Introduction — The Cross Before Calvary

We’ve all heard someone describe a difficult circumstance as “my cross to bear.” Perhaps it’s a chronic illness, a strained relationship, financial hardship, or an unpleasant responsibility. These experiences can bring genuine suffering, and Scripture certainly teaches believers to endure hardship with faith, patience, and hope. But is that what Jesus meant when He commanded His followers to take up their crosses?

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus declares:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” — Matthew 16:24, NASB 1995 (excerpt)

The cross was not originally a Christian symbol of perseverance. In the Roman world, it was an instrument of execution associated with public disgrace, humiliation, and death. Roman authorities used crucifixion against enslaved people, rebels, and others subjected to degrading punishment. Ancient evidence supports some condemned persons carrying a horizontal beam, a patibulum, toward execution. Yet the surviving sources do not establish one universal procedure, the dimensions of every beam, or precisely what every condemned person carried. The Gospel accounts describe cross-carrying without specifying the implement’s construction.[1]

The Galilean setting gives this image historical substance. Following Herod the Great’s death, conventionally dated to 4 BC, disturbances broke out in his former kingdom. Josephus describes Judas, son of Hezekiah, seizing weapons at Sepphoris. Roman forces under Varus, governor of Syria, intervened. Josephus reports that a detachment sent into Galilee burned Sepphoris and enslaved its inhabitants; he subsequently reports roughly two thousand crucifixions during the wider suppression of revolt. These are related events in his narrative, not evidence that all two thousand people were crucified at Sepphoris.[2]

A person carrying an execution implement was not simply carrying a burden. He was proceeding toward execution. Jesus spoke before His own crucifixion, when His disciples still resisted His announced suffering. It is reasonable to infer that the image communicated disgrace and death; Matthew’s context establishes its demand: allegiance to Jesus that does not end when obedience becomes costly.

The cross is not simply what happens to you. It is what following Jesus may cost you.

1. Taking Up Your Cross: Allegiance Without Reservation

The immediate context of Matthew 16:24 is essential. Peter has just confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). Yet when Jesus announces that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day, Peter objects. Jesus responds:

“Get behind Me, Satan!” — Matthew 16:23, NASB 1995 (excerpt)

Peter’s objection reveals a fundamental problem. He correctly recognizes Jesus’ identity but resists the road Jesus says He must take. Peter wants the Messiah without the suffering Jesus has announced. Jesus corrects him and then explains what following Him requires.

The disciple does not determine the Master’s road. The disciple follows the Master.

What does the cross add to self-denial?

Jesus gives three closely related commands:

DENY YOURSELF → TAKE UP YOUR CROSS → FOLLOW ME

In Dig Deeper 01 — Deny Yourself: More Than Giving Things Up, we examined the first command. Self-denial involves relinquishing the claim to govern our lives independently of Christ. It is not simply refusing pleasures, possessions, or other good gifts from God. But taking up the cross intensifies that surrender. The Greek expression is:

ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ — aratō ton stauron autou — “let him take up his cross” (translation of the Greek expression).

The verb αἴρω (airō) means to take up, lift, or carry, depending on context. The noun σταυρός (stauros) refers here to the cross associated with Roman execution. Jesus’ command does not merely require a change in personal priorities. It demands allegiance that extends even to the willingness to surrender one’s life.[4]

Self-denial relinquishes the claim to rule your life. Cross-bearing accepts the full consequences of belonging to Christ.

These are distinguishable emphases within one comprehensive summons to discipleship, not two unrelated spiritual achievements.

Submission is central, but the cross makes its cost unmistakable

The surrounding commands emphasize submission to Jesus. The disciple denies himself and follows Christ. But the cross contributes something distinctive. It communicates the potentially fatal consequences of that allegiance.

A condemned person carrying an execution implement was subject to Roman authority. Jesus takes that terrifying image and calls His disciples to follow Him willingly, even when doing so exposes them to rejection, suffering, or death. The historical practice should not be reduced to a formal ritual of voluntary submission to Rome. Condemned people were compelled to comply. The voluntary submission in Jesus’ command arises from His call to follow Him.

