Dr. Ron Sumners
January 17, 2010
Jesus said to His disciples, “… if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).
But Jesus could not carry His cross to Calvary, and neither can you! Jesus fell beneath the load of His cross, weary, exhausted, and unable to carry it another step. The Bible does not tell us how far He carried the cross. We do know that Simon of Cyrene was compelled to pick it up and carry it to the place of crucifixion. (Matthew 27:32)
Jesus did take up His cross and was led by His tormentors, like a lamb to be slain. But He could not carry it for long! The truth is Jesus was too weak and frail to carry the cross. It was laid on another’s shoulders. He had reached the end of his endurance. He was a physically broken and wounded man. There is only so much one person can take. There is a breaking point.
Why did they make Simon pick up the cross? Was Jesus lying on that cobblestone street, like a lifeless man, with the cross lying over Him like a dead weight? Did they kick him, try to prop him up, and attempt to force him a step farther? Did he just lie there without strength to move another inch? His cross had become too heavy for him to bear.
What does this mean to us? Would our Lord make us do something that he could not do? A cross is a cross, be it wooden or spiritual. It is not enough to say, “His cross was different, our cross is spiritual.”
Personally, it gives me great hope to know that Jesus could not carry his cross. It encourages me to know that I am not the only one burdened down to the ground at times, unable to go on in my own strength. If we are going to identify with his crucifixion, we must also identify with the steps that led to the cross. We must face, once and for all, the truth that no human being can carry his cross alone.
Don’t look for some hidden interpretation; Jesus knew exactly what He was saying when He called us to take up our cross and follow him. He knows that another had to carry his cross for him. Why then, would he ask us to shoulder crosses he knows will crush us to the ground? He knows that we cannot carry our cross all the way in our own strength. He knows all about the agony, the helplessness, and the burden a cross creates.
There is a truth here that we must uncover. It is a truth so powerful and edifying, it could change the way we look at our troubles and hurts. Even though it almost sounds sacrilegious to suggest Jesus did not carry his own cross; that is the truth. What it means for us is that Jesus was touched by all the infirmities and feelings we experience today. He knows what it is to feel weak, discouraged and unable to go on without help! He was in all points tempted just as we are. The temptation has nothing to do with the failing or the weakness. The real temptation is in trying to pick up that cross and trying to carry it in our own strength. God could have supernaturally lifted the cross and levitated it all the way to Calvary. He could have taken the weight out of the cross and made it featherlike. But He did not. The crucifixion scene was not a series of blunders with God trying to catch up to the action. The whole plan was formed in the heart of God from the foundation of the world. God put Simon there, ready to play his part in the plan of redemption.
God was not caught by surprise when His Son could no longer carry the burden of the cross. God knew that Jesus would take up the cross, follow toward Golgotha, then lay it down!
God knows also that not one of His children can carry the cross he takes up when following Christ. We want to be good disciples; we want to deny ourselves and take up our cross. We forget that one day, if we seriously carry that cross, it will bring us to the limit of our strength and endurance. Why would Jesus ask us to carry a cross, a burden that He knows will sap all our energy and strength and leave us lying helpless – even to the point of giving up? Do you think that doesn’t happen? If so, you have not ever carried the cross – seriously. Jesus forewarns us, “… without me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). So, He asks us to take up our crosses and struggle on with them, until we learn that lesson. Not until our cross pushes us in the dust of life’s road, do we learn the lesson that it is neither by our might nor by our power or strength, but it is His power that we win the victory! That is what the Bible means when it says that “His power is made perfect through our weakness.” God’s way is the only way; His strength is our only hope!
Jesus looks upon this world – filled with confused children, trying to establish their own righteousness and trying to please Him in their own ways – and he calls for crosses. The cross is meant to drain us of all human effort. We know we have one stronger than Simon of Cyrene who will come at our breaking point and take over the burden; but he cannot take it over until we give it up; until we come to the point where we cry, “God, I can’t go another step. I’m exhausted! I’m broken! My strength is gone! Help!”
Jesus was crucified “through weakness” (2 Cor. 13:4). It is when we become totally weak and self-abased that we witness the crucifixion of our own pride. Out of weakness we are made strong, by our faith in the Lord. Our spirits are willing to carry the cross, but our flesh is weak.
Paul could glory in his cross: He said, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” And He said unto me, “My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness”… (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
When Paul was cast down by circumstances, he did not despair. It was out of that weakness that he became strong, as he allowed the strength of Christ to fill him.
