16:24
Jesus has been talking about what must happen to Him, He then turns to what all this means for the disciples, and this is no more comforting! “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. In the immediate context, Peter would have to deny his human reaction to the prospect of Jesus going to the cross. This doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have the feelings, but he would have to put them aside. But the greater application is even “worse”. There is absolutely nothing “nice” or “religious” about “taking up one's cross”. The Roman authorities made their victims carry their own cross through the town on the way to the crucifixion site, as they would do with Jesus. It means being prepared to be utterly rejected by society, to be under a sentence of death. The road that Jesus was taking is the same road that His disciples must be prepared to go along. Obviously any suffering we must endure is not an atoning suffering, Jesus is the only atonement, but following Jesus involves sharing in His sufferings.
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