Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
Jesus could have easily avoided his crucifixion. He could simply never have been found when they sought to arrest him just as he had previously slipped through the crowds when his hour had not yet come. Or he could have summoned more than twelve legions of angels to his defense. How easy a desire for personal comfort or convenience could have caused the entire mission to short circuit. But Jesus instead chose to prefer his love of his Father and his love of us over the temporary pleasures of life in this world. And we are called to do the same. We must learn to follow Jesus until love itself becomes our greatest motivation and our overriding priority. To the extent that any impulse within us competes with love it must be crucified. But this is something that goes beyond our natural capabilities. It requires something more than imitation of Jesus until we become like him. It is possible when, through faith, Jesus makes his own life present in us.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (see Galatians 2:20).
We share the cross of Jesus not because we are strong, but because in our weakness he himself gives us his own strength. We are thus able to die to the disordered and egocentric self by clinging instead to the life flowing into us from Jesus. Thus if we would find true and lasting life we must not simply lose our lives generically and purposelessly, but rather lose them for his sake.
The cross seems dire and unappealing at a superficial glance. But only the cross leads eternal life. If we insist on investing in life in this world as though it can last forever we are setting ourselves up for the worst sort of disappointment.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
No matter how happy and successful others may appear to have been in this world, even to the very last moment of their lives, we cannot call them truly happy until they stand before the Son of Man and his angels and face judgment. A long life of wealth and pleasure will be only a drop in the bucket in the face of eternity. Similarly, difficulties faced will seem like little more than a bad dream compared to eternal life in the Kingdom.
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
There is nothing we can do to earn eternal life. But we can receive the gift which Jesus has merited for us by sharing his yoke, a yoke that is not only possible but even easy and light when he himself helps us to bear it. This yoke often takes the form of a cross. But a cross born by faith and with love becomes less and less of a burden. And it is by proceeding in this way, united with Our Lord, that we may hope to find true and lasting rest.
All this you were allowed to see
that you might know the LORD is God and there is no other.
Just as the ancient Israelites witnessed many things in order to cement in them the certainty that the LORD is God and there is no other so too do we have great cause to trust in what Jesus tells us about following him. If he had only said it without himself demonstrating it he might have left room for doubt. But the love he poured out for us on the cross left no room for us to second guess his motives. And if he truly loved us to such a degree how can we respond with anything less than our whole hearts?
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