March 30, 2012 A Cross?

A Cross?

Mark 8:34-37 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

YOU and I really have no idea how horrible the cross is. You can read of its terrible affects on the human body and know the cross was an execution reserved for the worst criminals. But you and I have never watched a man horribly die on a cross.
The people of Jesus’ day knew the cross. How do you, then, think they responded when Jesus spoke his cross-picking-up words? Certainly they said, “What? Take up my cross, Jesus? Does that mean I have to die if I follow you?”
But then Jesus in effect says, “If you aren’t willing to die for me, to die to your own ways, to die to the world’s ways, you will die an eternal death.”
Yes, following Jesus is about dyeing to your own will. And sometimes, as many martyrs have experienced through the ages, following Jesus means dyeing a physical death.
Why? Why is the Gospel so important that Jesus had to take up his cross and that you have to take up your cross?
Is anything more important than your eternal life?


Pause and consider the cause of heaven is above all causes.