What Does It Mean to “TAKE UP YOUR CROSS DAILY”?
Let’s read the passage in question:
22And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?”
Luke 9:22-25
The Lord first informs his disciples the grim reality of his ultimate mission on Earth — to die for humanity as a substitutionary sacrifice, which of course opened the door to reconciliation with God and eternal life (Romans 5:10 & John 3:16). He then switches to what is expected of his disciples: To deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow him. To “deny yourself” means to deny the flesh or sinful nature, which you can read about here. It also includes throwing off any “weights” that hinder your service in the Lord (Hebrews 12:1), which you can read about here.
Christ’s instruction to “take up their cross daily” was no doubt startling to his followers since “taking up a cross” literally meant facing the humiliation and horrible pain of Roman crucifixion wherein the condemned were usually required to literally carry their cross to the place of execution (and the corresponding hole in the ground where the pole fit).
The difference between the Messiah and condemned criminals of the Roman Empire was that Yeshua laid down his life voluntarily (John 10:15). He asks us to do likewise in a figurative sense: To commit our lives wholeheartedly to the LORD, accepting any humiliation, ridicule and hardship that this eventually brings.
Since starting this ministry in late 2011, for instance, I’ve had to face humiliation and ridicule from arrogant people & slanderers and even lose relationships. These types of challenges are plainly chronicled in the Scriptures:
3Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.
4We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.
Psalm 123:3-4
29“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Mark 10:29-31
Carol & I have also had to sacrifice certain luxuries, which I won’t go into, but nothing we’ve experienced compares even slightly to the myriad challenges that Paul had to face in service of God’s Kingdom, as detailed in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33.
This is what it means to take up your cross daily and follow the Lord. Keep in mind, however, that God deals with people according to the light they have and this naturally corresponds to the individual’s stage of spiritual growth and calling. If you’re a half-pint, live up to being a half-pint; if you’re a gallon, live up to being a gallon; if you’re a two-ton tank, live up to being a two-ton tank.
Related Topics:
Deny Yourself or Love Yourself — Which is It? (Both)
How to keep BALANCED in every area of Life
Spirituality — How to be Spirit-Controlled Rather than Flesh-Ruled
Spiritual Warfare — Do You know What You’re Fighting For?
Altars & Altar Calls and how they’re Relevant
Spiritual Growth — The Four Stages
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