[ Today's Readings ]
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
We must take up the cross. This does not mean embracing despair. Rather, it means embracing a hope beyond ourselves.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
If we try to hold on to our lives we lose them. We end up lying and looting this world for all we can get. We meet the fate of those who do such things.
Cavalry charging, the flame of the sword, the flash of the spear,
the many slain, the heaping corpses,
the endless bodies to stumble upon!
I will cast filth upon you,
disgrace you and put you to shame;
Till everyone who sees you runs from you, saying,
“Nineveh is destroyed; who can pity her?
Where can one find any to console her?”
We can embrace the cross precisely because it is not the end. We do so "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (see Hebrews 12:2). The cross is more than simply a surrender of worldly pleasures. It is more than a mere acceptance of suffering. The cross has meaning and power because it is undergirded by hope.
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.
Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here
who will not taste death
until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
It is a hope that we begin to taste even now, even as we take up our crosses.
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (see Romans 5:5).
The LORD is calling us to embrace our crosses today. But in doing so he is calling us to look forward in hope to the restoration he promises us. He wants us to taste that restoration even today.
See, upon the mountains there advances
the bearer of good news,
announcing peace!
Celebrate your feasts, O Judah,
fulfill your vows!
For nevermore shall you be invaded
by the scoundrel; he is completely destroyed.
The LORD will restore the vine of Jacob,
the pride of Israel
God it is who deals death and gives life. But in setting the cross before us he is not offering death. He is inviting us to choose life.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live (see Deuteronomy 30:19)
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