Today is a day we refer to as Good Friday. It is a day Christians remember as the day our Savior, Jesus, bore our sins on a cruel cross. It is good because it opened the door to salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It was a brutally painful day for Christ, but He endured it for us. In Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He was bearing the Cross of shame and pain so we could spend eternity with Him. He bore our cross and looked ahead at the joy that would come in the end for those who accepted Him as their Savior. This forward look and the knowledge of pleasing his Father made His cross bearable.
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
In John 19:17 Jesus is being led out of the city John says, “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:” Jesus was bearing His cross but He was so weak from the beatings and lack of rest He could hardly carry it. In Luke 23:26 we are told, “And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.” This man was not of the area where Jesus was being crucified, but when pulled from the crowd by the soldiers he had no choice but to help Jesus with the cross. I wonder if he knew he was carrying the cross of God in the flesh. I wonder if he was part of the Cyrenians who came back to Antioch to preach the gospel in Acts 11:19-20? I wonder if he ran home and told everyone about this Jesus who was the Son of God. We may never know the impact the cross had on this man, but when I get to heaven, I hope to meet him and find out!
Act 11:19-20 “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.”
In Luke 9:23-26 we have the command from Jesus to take up our cross. The crowd to which He was preaching understood what the cross meant. It was an emblem of death. Jesus wants each of us to take up our cross. To do this we must die to ourselves. We must keep our focus on the reward of following Christ, of valuing the eternal more than the temporal, of loving Jesus more than anything in this world, even ourselves. If we bear our cross well, we will lose our lives in Christ. The world is full of those who are searching to fulfill their dreams of wealth and power. They find their pleasure in the things or people in their lives. Moms and Dads give up rest, and time with their children so they can have the earthly things they desire. They give up worship in God’s house to fulfill the athletic desires of their children. They may be vicariously seeking to live their life through their children. Yet Jesus says if we want to live, we need to die to self. We must bear our cross with His cross in mind. It is not a one-time opportunity it is a daily commitment. He made all this possible when He bore His cross for us over 2000 years ago.
Luke 9:23-26 “And he said to them all If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. And he said to them all If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.”
