Take Up Your Cross: Follow Christ to Resurrection

Jesus’ words of comfort are easy to treasure, but his call to discipleship lands much harder: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus does not call people merely to believe certain facts about him. Jesus calls his disciples to follow him, not only toward glory but along the road of the cross.

Jesus first says that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and rise on the third day. That “must” is not an unfortunate accident or a failed plan. God’s salvation for sinners requires the cross. Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, yet Peter still wants a Messiah who conquers without suffering, reigns without sacrifice, and receives glory without a cross. Jesus’ sharp rebuke shows how serious that temptation is, because the devil always wants to separate Christ from his cross.

The world keeps offering a different road. The world calls suffering failure, control strength, and admiration glory. Jesus says that life is found by losing it for his sake. The cross is not every ordinary frustration in life, though God can use those things to teach patience and trust. The cross is what happens when following Christ costs something, when obedience pushes against the desire to make life about “my plans, my desires, my happiness, my way.”

Jesus’ call to deny oneself does not mean learning to hate oneself. Jesus calls the sinful heart to stop making itself the center. The old Adam does not want to die, yet this call belongs to every Christian: children obeying, teenagers refusing the crowd, spouses putting one another first, parents patiently speaking God’s Word, older Christians trusting Christ as strength fades, and believers standing on God’s Word when others call it foolish.

Jesus’ cross comes before every disciple’s cross. Jesus goes to Calvary because sinners have failed to deny themselves, loved themselves more than their neighbors, sought their own glory, and tried to save their own lives. Christ bears that sin, suffers its punishment, dies its death, and rises from the grave. Christianity is not carrying a cross so that God will love someone. Christ carried his cross because God already loves sinners in Christ.

Jesus does not promise that every cross will look the same, but he promises that no Christian carries it alone. Jesus says, “Follow me.” The resurrection means suffering, weeping, and death are not the final word. Christ is the final word. The road of the cross leads to the resurrection because the crucified Christ has risen.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ’s cross comes before yours Jesus’ suffering is not first an example for disciples to copy. Jesus’ suffering is the saving work that forgives sinners who have failed in self-denial and faithfulness. Christian obedience begins with Christ’s finished work, not with an attempt to earn God’s love. [30:22]
• 2. Denying self means losing the center Jesus does not command self-hatred. Jesus exposes the old Adam’s demand to control life through personal plans, desires, reputation, and happiness. Discipleship begins wherever Christ displaces the self from the center and calls a believer to trust his will. [27:20]
• 3. Every cross has a different shape Jesus does not give every disciple the same suffering or assignment. Faithfulness may look public and costly, or quiet and hidden in loneliness, caregiving, parenting, marriage, or ordinary endurance. Christ knows the particular cross carried in the particular place where he has put each believer. [32:30]
• 4. The resurrection has the final word Jesus joins his prediction of death to his promise of resurrection. Suffering and weeping remain real, and death remains painful, but none of them gets the last word over those who belong to Christ. Christ’s resurrection gives confidence that the road of the cross does not end at the grave. [34:09]
• 5. Life is found only in Christ Jesus overturns every attempt to save life through money, health, popularity, accomplishments, or good works. Self-protection cannot rescue a dying sinner from death. Christ alone gives forgiveness, salvation, resurrection, and an eternal future.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [23:27] - Jesus’ Hard Call to Follow
• [24:45] - Why Jesus Must Suffer
• [25:22] - Peter Rejects the Cross
• [26:12] - The World’s False Way to Glory
• [26:40] - What Taking Up the Cross Means
• [27:20] - Deny Yourself, Not Your Worth
• [27:43] - The Cross in Every Christian Life
• [29:22] - Christ Carries His Cross First
• [30:48] - Christ’s Cross Saves Sinners
• [31:08] - Losing Life to Find It
• [32:30] - Different Crosses, Same Savior
• [33:28] - Follow the One Who Walks With You
• [34:09] - Resurrection Is the Final Word
• [35:09] - Look to Christ in Every Trial

Bible Reading

Matthew 16:24–26
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” [24:15]

Matthew 16:21
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. [24:45]

Matthew 16:23
But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” [26:01]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 16:21, what events does Jesus say must happen in Jerusalem, and what hopeful promise does He include with His prediction of suffering and death? [24:45]
2. What was Peter seeking to prevent when he objected to Jesus’ suffering, and why does Jesus respond so strongly to him? [26:08]
3. What common hardships are distinguished from the cross, and how is a cross described when following Christ actually costs someone something? [27:03]
4. What are some of the different situations in which Christians may carry a cross, including both public and private struggles? [32:36]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is the word “must” in Matthew 16:21 important for understanding Jesus’ death—not as an accident or failure, but as God’s way of saving sinners? [25:05]
2. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, yet he rejected the cross. What false picture of Jesus can a believer have if he or she wants glory, success, or comfort without Christ’s suffering and sacrifice? [25:40]
3. Jesus commands His followers to deny themselves. How is denying oneself different from hating oneself or believing that one has no worth? [27:20]
4. How does Christ’s cross coming before the disciple’s cross protect a believer from thinking that personal suffering or obedience earns God’s love? [30:48]

Application questions

1. Where is the desire for “my plans, my desires, my happiness, my reputation, my way” most likely to take the center of your life right now? What might it look like to place Christ at the center instead? [27:28]
2. Is there an area where following Christ is costing you something—at home, at work, among friends, or in a difficult relationship? How can you tell the difference between an ordinary frustration and a cost that comes from faithfulness to Christ? [27:11]
3. Children, teenagers, spouses, parents, and older Christians all face different calls to faithfulness. Which example most connects with your present season of life, and what would trusting God in that situation look like this week? [27:59]
4. When life feels uncertain, where are you tempted to look for security—money, health, reputation, accomplishments, family, or good works? How does Jesus’ promise that life is found in Him challenge that temptation? [31:30]
5. Think of a private burden that may not be visible to many people: loneliness, caregiving, grief, declining strength, or a difficult person to love. How does Jesus’ command, “Follow me,” give comfort without pretending that the burden is small? [33:20]
6. When you fail to deny yourself or grow tired of following Christ, what does it look like in practical terms to look again to Christ’s cross, forgiveness, and resurrection rather than trying to prove yourself worthy? [35:30]
7. How does the promise that suffering, weeping, and death are not the final word change the way you can face a present fear or loss? [34:13]