Cross

cross-eyed 
 I had no clear vision 
life was a cross 
I had to carry 
 and I was cross 
at the tangled criss-cross 
web of weariness 
and crass emptiness 
(clouded crock) 
case-hardened 

then 

cross my heart 
it came across brand new 
old and rugged time-tested
Christ’s cross 

his cross purposes
crossed over from heaven
to clean and fill me
tore across 
my star-crossed life
crossed out counterfeit
conclusions

I took up a new cross
supernatural
carrying it
through thick and thin
forward to joy
the crossbar holds me
yoked to him
light as freedom
never alone

Many of us love to wear crosses; they tell people we are Christian. They may be gold, silver, or beaded with many colors. They are in our churches, some of them tall and simple, others elaborately decorated; some have statues representing Jesus hanging on them. The cross is key. Yet we too often keep it reserved as a symbol rather than living out what Jesus taught about it.

Did you notice that I am contemplating three different crosses here? They symbolize the three critical phases of spiritual pilgrimage toward Home.

Before knowing Jesus Christ personally, we are all carrying the heavy load of life with no assurance of help or hope. Like the thieves who also carried their crosses to the place where they would die, the cross means a life span that is ending. Punishment.

However Jesus gave himself for us, carrying his cross and dying on it not because he had ever sinned, but to pay for our sins. So his cross gave us salvation, a new life hidden in God. Once we understand that, and grab that truth personally, we are freed from the old cross of condemnation.

But he told his disciples: “Take up your cross and follow me!” Hmmm!

“If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. ²⁶ What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? (Mat 16:24-26)

This cross is also a personal one, like the first, but totally different in meaning. It denotes total individual devotion to follow Jesus Christ, even if it means to suffer or die because of that commitment. The world’s priorities and Jesus’ Way are totally incompatible. Jesus came to earth, God becoming incarnate, in order to bring us salvation through his death. He did not live to have success, entertainment, pleasure or material goods in order to be content. Instead he put up with antagonism from leaders while reaching out with compassion to the vulnerable, teaching God’s truth instead of popular interpretations of how to be “righteous.” And he did know that this would lead to his death as a young man. Nevertheless he followed God the Father’s plan, and died for us rather than capitulating to pressures of gaining respect or power other ways. His resistance to Satan’s temptations, when he was in the wilderness, made this clear, as did his entry to Jerusalem as Messiah, riding a donkey, when he knew what would happen to him in that city: he would be crucified.

When we take up our own “cross” we are throwing off our attachment to worldly must-haves and turning to Jesus. Where he leads, we follow. What he says to do, we do. If we stumble as we go forward, he provides strength to get up and keep going. His love surrounds us because he is always with us. Losing that other life means finding true life in him. It begins now and will go on forever, even if the earthly path we are on leads to persecution. For some it does lead to cruel death. For others it just means putting up with the inaccurate judgments and criticisms of people who do not understand this devotion to Jesus.

So, contemplating this, another teaching of Jesus comes to mind. Did it contradict this one about the heavy cross we carry in this world, obedient to God alone? He said that he would give us rest, and an easy load! A cross is heavy!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” (Matt. 11:28 NET)

Once again Jesus was using imagery that was easily understood by his audience. Many were farmers or knew farming, and the yoke was the harness put on oxen to lead them in the right directions while plowing a field. He made it clear: he would lead his devoted follower with gentleness, not overreach that would make it painful to do what he insisted they must do.

The “yoke” of religious leaders at that time was a mountain of detailed additions to the Law that God had given through Moses. Their restrictions made “right” living extremely complicated. “The Pharisees spoke of 613 commandments, and their hălākôt (“rulings”) involved a complicated casuistry. . . When Jesus invites people with the words . . . ‘take my yoke upon you,’ he invites them to follow his own teaching as the definitive interpretation of the law.”[1]

Jesus’ was invoking discipleship, commitment to the Teacher and his words, a complete devotion to him and his Way. Instead of rites or detailed restrictions that added on to God’s commands, his teaching was Truth. It was about self-denial, yes, because selfishness concentrates on earning temporary earthly pleasure or affirmation. That does not matter in the long run, the eternal one. But he underlined that walking in the yoke with him, he would bear the load with us and give us rest instead of added-on heaviness. A yoke holds together two oxen who are pulling a plow. He says he will never leave us but always be right beside us, and because of his strength working with us, the load is “easy” to carry forward.

As Randy Alcorn says, choosing to take up our cross and follow Jesus is the “best investment” ever:

“We’re to count the cost of discipleship, and also the cost of non-discipleship. The alternative to following Christ wholeheartedly and abiding in Him and obeying Him even when it’s uncomfortable is to not follow and obey Him. There is no third alternative. When we choose our own path, we forfeit joy, fulfillment, and eternal gain.”[2]

Amazing irony here: carrying this kind of heavy cross (you cannot take it lightly!) brings us peace and intimate fellowship with Jesus, the one who walks with us every  minute and understands our suffering because he walked this earth too. We are not free to just roam wherever we want to, with no understanding of the prize that is waiting for us if we don’t get lost but stay on the Way. His yoke directs us in the right paths, to plow whatever field he places us in—to be productive for him. This cross is not merely a decoration. It is life commitment, worth every breath we have!

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20 NET)

When I wear my cross necklace, it should remind me what it declares: I am completely attached to Christ, the one who died to save me and who guides me constantly through life’s chaos to Home with him. It does not mean than I attend church or am a “good person.” It means that I know the truth it stands for: forgiveness, rescue and life, now and forever!

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[1] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13, vol. 33A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1993), 323–325.

[2] Randy Alcorn, Eternal Perspective Ministries, June 19, 2024   https://www.epm.org/resources/2024/Jun/19/cost-discipleship-comparison/