How many times have you heard someone quote Jesus’ saying, “take up your cross” and follow Him? Have you ever thought about what Jesus actually meant? What does it mean to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Read on as I provide an in-depth answer in this post.
The Biblical Reference for Taking up Your Cross
Jesus tells his disciples in Mark 8:34-35, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the Gospel will save it.”
Now, at first glance these two verses can be confusing. But, with careful consideration Jesus’ instructions become clear.
Therefore, it’s probably best to break the verses down into bite-sized chunks.
Follow Jesus
Jesus’ command to “follow Me” revolves at the center of what it means to be a Christian. In simplest terms, a Christian is a follower of Jesus. Furthermore, to be a follower of Jesus means to be obedient to His teachings and allowing your character to be molded to His.
Therefore, following Jesus takes obedience and sacrifice. Ultimately, Jesus Himself was the best example of obedience and sacrifice. He obeyed the will of God the Father by offering His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.
In doing so, He gave us an example to follow.
Taking Up Your Cross
When Jesus said that anyone that wanted to follow Him would have to “take up his cross”, he was saying that they would have to choose the path of obedience just as He did.
Jesus did not come to follow His own will. No, Jesus came to earth to follow the will of God the Father. Jesus admits this in John 4:34 when He says, “My food is to do the work of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” Jesus did so by dying on the cross.
Bearing the Cross
Likewise, to be a follower of Jesus, you have to take up your own cross. No, God isn’t asking you to literally die on a cross. Instead, He asks you to die to your own wants or desires. These have to die on the cross.
You see, the cross was an instrument of death. Jesus’ listeners would’ve understood the reference. They may have even seen people being crucified.
Jesus’ listeners knew that the condemned had to carry their cross to their own execution. It was part of the punishment.
Therefore, when Jesus says to “take up your own cross” it means willingly choosing to die.
Death to Self Through Denial
So, how what type of death is Jesus talking about?
No, it’s not a literal death. Instead, Jesus is asking you to die to self. He states this when He says, “deny yourself and take up your cross”.
Denying self goes far beyond ignoring your wants and desires. It means dying to your old self.
By “self” here, Jesus was referring to the flesh, or your old sinful nature. It’s your old selfish way of doing things before becoming a Christian. It’s a self ruled by sin and selfishness.
Crucifying the Flesh
You have to kill the impulse to follow the old self in order to serve Jesus. You have to reject your way of doing things and choose God’s way. That’s why it takes obedience and sacrifice.
Ultimately, you have to want to serve Jesus more than you want to serve sinful desires because you love Him more.
Unfortunately, sinful desire keeps raising its ugly head and tempting you, so you have to crucify the flesh symbolically by denying those urges.
Paul states that, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
What does it mean to take up your cross? It means to crucify the flesh by denying self.
What Does It Mean to Take Up Your Cross in Context
What does it mean to take up your cross? Now, that we’ve started to answer the question, we need to look at it in context. This will help us fully answer the question.
In Mark 8, Jesus gives His disciples these instructions after having rebuked Peter. After Peter identifies Jesus as the Christ, God’s Chosen One, Jesus explains how He must suffer as the Messiah.
Peter’s Own Way
Peter refuses to accept that Jesus must suffer. In his mind, in his way of doing things, the Christ is a victorious political conqueror, not a suffering servant. Based on his perspective, Peter acts out on his sinful desires and opens himself up to the works of the Devil.
As a result, Jesus rebukes Peter for acting according to his own flesh. Jesus tells Peter, “you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” ( Mark 8: 33). Then, Jesus gives the instructions to deny self and take up your cross.
Jesus’ instructions are in response to Peter’s self-fueled actions. Therefore, this gives further explanation to what Jesus meant by “taking up your cross”
Even More Explanation
If this context wasn’t enough, Jesus gives even more explanation in the verses following. In verse 35, Jesus goes on to say, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.” In light of the command to “deny self” this verse becomes clear.
To lose one’s life means to give up control of one’s life. As a result, if you give up control of your life to God, you will save your life. On the flip side, if you want to keep control of your life, then you will lose your life through damnation to hell.
Ultimately, salvation comes down to the choice you make regarding Jesus Christ. Will you submit yourself to His will? Will you obey His commands?
Jesus confirms this in verse 38 when He says, “If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Closing Thoughts
What does it mean to take up your cross?
As you can see, taking up your cross means more than suffering in this life. Taking up your cross means denying self and choosing to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ.
To be a follower of Jesus, you must do as He did. You must take up your cross.
You must die to the old sinful nature and live a new life in Jesus. This requires obedience and sacrifice.
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