The Adventist creators of the YouTube channel Deep Made Simple do a great job of helping us understand what “the cross” meant at the time of Jesus and of Paul. It was not a good word. It was not a word you would even mention in Roman society. It was that bad. (See the video below for details. )
But are we any closer to accepting the message of the cross than the disciples were? To the disciples, it meant giving up all their worldly hopes of glory. It meant following in the footsteps of Jesus in self-denial and self-sacrifice, risking persecution and death. After the cross, they remembered that Jesus had said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). His words had only seemed a puzzle to them then, and they soon forgot them. But they remembered now, and now they understood that He meant they must die – die to their selfish desires in order to live for Christ.
As you watch the video below, keep in mind that Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
After watching that video, we can reflect and ask ourselves, when did we last “deny ourselves” anything for the sake of Christ? When did we last “take up our cross” /die to self?
