Live Your Whole Life Following Jesus Along Death Row, Part 2

By davidwpalmer on June 21, 2024

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2359zdxLr5tsnl1eHQ4PO2?si=p7LLZtcoROWbmSIvj-pb1Q

When Did Jesus Carry His Cross?

David W Palmer

(Matthew 10:38–39 NIV) "Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. {39} Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."

While in the process of training his disciples in preparation for their first supervised mission, Jesus made the above statement. If we want to "find … life" and truly be his disciples, then we need to understand exactly what he means by this. We know Jesus carried his literal, physical cross; but he didn't do it "daily" as he expects of us (See: Luke 9:23). So, our Lord wants us to live our whole life identified with him as he was carrying his cross. When did Jesus carry his cross? Let's read the entire passage to make sure we see the whole picture.

(John 19:13–17 NLT) When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). {14} It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, "Look, here is your king!" {15} "Away with him," they yelled. "Away with him! Crucify him!" "What? Crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the leading priests shouted back. {16} Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. {17} Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha).

From this passage, we see that Jesus carried his cross between the time he was condemned to die, and actually dying. This is what we call death row; and this is the period of his life to which he calls us to: "Come, take up the cross, and follow me" (Mark 10:21 KJV). To clarify that this is what Jesus meant, the Holy Spirit had the apostle Paul say the following regarding his own life:

(2 Corinthians 1:9 ISV) "In fact, we felt that we had received a death sentence so we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead."

Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes he will "guide you into all truth," and that he will tell you "whatever he receives from me" (John 16:13–15 NLT). So through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit is expanding on what Jesus said: "Take up your cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23 MKJV). Paul echoes this: "We had received a death sentence." Paul lived under a continual death sentence; just like Jesus during the time he carried his cross.

Jesus carried his [physical] cross between his death sentence and his actual death. The Holy Spirit confirms that this is where he wants us to live: out in public, having been whipped and abused, carrying our cross while being ridiculed, mocked, and jeered—with only a handfull of supporters encouraging us. It was an ugly, grotesque scene, but he carried the cross for the very people who put him on it.

Paul gives the reason for living with a "death sentence": "so we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." Now it becomes crystal clear; God's objective is to keep us totally reliant on him. This, after all, is the only way to receive eternal salvation; we must live by faith (See: Gal. 3:11, Rom. 1:17, Heb. 10:38).

Paul further clarifies the reason for constantly living with a "death sentence"—carrying our cross daily:

(2 Corinthians 4:10–11 ISV) "We are always carrying around the death of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our bodies. {11} While we are alive, we are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies."

Paul said he was "constantly" being "handed over to death" like Jesus was handed over [once] to those who wanted him crucified. However, he states the up side of this: "So that the life of Jesus may be clearly shown in our mortal bodies." Jesus died, but he didn't stay dead; he has resurrection life. And if we are constantly being handed over to death while in our [eventually dying] bodies, Jesus's resurrection life and power can be seen in us. Praise the Lord! Jesus wants us to be living sacrifices—a daily demonstration of his resurrection.

In a challenging twist to our contemporary understanding of his gospel of grace, the apostle Paul added the following statement. It is even more exigent in view of what he reported in the two passages above:

(1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV) "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."

To spell out what he wants us to imitate, Paul had a lot more to say:

"I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31 KJV)
"I am crucified with Christ …" (Gal. 2:20 KJV)
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20 EMTV)

Today, we have seen that Jesus carried his cross while under the sentence of death. He carried it all the way to Golgotha, where he was crucified in the place of the skull. He now calls us to follow him along this death row daily, carrying our cross to the place where our independent, self-motivated ideas and wisdom must die in the place of our own skull, or the living Word will. Paul confirms it, and reminds us to imitate him as he lives constantly under the sentence of death and dies daily.

Tomorrow, we will see how this applies in our daily lives; but today, let's take a moment to reflect on Jesus doing this for us. Let's also think about his devoted follower, Paul, who imitated Jesus's example. Let's thank our loving God that he would do all of this so we wouldn't be doomed to a lost eternity, and think about all the people we can help reach if we will be one of those who "take up their cross and follow me … daily."