Jesus accepts his cross
John 19:17 “They sent Jesus out carrying His own instrument of execution, the cross, to a hill known as the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha, in Hebrew.”
He carried his own cross. He didn’t try to get rid of it. He didn’t hurl the cross to the side of the road, refusing to carry it any further. No, he accepted it. He bore it. He went on with it. And he knew where it was taking him. Yet, he didn’t fight it. He knew that embracing his cross was what he needed to do.
And it’s what Jesus calls us to do. For he said in Luke 9:23, “If any of you want to walk My path, you’re going to have to deny yourself. You’ll have to take up your cross every day and follow Me.”
What does this mean? Acceptance. Acceptance of the things that are placed before us. Not trying to get rid of the pain or the loss or the grief that comes our way, but receiving it and turning it into grace.
It may mean giving up life as we know it or life as we’d like it to be. It may mean laying down our ideals or beliefs we’ve clung to in the past. It may mean letting our loved ones walk their own path without trying to control them or change them. It may mean giving up fears, or dreams, or plans, in order to embrace reality. “Taking up our cross” means living fully in the present and accepting what is. When I do this, I can live out of the best in me: the compassion and grace and forgiveness that’s already deep within me. Just like Jesus did with the cross.
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