“Christ is not gloriously transported from earth into heaven. He must instead go to the cross. And precisely there, where the cross stands, the resurrection is near. Precisely here, where all lose faith in God, where all despair about the power of God, God is fully there, and Christ is alive and near.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter
Resurrection by way of the cross
We are invited to follow in his footsteps. Like him, we are to be ready to take up our cross, whatever it may be, and carry it behind him. Notice, Jesus tells the disciples to take up their own cross, not his. The cross will be different for each person; it takes the form of some difficult thing. Something not chosen but clear. However, what is clear is that Christ makes our cross his own and shares the burden.
Only by uniting our suffering in life to that of Jesus can we carry our crosses. We may well ask, “Is there something in my life today or everyday that I am struggling under the weight of?”Ask for the grace you need from God in this time of prayer.
We have to die so that we can live. We have to root out what is bad in order that the good within us can flourish.
To share the glory of Christ we have to share his suffering; this makes no sense except through faith in Christ. Jesus said to his disciples: Luke 9:22-25 "The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Then he said to them all, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?”
The gospel is unambiguous - suffering and self-displacement are the hallmarks of a disciple. Jesus goes the way of the cross. He does not hoard his life, even though living must have had a special quality for him. I am called not to hoard my life, but to live generously
Prayer:
Lord, what you call me to is radical and counter- cultural. Without your grace I will be a mean person. I will be self-seeking, always looking out for my own benefit. Help me to let go of that sort of life. May I learn to accept life in a loving spirit as you did. Only so will I be a source of good to others. Amen
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