What does it mean to carry the cross?

To Carry the Cross

“Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me: you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

                                  Matthew 16:23-24

         This is one of those Bible readings that I would prefer to skip over.  For one thing, Jesus has just told his disciples that he would go to Jerusalem and be killed by the elders of the church.  When Peter takes Jesus aside and says to him what any friend would say, “Don’t do this!” Jesus yanks his chain, even calls him Satan.  That’s just harsh.  You would expect a compassionate Messiah to see his friend’s love and cut him some slack.  And then Jesus utters this gibberish about losing one’s life is really saving it, and saving one’s life is really losing it.  Think how confused his disciples must have felt about that.  Jesus was having himself a “human” moment—he didn’t like the idea of being crucified any better than Peter did.  He chose to lash out at his disciples in a fit of temper.

         Two thousand years later, we’re still dithering about exactly what Jesus meant about taking up your cross and following him.  Did he mean that we literally must die to be true to our faith, or was he speaking symbolically; was he using the cross metaphorically to mean we must die to self?  I’m going to choose the latter because I think that is what we do, in a sense, as we travel life’s journey.  As we age, (if we are wise) we cast off the trappings of ego.  We gradually give up the bondage of control; of having to have things our way, of seeing the importance of social class and possessions, of trying to maintain an image of youth, of the need to manipulate people to our will.  Like casting of restrictive clothing, we eventually stand before our creator as naked as when we came into this world.  It’s a freeing image really.  When we fail to do this, old age can get really ugly for us and for our loved ones.

         When Jesus told Peter he was thinking like a man and not like God, he was absolutely correct.  Peter was a man who loved his friend and didn’t want to see him die.  He wanted, as we all do, to preserve the moment, to hold on to the now.  He wanted to go on forever at Jesus’ side, hearing him preach and teach and watching him heal broken people.  Who could blame him?  Jesus knew the truth; that all things must pass, and that eventually his own ministry must come to and end.  He trusted that even when he was not walking the Earth, others would come along, carrying their crosses and following him.

                                  In the spirit,

                                  Jane