Taking Up Your Cross: The Weight of Jesus’ Command
When Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24), I wonder if we truly understand the weight of His command. In today’s world, the cross has become ritualized—a religious symbol neatly woven into our ceremonies, traditions, and jewelry. But in Jesus’ day, the cross was anything but ceremonial. It was an unrelenting instrument of death.
The cross wasn’t about spiritual feelings or symbolic gestures; it was about execution. It was a brutal, one-way path to death.
Would we still receive the cross if Jesus had said, “Walk down death row and follow Me”? Taking up your cross wasn’t a journey. It wasn’t a scenic walk or a metaphor for self-improvement. It was a one-way trip to surrender.
To take up the cross is to deny ourselves—to put to death our self-centered desires, comforts, and ambitions for the sake of following Christ. This call to surrender isn’t partial; it’s total. And yet, how often do we treat our faith as something superficial?
Charles Spurgeon said it so powerfully:
“Your Sunday religion, which has been forgotten in the week, has been a scepter of reed, a powerless ensign, a mere sham.” Enduring Word Commentary
In other words, how often do we sing songs on Sunday only to live for ourselves Monday through Saturday? How often do we present Jesus with feigned worship—a hollow adoration that lacks heart and substance? We call Him King, yet make Him nothing more than a nominal King, stripped of true authority in our lives.
Taking up our cross means more than singing hymns or praying nice prayers. It’s about daily surrender, dying to self, and following Jesus no matter the cost.
The weight of Jesus’ call to take up our cross becomes clearer when we remember the depth of His own suffering.
Jesus was not a victim of circumstance. He was never out of control. On the contrary, He willingly chose the cross out of love for us.
“No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.” — John 10:18
Think about that for a moment. It is one thing to be forced into torture, to suffer unwillingly. But to choose such agony—to willingly endure ridicule, pain, and separation from the Father—is beyond comprehension.
Spurgeon again captures this truth:
“Man’s badness never came out to the full so much as when… he spat into the face of the Son of God Himself.”
Jesus endured unimaginable physical suffering, but worse than that, He endured the outpouring of the Father’s wrath. He bore the weight of every sin, every rebellion, and every ounce of wickedness humanity had ever committed. He did this as a substitute for us.
When Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), it wasn’t a cry of defeat. It was a declaration of victory. At that moment, an awesome spiritual transaction took place:
God the Father laid upon Jesus all the guilt and wrath our sin deserved.
Jesus bore it perfectly, fully satisfying the wrath of God on our behalf.
It was finished—not partly, not incompletely, but totally. The debt of sin was paid in full.
Knowing this, how could we ever rightly doubt God’s love for us?
Has He not gone to the most extreme lengths to demonstrate that love?
Has He not shown us that His love is selfless, sacrificial, and eternal?
When we look at the cross—truly look—we see the clearest picture of God’s heart for humanity. Jesus willingly walked the one-way road to death so that we could walk the road to life.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8
If we truly grasp the weight of Jesus’ words—“Take up your cross and follow Me”—it should change the way we live:
Deny Yourself: Are you holding on to comfort, pride, or sin that keeps you from full surrender?
Take Up Your Cross: What does it look like for you to die to yourself today? Is there an area of your life where you need to let go and let God take control?
Follow Him: Jesus leads us to places of sacrifice, obedience, and love. Are you following where He’s calling you, even when it’s hard?
Taking up the cross is not a one-time decision; it’s a daily commitment. It means refusing to live for ourselves and choosing instead to live for the One who died for us.
Jesus endured the cross for us—not because He had to, but because He loves us. He calls us to follow Him, to take up our own cross, and to trust that His way leads to life.
As we consider the weight of the cross, let us ask ourselves:
Have I ritualized my faith, reducing the cross to a symbol rather than a sacrifice?
Do I live as though Christ is truly King, or is my worship hollow and my obedience half-hearted?
Am I willing to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus no matter the cost?
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” — Matthew 16:25
May we never forget the gravity of the cross. May we live lives that reflect the sacrifice of Jesus—lives marked by surrender, obedience, and love.
“Lord Jesus, thank You for choosing the cross out of love for me. Help me to take up my own cross daily, to deny myself, and to follow You with all my heart. I surrender my desires, my plans, and my pride. Teach me to live for You alone. Let my life reflect Your sacrifice and Your love to the world around me. Amen.”
The cross was a one-way trip. Let’s live as though we truly understand its weight.
