Take up your Cross
Take up your Cross
There is a passage of scripture in the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) that has been used in a way it was never intended. The statement that has perhaps caused the most fear and guilt is, “whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Each of the three synoptics recounts this statement and Matthew and Luke each report it more than once. Today I want to look at Luke’s account found in Chapter Fourteen. I want us to find the meaning of this and see both the simplicity of what Jesus said and the truth it presents.
Luke 14:25–27 (AV) “25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
At first glance this passage seems crystal clear. It appears that we must somehow hate our earthly life and the people in in and that we must carry some sort of heavy burden wherever we go. I have certainly met a great many Christians who appeared to me to be doing exactly that, but I have had to ask myself how this reflects what the whole of scripture teaches about God and about righteousness.
In Matthew 11:30 Jesus said that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. This sounds nothing like I imagine cross-bearing to be. In 1 John 5:3 the Apostle tells us that Loving God is keeping His commandments and that these commandments are not burdensome. In Chapter 3, verse 23 of the same Epistle, he says that the commands of God are that we should believe on the name of Jesus Christ and love one another. Jesus Himself in John 13:34 and 35 said that His new command was that we love one another as He has loved us and that this would cause others to know that we are His disciples.
There appears to be a disconnect here. Let us return to our passage in Luke 14 to see if we can resolve it.
Luke 14: 28-30 “28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”
Like the cross-bearing statement, this verse has been misapplied in a way that can lay heavy burdens on people. I know this because I am one of the people who was burdened by it. This idea about counting the cost has sometimes been linked to daily service to God. For me, this induced great fear.
The idea that this was about daily acts of service also raised questions because in Acts 17:25 (AV) we find that God is not, “…worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;” The word translated “worshipped” means served, waited upon, ministered to. So, God is the source, and He has no need of our help.
Jesus does not appear to be talking about daily acts of service here. He is talking about a project. He is talking about construction of a building. He goes on in the verses that follow to give an additional example.
Luke 14: 31-32 “31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.”
The cost of some endeavor is what is in view here. Verse 33 tells us what endeavor Jesus has in mind. There we read, “33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus is talking about is being His disciple. He says that the cost is everything we have. This is the key to His teaching. What is it that we have, exactly? We certainly think we have a lot of things. We may have special skills and talents, maybe we are wealthy, there are any number of things we have that we may think that God can use. That God can use these things is true enough. Using them to “further His kingdom” makes no sense, however. In Isaiah 9:7 (AV), Isaiah the Prophet wrote, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” He does not need us to further His kingdom. Isaiah knew this as we just read. He said that it is God Himself who accomplished the unending increase of His kingdom and of peace. Truly, we have nothing to give to God that is of value.
Well, there is one thing. We can give Him our hearts. Micah 6:8 (AV) “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Indeed this is the way that the world knows that we are His disciples. In John 13:34–35 (AV) we read, “34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Unfortunately, true self-sacrificing love is not characteristic of humanity before spiritual rebirth.
Matthew’s account of this episode is found in Matthew 16:24–26 (AV). “24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
There is a cross to bear.
There is a cost.
There is an endeavor.
The endeavor is righteousness, acceptance by God, eternal life.
Romans 3:22 (AV) “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe:” (Righteousness comes from God)
Romans 3:28 (AV) “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Deeds cannot make us righteous, accepted, or justified.)
Ephesians 1:6 (AV) “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Acceptance comes from God)
John 3:16 (AV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Eternal life comes from God.)
Righteousness, acceptance, and eternal life all come from God alone.
The cost is impossible for us to pay.
Romans 6:23a (AV) “For the wages of sin is death;” (We cannot afford those wages.)
Galatians 3:10 (AV) “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” (We know we cannot keep the Law, so we are doomed.)
Isaiah 64:6 (AV) “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (No matter how hard we try, we just cannot measure up to God’s perfection.)
There is no way we can pay the enormous cost.
The cross to be borne results in our death.
Galatians 2:20a (AV) “I am crucified with Christ:”
Romans 6:3–4 (AV) “3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death:”
Galatians 5:24 (AV) “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
We bear the cross once and share in His death.
The result is our having been raised with Him to newness of life.
Galatians 3:13–14 (AV) “13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 2:20 (AV) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Romans 6:4–9 (AV)
4b …like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
By our sinfulness we were sentenced to death. (see Romans 6:3)
We needed to take up our cross and follow Jesus to Calvary. (see Romans 6:3-4)
We had to be crucified and die with Him. (see Galatians 2:20 and 5:24)
He had to pay the price we owed and could never pay. (see Romans 6:3 and Isaiah 64:6)
Our old self, born only of flesh, had to be reborn by the Spirit of God. (see John 3:4-7)
We had to be made His children, righteous, accepted, and eternally alive. (see 2 Corinthians 5:21, Ephesians 1:6, and John 3:16)
Just as death has no more hold on Jesus, death has no more hold on us. We are in Him and He is in us. We are one spirit with Him. (see 1 Corinthians 6:17) Since He is love, we now love. (see 1 John 4:7 and following) By this, the world (and we ourselves) know that we are His disciples. (see John 13:34-35)
Here is what the Apostle John said about love in 1 John 4:7–17 (AV)
7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
As a believer I am sure you have experienced unexpected sensations of love in your heart. These come because the Spirit who lives in you is love.
Jesus was not laying burdens upon us. He was telling people that they could not do what is necessary to make themselves righteous, pure, and holy. They could never hope to make themselves acceptable to God. Therefore, they could never have a relationship with Him. They might have the whole world, but they did not have eternal life. They needed to follow Him to Calvary, trusting Him to pay their debt, free them, and give them eternal life.
Saint, you do not need to take up your cross. You do not need to give away everything you have. You do not need to hate your family. You have already done all that by placing your faith in Jesus Christ as your only hope of righteousness. Now His love is poured all over your heart and you have the great honor and privilege of participating in what He is doing in your little part of the world.
