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‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’
Mat_16:24
I. The general principle.—The general principle is not to be sought first in religious life. For on it is based the whole structure of earthly being. The Cross of Christ, so far from violently colliding with the natural order of things, presents only a grander exemplification of the law which works through all nature. But the Cross of Christ has exalted self-denial into the region of Christian ethics.
II. The Christian practice.—In considering how he shall reduce this great principle to practice, the Christian’s foremost feeling may include some despondency. His mind may advert to some notable examples—a Howard, an Elizabeth Fry, a Florence Nightingale, a Brainerd, a Williams, a Patteson, a Livingstone, a Gordon, a Damien; and in thinking of such, and comparing his feebler efforts with theirs, he may be tempted to settle into a forlorn acquiescence in his own inabilities. But notice—
(a) The word ‘deny’ is used in the New Testament only in three connections—of our denying ourselves; of our denying Christ; of Christ denying us. With ourselves for its subject, the verb in Bible grammar admits only of two objectives: ourselves and our Lord. The inference is unavoidable. If we do not deny ourselves, we deny Christ: if we are not denying Him, we are denying ourselves.
(b) Personal surrender to God is His first plain requirement. We are beginning at the wrong end, if we first consider what more we can yield Him, before we have settled the question with our own souls, Have I given myself to Him? Connect, then, the thought of cross-bearing rather with the whole Christian life than with any particular acts. Principles, if they are worth anything, should permeate the life. Self is to be surrendered, not in periodical gushings of spasmodic benevolence, but in a lifelong consecration to the service of our Lord. Nothing short of this will do.
III. The Christian witness.—But the Christian is obliged to take the world as he finds it. Be it so. Then the grander duty is to endeavour to bear witness, while passing through it, to the Christian walk. You follow a Leader who bears His Cross. He calls on you to bear yours.
—
Bishop Alfred Pearson.
Illustration‘There could be no mistake as to what it implied in its literal meaning. Crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment, but since the Romans had been in possession of Palestine the people had become familiarised with it, and must have seen many a condemned criminal bearing the instrument of his death to the place of execution. In His prevision of the early years of Christianity, our Lord knew that such a death awaited some of those to whom He was speaking. But the broad principle involved in His declaration is that sacrifice is inseparable from the Christian calling. There is we know a wonderful spell in the cry, “Come after Me,” “Follow Me.” All history, profane as well as sacred, has shown this. The great Roman general realised its force when he called to his soldiers, who shrank from the hardships of the Libyan desert, and promised to go before them and to command them nothing which he would not first do himself. Even so, Christ designed to help His followers by the assurance that He should first suffer that which they would be called to bear.’
THE CROSSES OF LIFE
I. Crosses of life.—What are these crosses of life? Their name is legion. There is bodily weakness and pain; a heavy enough cross. Then there is mental distress and worry, arising from various causes, some of which, from their very nature, cannot be confided to another. The Christian will find that, in addition to trials such as these, there are others which beset his course, and which constitute his own peculiar cross. He will still find himself the object of the world’s suspicion, hatred, and reproach (St. Luk_6:22; St. Joh_15:18-19). He must be prepared to face special temptations, to endure peculiar affronts and humiliations; to have his words discredited, his motives called in question, his actions disparaged (Act_9:16; Act_14:22; Gal_6:12; Heb_10:33). Many falter, and, as some of old, ‘walk no more with Him.’ But for those who desire ‘to finish their course with joy,’ the Divine Master’s charge tells us plainly—
II. How best to bear our cross.—There must be a complete yielding up of our will to His; full self-surrender and self-denial. And then we must be—
(a) Crucifiers. Our cross must first be the instrument of death to all our vices (Gal_5:24; Rom_6:5-6). There must be self-emptying and self-consecration before He will accept our allegiance, and send us His sustaining grace (2Co_12:9; 1Pe_5:5).
(b) Cross-bearers. We are to ‘take up’ our cross ‘and follow’; the words breathe activity and movement. It is thus at such a start that we learn—in the highest sense of the words—‘how sublime a thing it is to suffer and be strong.’
(c) Christian exemplars. It is the special mark of those who are bearing their cross and following Christ that they are walking with patience and perseverance, and even gladness, after the example of Him ‘Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the Cross.’ But patience and endurance are His gifts, and for them the valiant cross-bearer must never cease to pray (Heb_11:25-26; and Rev_2:10; Rev_7:13 to end).
