The cross—we wear tiny symbols as jewelry or hang them on our walls. We emboss them on our Bibles or stick them to our car bumpers. For Christians who cherish the symbol, the cross connotes hope, security and victory. But in Jesus’ day the cross wasn’t a decoration. It was a declaration. It proclaimed the might, power and brute willingness of Rome to secure its place in the world, at whatever cost—a chilling reminder that rebellion would be crushed and dissidents would die in humiliation. The cross meant torture, suffering, and death.
When Jesus told His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), He wasn’t speaking in poetic metaphor. No, to those who first heard these words, the meaning was plain: following Jesus meant choosing a path, voluntary humiliation, self-denial and sacrifice, even to the point of death.
Fast-forward a few hundred years to Constantine, the pagan-born Roman ruler who reportedly saw a vision of a cross with the words In hoc signo vinces—”In this sign, you will conquer.” With his conversion to the faith, Christianity was no longer a threat to the empire; it became intertwined with power, and the cross’s meaning shifted from a symbol of suffering to one of triumph.
For Jesus, the cross was not just a duty but a mission embraced with joy. As Hebrews 12:2 reminds us, “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame.” The joy was not in the suffering itself but in the salvation it secured—for you and me.
So, what does it mean for us to “take up our cross”? It means this: choose day by day to surrender our preferences, comforts, our sense of respectability and even our fears to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Here is the mom who sacrifices sleep to tend all night to a sick child. This is the person who gives up their concert tickets to be present with a friend in need. It’s the believer who forgives when it’s undeserved and makes time when it’s inconvenient. It’s saying “no” to the snooze button.
But let’s not sugarcoat it. Cross-bearing is hard. It’s countercultural. It’s not normal. It will make your life appear dysfunctional relative to how your fellow Americans choose to live. That’s why it takes faith—faith in the God who promises that every sacrifice on behalf of Christ, no matter how painful, will ultimately lead to glory and heavenly treasure.
Maranatha, Jordy
