What Does It Mean to Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus?

“Take up your cross and follow me” is one of Jesus’ most familiar commands—and one of his most challenging.

In Matthew 16, Jesus tells his disciples:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

But what does it actually mean to take up your cross? Is Jesus simply telling Christians to endure the difficult circumstances of life? Or is he asking for something more?

The context of Jesus’ words helps us understand just how significant this command really is.

Following Jesus Means Letting Jesus Define the Way

Shortly before Jesus speaks about taking up the cross, Peter makes one of the great confessions of the Christian faith.

Jesus asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”

Peter answers that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Peter has the right answer. But almost immediately, something surprising happens.

Jesus begins explaining that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and on the third day be raised. Peter objects. He takes Jesus aside and rebukes him.

Peter believes Jesus is the Messiah, but he has already decided what the Messiah is supposed to look like.

That distinction matters for Christians today.

It is possible to say the right things about Jesus while still resisting what Jesus actually says.

We can bring our own assumptions about Christianity, success, happiness, politics, security and even Jesus himself into our faith. Christian culture, books, podcasts, social media, teachers and traditions can all shape our expectations.

But ultimately, Jesus must be allowed to tell us who he is.

And Jesus must be allowed to tell us what following him looks like.

What Does “Deny Yourself” Mean?

Jesus begins his description of discipleship with three challenging words: “Let him deny himself.”

Self-denial is much deeper than occasionally giving something up.

Jesus is confronting our instinct to organize our lives primarily around ourselves—our security, desires, ambitions and plans.

We naturally want to preserve what we have. We want to protect ourselves from loss and avoid unnecessary risk.

Then Jesus presents his followers with a radically different way of living:

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Following Jesus means trusting that our lives ultimately belong to him.

What Does It Mean to Take Up Your Cross?

Today, people sometimes use “my cross to bear” to describe almost any inconvenience or hardship.

But Jesus’ original audience would have understood the cross much more starkly.

The cross represented death.

So when Jesus tells his disciples to take up their crosses, he isn't simply telling them that life will sometimes be difficult. He is describing a life of radical surrender.

Jesus himself is preparing to walk this road.

He will go to Jerusalem. He will suffer. He will die. And he will rise again.

Then he invites his disciples to follow him.

Christian discipleship, therefore, cannot be separated from the cross.

We don't merely believe certain things about Jesus. We entrust our lives to Jesus and follow where he leads.

Why Would Anyone Choose the Way of the Cross?

Jesus follows his command with a question:

“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?”

That question exposes one of our deepest temptations.

We spend enormous amounts of energy trying to acquire and protect the things we believe will give us a good life: money, comfort, influence, recognition, possessions and security.

But what are those things worth when compared with eternal life?

Jesus isn't asking us to surrender our lives because life doesn't matter.

He asks us to follow him because life matters enormously—and because he knows where true life is found.

The Christian hope is resurrection.

Jesus goes through death and comes out the other side. His resurrection declares that death, despite all its apparent power, will not have the final word.

That changes the calculation for the Christian.

If resurrection is true, preserving everything we have in this present life cannot be our highest goal.

Following Jesus When It Costs You Something

Taking up your cross will look different in different seasons of life.

It might mean choosing forgiveness when resentment feels easier.

It might mean giving generously when you would rather protect what you have.

It might mean remaining faithful to Christ when doing so costs you approval.

It might mean serving someone when there is nothing you will receive in return.

It might mean abandoning an ambition, habit or priority when you realize it is keeping you from following Jesus faithfully.

The question isn't simply, “What difficult thing am I experiencing?”

A better question might be:

Where is Jesus leading me, and what would I have to surrender in order to follow him there?

Christianity Is More Than Saying the Right Words

Peter's story offers an important warning.

He confessed the right thing about Jesus. But when Jesus challenged Peter's assumptions about what the Messiah should do, Peter resisted him.

We can do the same.

We can attend church, recite the Creed, know Scripture and use all the right Christian language while still wanting Jesus to conform to our expectations.

But discipleship requires more than confession.

It requires listening.

Jesus gets the final word about who he is. He also gets the final word about what it means to belong to him.

And his invitation remains the same:

Deny yourself.

Take up your cross.

Follow me.

The way of Jesus is not always the way of comfort, security or self-preservation. It is the way of the cross.

But the cross is not the end of the story.

Beyond the cross is resurrection.

And because Jesus has gone before us, Christians can follow him knowing that whatever following him costs in this life, nothing this world offers can compare with the life that is ultimately found in him.