The Way of the Cross

Source: Google AI Mode

Becoming a Christian is not simply choosing a religion. It is a turning of the direction of one’s life and a change that rebuilds the relationships and values that were previously considered important. The Lord said:

Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me (Matt. 10:38).

This word shows that the way of following Christ is by no means a light choice.

The cross is not merely a symbol of suffering. In the days of Jesus, the cross was an execution device. Therefore, taking up the cross means to deny oneself thoroughly as one who is already dead. In other words, to follow the Lord requires a life of thoroughly denying oneself.

This way of the cross is not an abstract spiritual concept. It is a reality that appears in concrete form in the life of the one who follows the Lord.

One such example is the spiritual conflict that arises within the family. The Lord said:

For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household (Matt. 10:35–36).

When the gospel enters, Satan seeks to shake the believer’s faith by using the closest relationships. If the gospel is light, Satan is darkness. When light enters, darkness resists. And the place where that resistance appears most fiercely is the family.

When a believer begins to follow the Lord, conflicts arise in relationships that previously had no problems. When one places the Lord’s word above the demands of parents, when one loves the Lord more than husband or wife, when one follows the Lord’s will rather than the expectations of family, conflict occurs. This is not a conflict caused by the believer’s wrongdoing but an inevitable phenomenon because the life of following the Lord essentially collides with the world. The Lord said:

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matt. 10:37).

A faith that puts the Lord first sometimes shakes the peace of the family, brings tension into human relationships, and demands choices that are difficult to understand by worldly standards. This is the way of the cross.

The cross is not merely suffering but a life that willingly gives up for the Lord. For some, the cross is laying down the pleasures of the world; for others, it is laying down human recognition and comfort; and for others, it is keeping faith even in the midst of family opposition. Believers are sometimes misunderstood, mocked, treated unjustly, and even hurt by those closest to them. This suffering that comes because of faith is the very cross the Lord spoke of, and those who follow the Lord must be prepared to bear the cross given to them.

However, the way of the cross is not a path that ends in suffering. The Lord bore the cross but rose again on the third day, and through His resurrection revealed that the cross is not a symbol of defeat but a way of victory. The Lord said:

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matt. 10:39).

The cross may appear to be a path of death, but in reality it is the path to life; it may appear to be loss, but in reality it leads to glory; it may appear to be weakness, but in the end it leads to victory.

The Christian faith is not a path that promises only peace on this earth, but a path that at times accompanies suffering. Yet that suffering is never in vain. As the Scripture says, "The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18), the life of bearing the cross does not end in suffering but surely leads to glory.

The Lord remembers every cross we have borne and will repay it with glory on the last day. Therefore, the cross is not a burden that crushes us but the path toward glory that the Lord walked ahead of us and called us to follow. The one who follows the Lord is the one who bears the cross, and the one who bears the cross will ultimately share in the Lord’s glory.