would distract us otherwise? Because if we were able to take the things we worry about, the things that stress us out and the things that distract us from what our calling is, then following Jesus becomes effortless.
Wow! What a wonderful God we serve!
If you would like to know more about Jesus, contact me at rlwhitener@gmail.com
Thanks for following along. May God richly bless you and yours.
Matthew 16:24 ESV
Since obviously Jesus hadn't been crucified yet, I'm sure this statement seemed odd to his disciples. Today, knowing that he hadn't been crucified yet, this statement seems a little odd to me. What does that mean Jesus? I understand denying myself, I know what that looks like but what is this cross you speak of?
So in my mind, I place myself in Jerusalem, in the days Christ walked the earth. I look around and see men hanging on crosses throughout the region. Rome had come up with a horrible death sentence. To basically force the Jewish community to conform, they began to crucify criminals, but any one who publicly spoke against the Roman Empire, were subject to being crucified. Pretty scary times to be living in.
Take up your cross. Let's unpack that for a minute. What is a cross? Two extremely heavy pieces of wood, either nailed or bound together in a very cumbersome form that looks like a capital T. To pick this up is difficult all on its own. I'm so confused. The Lord promises rest. Now he is saying to pick up something I can barely lift and follow him. How far do I have to carry it Lord?
Hold up, maybe I'm getting ahead off myself. What do you do with a cross? Well, if you're a Roman, you nail your problems to it and walk away.
So let's take a step back and look at it. To be a follower of Christ, we need deny ourselves of the things of the world that take our attention off of Jesus, and take up our cross. So is he telling us to free ourselves from the things that weigh us down? To nail those things to the cross that would distract us otherwise? Because if we were able to take the things we worry about, the things that stress us out and the things that distract us from what our calling is, then following Jesus becomes effortless.
Wow! What a wonderful God we serve!
If you would like to know more about Jesus, contact me at rlwhitener@gmail.com
Thanks for following along. May God richly bless you and yours.
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