Lenten Day Twenty:  Jesus of Nazareth

March 4, 2024

“Take up your cross and follow me.”  Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 16:24

On this twentieth day of Lent, halfway through the Lenten season, this invitation from Jesus to his followers feels appropriate.  I admit, though, that this quotation is not in my collection or stuck on anything anywhere in my house.  It came to me the other day, completely out of the blue, which I always consider to be the work of the Spirit blowing here and there. “Take up your cross and follow me.”  For those of us who have been around Christianity long enough, this may be one of the most well-known, preached about, and challenging verses of scripture. 

But this time, something new struck me about it.  I’ve always assumed (a dangerous habit) that Jesus meant that his disciples would be given a cross if they decided to follow him.  It would be Jesus’ cross that they bore.  But that’s not what Jesus says.  He doesn’t say, “Take up MY cross.”  The actual quotation is “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  The supposition—which I’ve never noticed before—it that the cross is already there.  The cross is each follower’s personal cross—my cross, and your cross—not one laid upon us by Jesus.

Think about it.  Jesus had his own cross to bear, his own burdens, and, so he, in his humanity, compassionately knows that we each have our own, as well.  That’s how this life is—shadows and light.  His cross is not ours, and my cross will be different from your cross.  My cross contains all the struggles, fears, worries, griefs, disappointments and challenges of my own unique experience, just as your cross is composed of yours.  I will admit there are parts of my cross that I’d rather not own.  I’d rather ignore them, or bury them, or deny them.  But Jesus invites me to pick up my cross, ALL of it.

Jesus’ invitation is for us to lay aside our own egos, our own self-sufficiency, and pick up those burdens of life in companionship with him because he will help us bear them.  “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened (with our own crosses), and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke (not my cross) upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11: 28-30).

Jesus the Christ doesn’t lay crosses on us.  He doesn’t need to; life does that, itself.  Instead, in his infinite love, he offers to carry them with us.

Blessings ~ Rosemary