Carry your cross Mt 10 & 11

They were children, quarrelling. Some were playing weddings, but their companions would not rejoice; others were playing funerals, but their friends would not mourn. Jesus says that people responded in the same way, criticising John the Baptist because he was ascetic, living in the desert and eating frugally. Then, Jesus comes, eating and drinking – but do they listen? No, Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard, so say his critics (see Matthew 11:16-19). It strikes me how defended some of those who heard Jesus were; however God reached out to them, they would criticise, rather than listen. Somehow, the message that John and Jesus brought was too radical, involved too many changes, and so many people protected themselves against it. To be fair, much of Jesus’ message in the previous chapter supports this – see Matthew 10:16-19, for example, or 10:34-39. Following Jesus is likely to involve being brought before the courts, being at odds with your family, losing your life.

Does any of this seem relevant to us today? Maybe, if not, we should ponder why. Part of the reason may well be that Christianity is more established now, than it was then. Choosing to follow Jesus then might well involve being dragged before synagogues, governors and kings (see Acts, for example); it might well also involve choosing something that your family might disagree with. In some places, this is still true today, and there are Christians who will have had to make those choices. For those of us who are not in that position, it might be worth pondering whether there are other reasons for this. How defended are we against the true radicality of the gospel? Are we really ready to take up our cross to follow Jesus? to lose our life in his service? Do we love Jesus more than our family members? It seems to me that this is what Jesus is demanding of us here. Total commitment, wherever it might lead.

Taking up our cross is a repeated theme in the gospels (see Matthew 16:24-25, for example). In Jesus’ time, it would have had far more of an impact than now. Jesus literally carried his cross to the place of his death, and I assume that this was common practice for those facing crucifixion; that it might well have been a sight that those hearing this passage would recognise. Moreover, it was a form of execution used by the Romans, the occupying forces, a symbol of their power. Alongside that is shame, pain and humiliation. So what does it mean when we are asked to take up our cross and follow Jesus? In this passage, it goes side by side with loving Jesus more than we love our families. Jesus is not suggesting that we should not love our families; he is not suggesting that we should not care for those who are dependent on us. He is suggesting that our primary love and commitment should be towards him, before all else; and that this does involve taking up our cross in order to follow Jesus; that it will involve losing our lives in order to find them.

But how do we do this in the modern era, when most of us have home, families and incomes to earn? I do not think that Jesus is necessarily asking that we give all that up; neither do I think that he is suggesting that we bring strife to our families in order to ‘lose our lives’. I do think it is primarily about commitment and love. It is love that we may best defend ourselves against. Jesus’ own call led to the cross. He did not want to go there, as the scene in Gethsemane makes clear (see Matthew 26:36-46, for example). So he is not suggesting that we should want to lose our lives, more that it is a necessity. Jesus followed the path his father asked him to; in following Jesus, we, too, are asked to go where we are led. Following Jesus means taking up our crosses; to make that commitment means we are prepared to put Jesus first, wherever that might lead. For some of us, that might be in unexpected directions, and to places where we do not want to go. What that looks like for each individual will be different. What is worth reflecting on regularly is the nature of our commitment to Jesus; how that looks for us at this point in our lives; what changes we might need to make in order to break through any defences against love that we might have; whether those changes are practical in our own circumstances, and what we can do if they are not.

We might start by praying about our own resistances. How well are we able to listen? not just to hear God, but to listen and take on board? What prevents us being totally committed to Jesus? If we say we nothing, how honest are we being? It is probably normal to have some defences up, and our path of discipleship involves how we dismantle them, allowing God in further and making our commitment ever deeper. To take up our cross is a journey. Just as Jesus took up his cross and carried it to his place of crucifixion, so we are called to take up our crosses and journey with them. Remember that, just as Jesus had Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross, so we, too, may well have others who will journey with us, and help us carry our own crosses. We are not called to do this on our own.