The disciple willingly places allegiance to Christ above the preservation of his own life.

This does not mean every Christian will experience martyrdom. But every Christian is called to an allegiance that does not make avoiding death the condition of obedience. Jesus’ command applies to “anyone” who wishes to follow Him. Cross-bearing is not an advanced form of Christianity reserved for a select group of unusually committed believers. It belongs to Jesus’ definition of discipleship. And the question is intensely personal:

Will you follow Jesus only as long as following Him costs you nothing you are unwilling to lose?

2. Not Every Burden Is a Cross

If cross-bearing means allegiance to Jesus even at the cost of suffering or death, we must distinguish it from suffering generally. Not every hardship a Christian experiences is the cross Jesus commands him to carry.

Ordinary suffering and Christian cross-bearing

A person may experience serious illness, financial loss, family conflict, disappointment, or physical pain. Such suffering is real. It should not be minimized. Scripture calls believers to trust God through suffering, and difficult circumstances may become occasions for significant spiritual growth. But hardship itself does not automatically constitute cross-bearing.

Consider a Christian who develops a serious illness. The illness is not necessarily the result of following Jesus. Yet within that suffering, the believer may face costly decisions about faithfulness, obedience, integrity, and allegiance to Christ. The illness may become a setting in which genuine discipleship is expressed. The distinction matters.

Suffering does not automatically make someone a faithful disciple. Faithfulness to Christ may require suffering.

Cross-bearing is not defined simply by the presence of pain. It concerns the disciple’s allegiance to Jesus when obedience becomes costly.

Why Luke includes “daily”

Luke 9:23 records Jesus’ command with an additional expression:

καθ᾽ ἡμέραν — kath’ hēmeran — “daily” (Luke 9:23, NASB 1995).[4]

That expression helps us understand the continuing character of cross-bearing. Execution is not a repeatable daily event. Yet Jesus calls His followers to take up their crosses daily. Therefore, the command cannot be restricted to the moment of martyrdom. It describes an ongoing commitment to follow Christ without reservation.

But daily does not transform the cross into a metaphor for ordinary inconveniences. Jesus is not saying that every frustrating circumstance is a cross. He is describing a continuing allegiance that remains in force whether or not persecution is presently occurring.

You do not wait until someone threatens your life to begin living under Christ’s authority.

Daily discipleship requires obedience now. It may involve surrendering personal ambitions, accepting rejection, refusing wrongdoing, or choosing faithfulness when compromise would be easier. And sometimes it may require suffering severe consequences because you belong to Christ.

Peter eventually learned this distinction

Peter’s later teaching is particularly important for FOLLOW ME. In 1 Peter 4:15–16, he distinguishes suffering because of wrongdoing from suffering as a Christian. He does not treat every unpleasant consequence as persecution. A believer who suffers because of sinful conduct cannot simply claim that suffering as evidence of faithful discipleship. But when someone suffers because of identification with Christ, Peter calls that believer not to be ashamed.

This is striking when we remember Peter’s own history. Peter once insisted that he would die with Jesus rather than deny Him (Matthew 26:35). Yet when identification with Jesus became dangerous, Peter denied knowing Him (Matthew 26:69–75). His failure reveals an important distinction:

Professing willingness to die for Jesus is not the same as faithfully following Jesus.

Cross-bearing cannot be reduced to imagining how courageously we might respond to martyrdom. It calls us to actual obedience. And Peter’s story also guards us against another error. Jesus’ demand for complete allegiance does not mean genuine disciples never fail. Peter failed grievously. Yet the risen Christ restored him (John 21:15–19). Jesus spoke of the death by which Peter would glorify God and again commanded him to follow (John 21:18–19). The connection is remarkable.

The disciple who once resisted Jesus’ suffering and later denied Him would eventually be called to follow Him even toward death.

Peter’s confidence could not rest in the perfection of his own courage. It had to rest in the Savior who restored and continued forming him. That is the grace of discipleship.

3. Christ’s Cross and Ours

There is one theological distinction we must never lose. Jesus commands His disciples to take up their crosses. But the disciple’s cross is not Christ’s cross. And the disciple’s suffering does not accomplish what Christ’s suffering accomplishes.

