On the Road to Jerusalem: Carrying the Cross

“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”—Luke 14:27

Central to the Lenten season is the crucifixion of Christ on the cross. We are very familiar with the cross, because it is fundamental to our entire belief system. It is on the cross that Jesus paid the price of our sin (Colossians 1:13-14), reconciled us to God (Ephesians 2:16), and the means by which we can have peace with God (Colossians 1:20). It is folly to those who are perishing, but to us, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18). The cross is our boast, and the means by which we are crucified to the world (Galatians 6:14).

But when Jesus said, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple,” the disciples didn’t yet know about Christ’s crucifixion on the cross. They only knew the cross as a device of capital punishment. It was as if He'd said,

“whoever does not take up his electric chair, or firing squad, or lethal injection and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” 

He was calling them to die for Him, to give their life up completely for Him. One cannot partially carry the cross; one either carries it or does not.

The cross may have meant dying a criminal’s death in the sight of the disciples initially, but after Jesus died, it was filled with even greater meaning, because it was Jesus, the divine Son of God, who bore it. He called them to bear their cross, as He had willingly done so Himself. He showed them what it meant to bear the cross—by dying Himself. He calls us to die so that we might live, to give up so that we might get, to sacrifice in order to be saved.

May we never forget the cross! May we never forget what Christ has called us to! May each of us unashamedly and courageous take up the cross, walking step by step with the Savior, knowing that if we die with Him, we shall also live with Him (Romans 6:8). Amen.