Luke 9:22-24 – 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.
When you read this passage casually it might be surprising to see Jesus talking about taking up a cross—he isn’t even arrested for another 13 chapters. However, crucifixion was well known to everyone in the Roman world. He not only told the disciples that he knew he was going to die but also the how; through the agonizing experience of being crucified. Before the Romans hung person on a cross, they first hung the cross (or at least the main beam) on the person.
Once this beam of wood was attached to the convicted person’s back their future was sealed. Carrying this cross always led to death. It was an unrelenting instrument of torture, death, and humiliation. If someone took up his cross, he was never coming back. It was a one-way journey. No one sought out a cross, it was always something that was forced upon a person. So why does Jesus ask us to take up a cross and follow him?
I don’t think he wants us to die a horrible and painful death. What Jesus wants us to see is that once we have taken up the cross, we realize and accept that we cannot save ourselves. When that cross is on our back we embrace that this is a one-way trip, and we are all in. We don’t just follow Jesus through the easy stuff. We follow Jesus all the way, knowing that the sacrifice he made on our behalf was the only way we could ever see salvation.
Living this way is rarely the easiest choice, and therefore Jesus called us to do this daily. We must decide each day where our hope comes from. And even in those times when a day feels too long, you can still decide where you find your hope in this hour, in this minute.
We have been called to follow Jesus, and that means all the way.