Speaker: Bonnie Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | …take up His cross daily and follow… Luke 9:23

“Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'” (Luke 9:23).  Who was this one to make such a bold statement? He’s identified in history as Jesus of Nazareth, but Nazareth was merely the place where He grew up.  One day, Jesus put the question to His disciples, saying, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
            Now many people would agree that Jesus had the courage to be different from the society around him, and he was one who greatly changed the course of history.  Jesus laid it out in black and white for His followers.  He didn’t sugar-coat his challenge.  In fact, there were times when He actually made it difficult for men to follow.  He believed that a nucleus of really dedicated men and women could accomplish far more than an army of weekend church-goers who sang worship songs to Him on Sunday morning and forgot Him for the rest of the week.
            “If anyone would come after me,” Jesus challenged, “he must deny himself” (Matt. 16:24).  Today, the fact is, that there is very little real denial of self in those who call themselves Christians.  It’s one of the indications that much of what we call Christianity today is superficial and lacking in meaning.  When they were said by Jesus, the words, “Deny yourself and take up your cross!”  instantly brought to people’s minds the picture of crucifixion and all that it stood for.  The disciples who heard Jesus were aware of what crucifixion was, for on many occasions they had watched as a helpless victim was impaled on wooden timbers joined at right angles.
            The cross spoke of death, hideous, agonizing death, and the disciples knew that if they would really follow Jesus, then He had to be first, as they put their own ambitions and interests aside.  Does Jesus demand less today?  Does He still insist that His kingdom be put above our own kingdoms of personal gain?
            Wycliffe Bible translator Ken Jacobs tried to translate the word “deny” when he was working with the Chamula Indians of Mexico.  He found, however, that in their culture and language, they had no concept of self-denial. Flagellation, or beating themselves–yes, they had a word for that–but to deny self was foreign to them. Finally, Ken translated the word, saying, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him put out of his own heart what his own heart wants to do, and come take up his cross daily and follow me.”  And that is what discipleship is all about.
            One last thought:  Following Jesus is totally voluntary.  He doesn’t coerce men.  He doesn’t bribe them with “a home in the sky and a perfect life from now until move-in.  He merely invites them to “Come, follow me.”  He demands one thing, though.  He insists on having first place.
            “When Christ calls a man,” wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “he bids him come and die.”  “To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us… all that self-denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to him.”
            The message of the cross hasn’t changed with the passing of time.  Carved in ivory or gilded with gold, it still speaks of personal death, so that Christ lives in us.  Even nature itself teaches us that death must precede life.  The seed dies and is buried in the cold earth before new life sprouts within. That is the beginning of life that knows no end.
Resource Reading:  Matthew 19:16-26