Matthew 16:24-28
Taking Up Jesus' Cross
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Matthew 27:32-37
Carrying the Cross
32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.
Criminals who were crucified by the Romans had to carry their own crosses to their execution place...Carrying a cross was a humiliating and painful symbol on your way to your own death...But the symbolism on the cross would dramatically change in a few hours with one specific cross...At that time the cross meant very little to the world...Jesus would carry His cross to His own death for us...Our sins are what forced Jesus to carry His cross and pinned Him on it to die...
A commitment to the cross is a daily thing...Each and every day Jesus wants to be in our lives, not just part time...Taking up His cross means we must deny ourselves, and follow Him...Jesus says it is about surrendering our lives and living more for Him...And many early Christians would lose there lives in admitting they followed Him and His teachings...
Simon from Cyrene was forced to help Jesus carry His cross after He was convicted by Pilate...If I were Simon I would have very much been surprised by helping Him...After all Simon had just arrived in Jerusalem...Would have he shown the Romans a reluctance and be fearful to help a Man, who was supposedly a criminal?...Was he embarrassed, helping Jesus carry His cross?...We are not sure if Simon knew Jesus before he was forced to help His Messiah...Simon of Cyrene is the only man who helped Jesus, literally carry His cross to His death...I might wonder if Simon ever realized in his lifetime that Jesus died for him and his sins...And it was Simon's sins as well as everyone else's sins that forced him to help Jesus carry His cross...Simon helped Jesus reach the strange and yet most loving goal of redeeming humanity of our sins, by help carrying Jesus' cross to His death...And another question comes to mind...Would Simon have felt Something, being this close to the Man who soon would be dying for all of humanity?...Could being this close to Jesus change Simon forever and make him a Disciple?...Jesus has this way about Him...
What an experience for Simon of Cyrene...Sharing his back to carry a cross to help the most loving Man to ever walk the earth...Sharing in the passion of our Jesus...Sharing in one of the most celebrated times and event in the history of mankind...A cross which in Simon's time meant crime, humiliation, fear, and a tortuous death...Now after Jesus and Simon had carried this specific cross, the cross means a follower of Jesus, and the greatest Christian symbol that we have and know...The cross is the symbol for atonement, mercy, love, and most of all forgiveness...