Carrying Our Cross

Nothing is more significant to the Christian than the cross of Christ. It is the first stop, the very beginning of the Christian’s journey for salvation. Once the sweet moment of repentance has taken place, the burden lifted, then the journey continues at the throne of grace in time of need. More on that in the last post.

What does the cross hold true for the Christian? Two things Christ shares: We are to take up the cross; we are to remember what Christ did on the cross.

“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

I cannot say anything more than what has already been said by spiritual greats. Charles Spurgeon says it well:

“Take up the cross, and follow me.”  —Mark 10:21

You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain [gladly] be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it; you are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling [complaining] at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance, or trample on it in vain-glory, or fall under it in despair, or run away from it in fear, but take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire? The Via Crucis [path of suffering] is the way of safety; fear not to tread its thorny paths.

Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers, or lined with velvet, it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders; but it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colours, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere [before] you fall asleep this night, that waking with tomorrow’s sun, you may go forth to the day’s cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the Crucified.^[1]

One last word of wisdom from Matthew Henry’s commentary on Matthew 16:24:

“We must not by our rashness and folly pull crosses down upon our own heads, but must take them up when they are in our way.”^[2]

What beautiful expressions of the cross for the Christian. Let us not fear its weight, its burden, pain or even what the suffering might look like if we have not yet been assigned our cross. Stay close to Christ. His yoke is light, and may we find rest for our weary soul in him.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” -Matthew 11:29–30

 

^[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (1896). Morning and evening: Daily readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster.

^[2]Henry, M., & Scott, T. (1997). Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Mt 16:24).

Related posts:

Death at the Cross; Life at the Throne

Next post: Remembering the Cross