Jesus announces His necessary suffering before commanding our costly discipleship (Matthew 16:21–24). That order matters. We must not confuse the unique redemptive necessity of Christ’s suffering with the consequences His followers may experience.

Christ’s cross accomplishes redemption

Jesus’ death was not merely an example of courageous obedience in the face of suffering. It was the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose. Jesus came to give His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). His sacrifice accomplishes what no disciple’s suffering could accomplish.

Christ’s death is uniquely substitutionary and redemptive. He does not merely demonstrate the willingness to surrender His life. He gives His life to accomplish the salvation of sinners.

Only Christ’s cross secures redemption.

Our cross-bearing demonstrates allegiance

The disciple’s cross-bearing is different. We do not suffer to purchase forgiveness. We do not earn justification through personal sacrifice. We do not contribute to the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death. We follow Jesus because He is Lord and Savior. And genuine allegiance to Him includes willingness to accept the consequences of obedience. This is the distinction we established in Message 7:

Christ’s cross accomplishes redemption. Our cross-bearing describes the costly path of following the Redeemer.

His cross is the ground of our salvation. Our cross-bearing is an expression of allegiance to the Savior—not a contribution to His finished work.

That statement protects us from two opposite errors. The first is turning discipleship into a system of earning salvation. The second is treating allegiance to Christ as optional because salvation is by grace. Scripture teaches neither. Salvation rests on the finished work of Jesus Christ, received through faith (Romans 3:24–26; Ephesians 2:8–10). Yet Jesus calls everyone who would follow Him to deny himself, take up his cross, and follow. These are not competing truths. The grace that saves sinners also brings them under the lordship of the Savior.

Does this mean genuine disciples always obey perfectly?

No. Peter’s failure makes that impossible to maintain. But we must not use Peter’s failure to weaken Jesus’ command. Christ requires genuine allegiance. And Christ continues forming His disciples, correcting their failures and restoring them when they fall. Christ’s obedience and sacrifice are perfect; our discipleship remains imperfect and dependent upon His grace.

Cross-bearing is not flawless performance. Neither is it a merely verbal profession. It is the costly allegiance Jesus requires of those who follow Him.

The disciple’s hope is greater than self-preservation

Jesus immediately explains His command in Matthew 16:25. The person who seeks to preserve life at the expense of Christ will ultimately lose it. The person who loses life for Christ’s sake will find it. The decisive phrase is “for My sake” (Matthew 16:25, NASB 1995, excerpt).

Christian cross-bearing is not suffering for suffering’s sake. It is allegiance to Jesus. And Jesus promises that surrendering life for His sake is not ultimately loss. This promise does not guarantee that every earthly sacrifice will be restored in this life. It directs our hope beyond present circumstances to eternal life and Christ’s coming glory (Matthew 16:25–27). The disciple can follow Jesus even when obedience becomes costly because Christ Himself secures the life that cannot ultimately be lost.

Conclusion — Follow Him Whatever the Cost

Jesus did not command His disciples to seek suffering. He commanded them to follow Him. And He made clear that following Him may cost them everything. The cross is not merely an unpleasant circumstance to endure. It is the image Jesus chose to describe allegiance that extends even to the surrender of life itself.

Not every burden is a cross. Not every hardship is persecution. Not every sacrifice demonstrates faithful discipleship. But every disciple is called to follow Jesus without making personal comfort, security, reputation, or even life itself the final condition of obedience.

The cross is not simply what happens to you. It is what following Jesus may cost you.

And the reason a disciple can accept that cost is not because suffering possesses inherent spiritual value. It is because Jesus Christ is worthy. He is the One who accomplished redemption through His own cross. He is the One who calls His followers to walk behind Him. And He is the One who promises life to those who lose their lives for His sake.

He gave His life to redeem us. He calls us to follow Him—even at the cost of our lives.

This brings us back to the final statement of Message 7:

A disciple can surrender everything to Jesus because nothing surrendered to Jesus is ultimately lost.

That promise does not eliminate earthly loss. It assures us that no sacrifice made for Christ’s sake can overturn His promise of eternal life and coming glory.

