11/14/2026
When we look at Jesus, do we see Him sitting at the right hand of God radiating light, do we see Him hanging on the cross at Calvary, or do we see Him bleeding and moaning as He is carrying, and dragging His Cross down the Via Dolorosa? What is the Cross of Jesus Christ to us? Is it a symbol of man’s anger and hate, or of God’s love? If we really don’t know, then we had best decide, because it is after picking up our own Cross that we are told to follow Jesus.
“that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,”
Ephesians 3:16-17 ESV
What happened on the Cross at Golgotha is the climax of the greatest love story ever lived, conceived, or written. It was here that the love of a Father joined with that of His only begotten Son to wipe away the sin of the world, and to return the object of His affection (mankind) to Himself. We often look at the Cross and think of the hate filled eyes of those who surrounded it as Jesus hung dying from it, or the suffering He endured, but the story of the Cross isn’t one of hate, or the pain and suffering, but one of God’s Love for the haters.
“Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24 ESV
Jesus wasn’t calling us to suffer when He told us to take up our cross... sure, there will be suffering involved in it, and the pain will be nearly unbearable at times, but He isn’t calling us to that... He is asking us to join Him in the love that made every loud thud of the hammer against a nail to beat in rhythm to the song of mercy and grace. It is in the music of the Psalm he sang from the cross... He is leading us into a love story, and a love song, being sung to His betrothed.
“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13 ESV
“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
Hebrews 9:14 ESV
Pastor Andrew Murray called this the “spirit of the cross” when he wrote of the highest glory of Jesus. Listen to these wonderful words that he shared with us:
“I feel deeply that the Cross is Christ’s highest glory. The Holy Spirit has done nor can do anything greater or more glorious than he did when Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God”. It was the spirit of the cross that made Christ the object of His Father’s good pleasure, of the worship of the Angels, of the love and confidence of the redeemed.” - Andrew Murray
So, which Cross do we see when we pick it up? Are we envisioning ourselves as suffering, or as being raised up in love? What is in our mind’s eye and the heartbeat of our soul when we hear Jesus say to us...
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Mark 8:34 ESV
Is Jesus calling us to suffer? No, I don’t believe so, He is first and foremost calling us to love, because that was our Heavenly Father’s will for Him. We are being asked to deny our fallen nature which is to hate those who hate us. We are not being beckoned to suffer and hate, but to love and forgive.
As we are carrying our cross behind Him does our love lead us to see the Cross as a symbol of martyrdom? Do we envision our purpose to be a sacrificial one in obedience to God? Is denying ourselves done for a more prominent seat at the table of our Lord and Father? Is this the object of picking up the Cross to us? No, I don’t believe it should be; it is loving those souls who are waiting to nail us to it.
“And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23 ESV
There is one passage of scripture we should all commit to memory that explains the motivation of God in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These two verses in John tell us what the Cross truly is, and why it is the instrument of the most profound love that has ever been known.
“"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
The cross is much more than a lover’s tool, or the ladder that a young man places to the window of his love as they elope, it is a greater symbol than the ring that is placed on the finger at a wedding ceremony, it is a love far more profound and heartfelt than even the look in a mother’s eye when she first sees her newborn baby. This is a love that spans time, and overshadows the universe. This is the infinite love that sparked the inspiration of God at the moment of our creation. So, what do we hear in the words of Jesus, and what do we see when we look at the cross? What is it that we pick up when we decide to follow Him, and is our love at that moment strong enough and sufficient to pay the price that Jesus did?
“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?”
Luke 14:27-28 ESV
So, when we hear Jesus telling us to pick up our cross, He is telling us to pick up that love which is worth laying our lives down for. He is telling us to love those who hate us with an intensity that knows no equivalent. He is telling us that it will hurt, and that we will suffer, but that there is no greater love we can have in our lives than that we have for another as we are sacrificing ourselves. He is telling us that it is easier to love those who love us, but that God’s love far exceeds that easy way. He is telling us to be like Him and to forgive as we hang from our crosses looking into the faces of those who hate us and who jeer and spit on us... can we do that? Will we do that?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the love that flows from Calvary, and for the love that you revealed to us through your Son Jesus Christ. Help us Holy Father to understand that the timbers which lifted Him, and the nails which pierced Him, are not the instruments of death and suffering, they have been transformed into much more than that... they are the cresting wave of your love for us. They are the cleansing water that has mounted up to wash over us as it purifies and prepares us for the consummation of your eternal love. Teach us Gracious Father that our cross is not rooted in suffering, hatred, or sacrifice, but in love, just as it was for the Cross of Jesus. Reveal your grace to us as we drag our own crosses through this world we live in, and give us the faith that is required to look into even the angriest and most hate filled eyes with the love of Christ; your Love. Great is your mercy and grace Holy Father, but greater yet is the love you have for us. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who sees a blossoming hope of love in the hardness of man, and loves him as he is transformed; the hatred and sin becoming his love and righteousness through his faith in Christ Jesus. Praised be your name Father, and blessed are we as we pick up our crosses, and follow your Son Jesus Christ.
“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:34 ESV
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.”
Isaiah 53:12 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes