Matthew 10:38

III. TAKING UP THE CROSS.

38. He that taketh not his cross.

Luke adds, daily; not once, but all the time. The cross is the pain of the self-denial required. The cross is the symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful death. Christ obeyed God, and carried out his work for the salvation of men, though it required him to die upon the cross in order to do it. And ever since, the cross has stood as the emblem, not of suffering, but of suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel; as the highest ideal of obedience to God at any and every cost. Observe, his own cross, not some other man's. Compare Hebrews 12:1, "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. " Observe, too, on the one hand, that the Christian is not merely to bear the inevitable cross laid upon him, but to take up the cross voluntarily. The connection between this and the preceding is clear: Not only must you accept the doctrine of. suffering Messiah, if you are to be my disciple you must possess my spirit of willing self-sacrifice for love's sake. The point of duty for us, as for the Master, is not to seek the cross, but by the cross to seek the glory of the resurrection, which is found in no other path. The cross for the cross, never; but the cross for the Lord, always.-- A. Monod.

And follow me.

To follow Christ is to take him for our master, our teacher, our example; to believe his doctrines, to uphold his cause, to obey his precepts, and to do it though it leads to heaven by the way of the cross. It is not merely to do right, but to do right for his sake, under his leadership, and according to his teaching.-- P. "The Christian, " says Luther, " is. Crucian. " The Savior pictures to his hearers. procession. He himself takes the lead with his cross. He is the chief Crucian. All his disciples follow. Each has his own particular cross. But the direction of the procession, when one looks far enough, is toward the heavenly glory.-- Morison.