The question is not whether following Jesus will cost you exactly what it costs someone else. The question is whether Jesus has your allegiance, whatever following Him may require.

DENY YOURSELF → TAKE UP YOUR CROSS → FOLLOW ME

Theological Conclusions

1. Cross-bearing expresses allegiance to Jesus without reservation. It is not simply the endurance of ordinary hardship.

2. The cross reveals the full extent of discipleship’s demand. Following Christ may require surrendering reputation, security, relationships, possessions, or even life itself.

3. Cross-bearing is a continuing commitment. Luke’s inclusion of daily emphasizes ongoing allegiance rather than restricting the command to martyrdom.

4. Christ’s cross and the disciple’s cross must remain distinct. Christ alone accomplishes redemption. His followers demonstrate allegiance through costly obedience.

5. The disciple’s ultimate confidence rests in Christ. Even genuine earthly loss cannot overturn His promise of eternal life and coming glory.

Questions for Reflection

1. Have I confused enduring life’s difficulties with genuinely taking up my cross?

2. Are there circumstances in which I am willing to follow Jesus only if obedience does not threaten something I deeply value?

3. Do I sometimes imagine dramatic acts of faithfulness while resisting ordinary obedience to Christ?

4. How does Peter’s failure and restoration help me understand both the seriousness of Jesus’ command and the sufficiency of His grace?

5. What would change in my life if I more consistently regarded obedience to Christ as more important than preserving my own comfort, reputation, or security?

Source Notes

[1] Ruben van Wingerden, “Carrying a patibulum: A Reassessment of Non-Christian Latin Sources,” New Testament Studies 66, no. 3 (2020): 433–453, especially sections 1, 2.2, 4, and 7. His reassessment supports crossbeam-carrying in some settings while warning against generalizing the surviving evidence. Gospel cross-carrying accounts: Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26; John 19:17. Article: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688519000481

[2] Josephus, Antiquities 17.271, 288–289, 295; Jewish War 2.68, 75 (William Whiston translation). The Sepphoris attack is attributed to a detachment, not to Varus personally marching through the city. Direct text: https://lexundria.com/j_aj/17.289/wst and https://lexundria.com/j_bj/2.75/wst

[3] Compare Josephus, Antiquities 18.1–4, and Acts 5:37, for the census resistance. The conventional 4 BC dating and Varus’s governorship are also discussed in “Varus, Quintilius,” The Jewish Encyclopedia: https://sefaria.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14647-varus-quintilius. The two episodes must remain distinct even where an identification of the two men is proposed.

[4] Michael W. Holmes, ed., The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (2010), Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23; the publisher’s reverse interlinear displays the wording and morphology. ἀράτω is a third-person singular aorist active imperative. The aorist does not by itself establish a once-for-all act. καθ᾽ ἡμέραν is a prepositional expression meaning daily, not a single Greek word. Text: https://www.sblgnt.com/download/revint/61-Matthew.pdf and https://www.sblgnt.com/download/revint/63-Luke.pdf

Sources and Further Study

Primary biblical texts: Matthew 16:21–28; Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26; Luke 14:25–33; Matthew 10:37–39; Matthew 20:28; John 21:15–19; 1 Peter 2:19–24; 4:12–16; Romans 3:24–26; Ephesians 2:8–10.

Directly consulted historical and textual resources: Josephus and van Wingerden as specified in Source Notes; SBLGNT at Matthew 16:24 and Luke 9:23; NASB 1995 for Scripture wording; The Jewish Encyclopedia entry on Varus for historical context.

Further-study resources:

• Greg Harris, The Bible Expositor’s Handbook.

• Greg Harris, The Cup and the Glory: Lessons on Suffering and the Glory of God.

• John MacArthur, Matthew, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, vol. 3.

• John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Thomas Nelson, 2005).

• Michael P. Green, “The Meaning of Cross-Bearing,” Bibliotheca Sacra 140, no. 558 (1983). https://www.galaxie.com/article/bsac140-558-03

• Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Baker, 1994).

• Timothy J. Geddert, Mark, Believers Church Bible Commentary (Herald Press, 2001).