Scripture: Mark 8:31-38
I ran into a friend at the store earlier this week, and we were discussing some of my back issues and other things on in our lives. Jokingly, I said something about “I guess it’s just my cross to bear.” But as I thought about it, I realized what an empty and false statement that really was. So I followed it up with – “Although, I’m pretty sure my back pain isn’t quite what Jesus was talking about.”
While we hear it constantly – that whatever suffering we’re personally going through at the moment is the “cross” we’re bearing – we utterly miss Jesus’ point when we make that statement. The cross is not something natural. The cross is not something that just is our natural fate in this world. We don’t have much of a choice when it comes to our physical, emotional, or even mental ailments. Those things aren’t our crosses – they’re simply a part of our failing bodies that remind us we won’t live forever.
Jesus was talking about something completely different when he commanded his followers to “pick up their crosses and follow him.” Suffering the natural ailments of life in general – wasn’t his point.
Taking up the cross means you’re putting something or someone ahead of yourself. That you’re submitting and subjecting yourself to perform God’s will in this world. To lay your life down for the sake of another.
And there is nothing natural about it.
