The Way of the Cross, Your Cross
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
— Mark 8:34 (ESV)
When we hear the phrase “take up your cross,” it can be easy to soften its meaning. We may think of our cross as an inconvenience, a difficult circumstance, or something unpleasant we simply have to endure. But when Jesus spoke these words, the cross carried a much heavier meaning.
It represented opposition, shame, suffering, and death.
So when Jesus told those gathered around Him that anyone who wanted to come after Him must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him, He was not offering a casual description of discipleship. He was confronting them—and us—with the cost of following Him.
His words test our thinking and force us to examine what we truly believe about surrender. What does it actually mean to deny ourselves? What exactly is Jesus asking when He tells us to take up our cross? And why would anyone willingly choose a path that may involve sacrifice, opposition, or suffering?
These questions matter because Jesus does not simply give the command. He also tells us why. His words contain both a warning and a promise, and they reveal that what is ultimately at stake is far greater than our temporary comfort.
A Moment to Meditate
Let's look at the entire passage:
“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘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 and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’”
— Mark 8:34–38 (ESV)
Notice first that Jesus called both the crowd and His disciples to Him. Then He said, “If anyone would come after me...” The invitation was open, but Jesus was also clear about what coming after Him involved.
He identified three things: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.
These are not three unrelated commands. Together they help us understand the posture of someone who has chosen to come after Jesus. Following Him involves more than believing certain things about Him. It means surrendering our right to remain in control of our own lives and being willing to follow Him wherever obedience leads.
And this is where the image of the cross becomes so important.
Take Up Your Cross
We know the cross primarily through what Jesus accomplished upon it, but those hearing Him speak these words would also have understood it as a Roman instrument of execution. Crucifixion was brutal, public, humiliating, and associated with criminals. A person carrying a cross was not headed toward greater comfort or public admiration. He was walking toward suffering and death.
Imagine, then, what Jesus' words must have sounded like: “Take up your cross and follow me.”
The image carried serious implications. Cross-bearing could mean facing opposition. It could mean being rejected, shamed, mistreated, or publicly humiliated. Ultimately, the cross represented a willingness to lose one's life.
Jesus was not saying that His followers should pursue suffering for the sake of suffering. There is nothing spiritual about seeking pain unnecessarily. Rather, the suffering Jesus describes is connected to following Him. It is the cost that may come because we choose righteousness, live according to His Word, identify ourselves with Christ, and proclaim the Gospel.
That distinction matters. Jesus does not tell us to suffer randomly. He says, “whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.”
The question, then, is not whether we enjoy suffering. Of course we do not. The deeper question is whether Jesus is worth following when following Him becomes costly.
Are we willing to obey when obedience brings opposition? Are we willing to remain identified with Christ when doing so brings rejection or shame? Are we willing to follow Him when the path He chooses is different from the comfortable path we would have chosen for ourselves?
That brings us directly to Jesus' command to deny ourselves.
Deny Yourself
Self-denial can easily be misunderstood as simply giving something up. But Jesus is addressing something deeper than occasionally denying ourselves something we want. He is confronting our claim to ourselves—our insistence that we have the right to determine the direction of our lives apart from Him.
The self naturally resists the implications of the cross. It says, I don't want opposition. I don't want shame. I don't want suffering. I don't want to lose control. I want to live my life on my terms.
This is where the distinction between the old self and the new self becomes important.
The old self wants to preserve itself at almost any cost. It seeks comfort, control, approval, and freedom from opposition. But when we come to Christ, something changes. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, a new way of living begins to form within us. We are learning to say, “I want Jesus more than I want the comfort of living entirely on my own terms.”
That does not mean the struggle suddenly disappears. Self-denial is difficult precisely because there is something in us that still wants our own way. We may want Jesus while also wanting control. We may desire obedience while also wanting comfort. We may want to follow Him while hoping He never asks us to surrender anything particularly costly.
But Jesus does not separate following Him from denying ourselves.
This is not about earning salvation through suffering or self-denial. Salvation comes through faith in Jesus Christ. As John 3:16 reminds us, “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Rather, Jesus is describing what it means to come after Him as His disciple.
Our lives increasingly come under His authority.
Our desires no longer automatically have the final word. Our comfort no longer determines whether we obey. Our preferences no longer define what is true. Following Jesus means learning to surrender our right to ourselves and allowing Him to lead.
And Jesus gives us a reason for doing so: Himself and the Gospel.
That is at the center of this passage.
The question is ultimately one of value: Is Jesus worth more to us than what following Him may cost us?
The old self says, Protect your life. Preserve your comfort. Avoid whatever costs too much.
Jesus says something radically different: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.”
We cannot miss the seriousness of those words. Jesus is telling us that continually holding onto our own way of living—our own words, thoughts, desires, priorities, and control—comes with a cost of its own. We can become so determined to preserve the life we want that we fail to experience the life found in surrendering ourselves to Christ.
This is the way of the cross.
Jesus carried His cross and conquered sin and death through it. Now He calls those who would come after Him to take up their cross and follow.
Not because suffering itself is the goal. Not because hardship earns us a place with Him. And not because God delights in making our lives difficult.
We take up our cross because Jesus is worth following.
When He becomes more valuable to us than our comfort, our reputation, our approval, and even our insistence on controlling our own lives, self-denial begins to make sense. We are not surrendering ourselves to emptiness. We are surrendering ourselves to Christ.
The cross asks each of us a deeply personal question:
If following Jesus costs me something I deeply value, will I still follow Him?
Respond and Implement
Take some time to prayerfully consider Jesus' words in Mark 8:34–38. How are you responding to His invitation to come after Him? What does denying yourself look like practically in your life right now? Where does your “old self” still resist surrender, and how is the Holy Spirit forming the “new self” in you?
Consider also what you have understood “your cross” to mean. Is there an area where following Jesus has brought—or may bring—opposition, discomfort, sacrifice, or loss? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where comfort, control, approval, or fear may be competing with obedience.
Then return to the reason Jesus gives us for surrender: for His sake and the Gospel.
The way of the cross is costly. But the One we follow is worth the cost.
—Dane Hall
Therismos Gospel Project