What is your cross? It is any burden or pressure that threatens to break you down! I have heard husbands speak of their wives as their “cross to bear.” More than likely, just the opposite is true! Others see their cross as a dead-end, unfulfilling job. It could be an illness, loneliness, or divorce.
Since Jesus did not describe the details of the cross we are to take up; I suggest that it is anything that threatens our relationship with the Lord. For example, loneliness can be a cross, if it becomes a burden too heavy to bear and it brings our life and relationships to a grinding halt – even and especially our relationship with God! It is then that we can allow God to reach down and lift us out of our pit of self-destruction. Loneliness can be a good thing, if it leads us to an aware of our weakness to the place that we want only His strength.
Some Christians carry the cross entitled, “I’m not doing enough for God.” I have born that cross at various times in my ministry. I have especially born that cross in the past two and a half years since I became so seriously ill. I literally cannot do what I was accustomed to doing. I feel guilty about all the things that I once did that I now cannot do. Letting go has not been easy for me. I got to the place that I felt a bit useless.
Maybe you are like me and have that “unfinished feeling.” I started this thing, I invested my life in it for fifteen years and now I feel more a burden than a help. It’s hard to relax when a voice inside, condemns me for not “burning out for Jesus!” I think of all the things that I wanted to see happen and the growth of God’s Kingdom I anticipated and I feel cheated and feel that I am now cheating you. All I have wanted for these past seventeen years is to love you and be your pastor and be obedient to God.
God has not asked me to lay down my cross, yet. I still bear it and I have come to recognize that bearing my cross today means admitting my weakness and allowing the strength and wisdom of God to take over. I have heard God speaking to me lately in whispers that seem audible, “Ronnie (people who have known me all my life still call me Ronnie), I never meant for you to carry that cross all by yourself. You have called on me through the years; now rely on the other folks carrying their cross at Meadow Brook Baptist Church. We’ll help you carry it until I ask for you to lay it down.” I am not yet completely comfortable with that, but I am growing into it!
Some of you feel compelled to do more, come more, give more, witness more, serve more, study more and a hundred other “mores.” You do so because you think it will make God love you more. You cannot make God love you more! He loves you all he can now! You will know what He asks of you in your daily, personal walk with Him. Be obedient and do that, and leave another’s ministry to them!
Many more carry the cross entitled, “I know I ought to do more – but.” These folks know that they ought to be carrying a cross. They understand what Jesus is asking; they simply are not willing to pay the price. They remain outside the camp of service but never really enter in. They are ridden with guilt and often repent to friends or the preacher about how they intend to do more. Sometimes they really mean it. More often than not, they simply are not committed enough to bear the cross of Christ!
Your love for Jesus can drive you to your knees; but your cross can put you on your face – on the ground; in the dust. God meets you in your prostrate condition and whispers, “I have chosen the weak things of the world; the foolish things; the broken things; the things that are nothing, which no flesh should glory, except in me.”
We will carry our crosses until we learn to deny. Deny what? The one thing that constantly hinders God’s work in our lives: self. Jesus is saying, “Don’t take up your cross until you are ready to reject any and every thought of becoming a holy disciple as a result of your effort.”
There are millions of professing Christians who boast about their self-denial. They don’t drink or curse or fornicate. They lead two Bible studies and attend three more. And they present themselves as tremendous examples of Christian discipline. It seems as if they have accomplished mature Christian discipline by their own will! I have heard them through the years: “The Devil can’t trick me. I have rebuked him!” (They usually can’t tell you what “rebuke” means other than that have done it). “I know what’s right and that’s what I will do. I keep all the Commandments.”
They all preach self-denial, but have never denied themselves. In fact, they take the credit for their righteousness. I believe that Jesus is saying to these self-righteous folks, “Before you take up your cross, be ready to face a moment of truth. Be ready to experience a crisis by which you will learn to deny your self-will, your self-righteousness, your self-sufficiency, your self-authority.” God is saying, “You can rise up and follow me as a true disciple only when you can freely admit you can do nothing in your own strength. You cannot overcome sin in your own power.”
Jesus said, “Take up your cross!” Never once did the Lord say, “Stoop down and let me place this cross on your shoulders.” Jesus does not have a draft for His army. It is an all volunteer group! You have to willingly “take up” the cross. You can be a believer and not carry a cross, but you cannot be a disciple!
My dear friends don’t think of the trials you are going through, as you carry your cross, as judgment from God. Stop thinking, “God is making me pay for past sins!” God is perfecting you, maturing you because He loves you.
Jesus laid down His cross. Why won’t you? For Him, Simon appeared. For you and me; a Savior appears. We get up and continue. It’s still our cross, but now it is on His shoulders!
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