Mark 8:34-38, Take Up Your Cross (1)

What does this mean: take up his cross.  The Apostle James was killed by the sword (Acts 12:2).  So it doesn’t mean whoever follows Christ will be crucified.  That was easy.  But what does it mean?  We can learn a lot just from Jesus words in this passage.

·       To take up your cross is to set your mind on the things of God.  When Peter assured Jesus that he would not let Him die, Jesus rebuked him because Peter was not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.  The “things of men” are the things men consider essential for a satisfying life: an abundance of material things, the avoidance of pain and pursuit of pleasure, and fame, or at least being well thought of by your associates.  Man’s “leadership plan” to get to the top does not involve death.  That just doesn’t make sense to men.  But God’s plan for Jesus involved the cross, as it does for us.  For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:5). 

·       Additionally, to take up your cross is to choose the will of God to be your will.  We noted previously that the term for “desire” in v34-35 is “to will.”  Disciples of Jesus set about to learn the things of God, and step by step they choose obedience to those things.  You may remember how Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.  Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will (Mk. 14:36).  The will of the Father was so essential to Jesus’ everyday life, He said My food is to do the will of the Father (Jn. 4:34).  Every work He did, every miracle, every sermon and conversation, was the will of His Father (Jn. 5:36; 17:4).  To take up our cross is to make the will of God the sustaining food of our lives.  To take up our cross is to set our minds on the things of God, and to take up our cross is to submit ourselves to His will or His “things.”

·       The “cross” is not just an event; it is a heart attitude.  We see this in Christ, who had already set His heart on the cross (v31) long before the event took place.  There is no alternative to this.  He had not “resigned” Himself to this (“I guess I have no choice”) but rather “committed” Himself to this.  That is why Jesus can tell us to “take up your cross and follow Me.”  It is not that we must go get some wood and nails and make a cross and drag it around for people to see.  It is that we must long to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Phil. 3:10).  Taking up our cross is an act of faith, submitting ourselves to God’s “things” for us.  The death we die daily on that cross (1 Cor. 15:31) is death to self and sin.

There is more to come on this crucial subject.