—
The Rev. E. F. Cavalier.
BEARING THE CROSS
I. The meaning of the phrase.—As to the exact sense attached to the phrase, ‘bearing the cross,’ we need to transport ourselves in thought to the time at which it was used by our Lord (see Act_9:29; Act_14:19; Act_16:22-23; Act_21:31; Act_22:22; Act_23:14-15; Act_26:21 for the manner in which St. Paul was treated by even the religious world of his day; whilst extracts from his own letters fill in with abundance of detail the way in which he shared the ‘bearing of the cross.’
II. The cross is the reproach of Christ.—In another passage (Heb_13:12-13) the phrase is slightly varied, but the parallel is noteworthy, when it is told of Him, that ‘He went forth, bearing His cross’; and we are bidden to ‘go forth, bearing His reproach.’ It is an explanation of what ‘bearing the cross’ means in practical experience, that it is equivalent to ‘bearing the reproach’ of Christ.
III. A voluntary act.—The very terms of discipleship: ‘Let him take up his cross,’ serve to show that whatever the cross, it is something that can either be taken or left, chosen or declined.
IV. A subject for choice and conduct.—This cross-bearing is a matter for choice and decision, for definite and initial action, for continuous and permanent conduct, in the true disciple of Christ.
The Rev. Hubert Brooke.
Illustration‘Some people have said that, in our Lord’s time, “bearing the cross” was a proverb in common use among the Jews. It is true that a heathen, Plutarch, had written before, that a passionate man carries about his own cross with him. But this simply means that a violent temper is its own punishment. It has none of the infinitely deep meaning of our Lord’s saying. Nor is it likely that the Jews would have any proverb about the cross. The cross was a Roman not a Jewish punishment. But probable that it was not known to the Jews till they became subject to the Romans, about 65 b.c. To us Christians the cross is the symbol of salvation, self-devotion, holiness, obedience to our Father, loyalty to our Saviour. It is an ornament in the crown of the Sovereign. Many of our noblest churches are built in the very shape of it. But to those who heard Jesus it was a symbol of terrible pain, of shame unspeakable, of the burden of guilt.’
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE CROSS
II. A symbol of shame.—It is a test of our discipleship, of our religious earnestness, whether we are ready to suffer shame for Christ’s sake. In spite of the honour given to the pattern of the cross, there is just as much contempt as ever poured upon those who strive to be like Him Who hung upon it. We cannot be real Christians unless we are willing to be mocked at and despised.
III. A symbol of self-denial.—It is self that makes us shrink from the cross. It is the denial of self, the putting away of our own wills, that makes it easy for us to take and bear it. The word self-denial slips easily from our lips, and seldom reaches deep into the motives of our lives. Yet, as prayer is the test of our faith towards God, so self-denial is the test of our love to man, and without these two, faith and love, there can be no religion.
IV. In all follow Jesus.—While we deny ourselves, we must follow Jesus. There is a self-denial which is not a following of Jesus.
(a) Men often deny themselves in one respect in order to indulge themselves in another.
(b) Self-denial for its own sake, is not a following of Jesus. Let love, the very spirit of the cross, be the guide of our self-denial, and we shall not go wrong.
—
Canon Liddon.
Illustration‘Self-denial at stated periods is in itself an act of obedience to the constituted authority of the Church. The principle of fasting and abstinence, forms of self-denial, meets with abundant recognition in the Prayer Book; though too often it escapes our notice that the Calendar at the commencement of our Prayer Books is not merely a list of Psalms and Lessons, but contains a certain scheme of discipline which is binding on all Churchmen, lay as well as clerical. The duty of fasting in some degree is incumbent upon us out of obedience to the Church, and this submission of the will involves the very essence of self-denial. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (1Sa_15:22).’
‘Let him deny himself.’
Mat_16:24
II. Self-denial therefore means the rejection of interference, authority, or rule by man’s self, and the substitution of Christ in the life.
III. It is a misuse of the phrase, to confound the denying of something to oneself with the denying of self.
IV. Many deny things to themselves, who never deny self.
V. Only there does self-denial exist, where Christ takes the place of self for all life’s decisions.
VI. The example of Christ is a perfect illustration of this true self-denial.
VII. It implies a definite act and decision, as introductory to a life of consecration and discipleship.
—
The Rev. Hubert Brooke.