What Does it Mean to Take Up One's Own Cross Daily?
In Luke’s Gospel we read:
22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.
Luke’s account is unique in that it includes the word “daily.” But what does it mean to carry one’s cross daily? Here Diane Chen offers a terrific exposition:
“In the ancient Greco-Roman world, crucifixion signified the epitome of shame, over and above its cruelty as a means of capital punishment. Criminals were crucified naked, tied or nailed to a horizontal cross beam, with barely a piece of wood on the vertical beam to support their feet and their entire body weight. Many died by asphyxiation, if not severe loss of blood. It was such a slow and disgraceful death that even the word crucifixion was not to be mentioned in polite company. Cross-bearing as a requirement of discipleship meant ostracism and death. Condemned to death by crucifixion, the victim had to carry the cross beam to the place of execution. ‘Taking up the cross implied ‘a dead man (or woman walking.’ Jesus requires all would-be followers to take up their cross daily, dying repeatedly, day by day. Jesus is not interested in any masochistic glorification of shame and humiliation. Self-denial means letting go of everything that stands in opposition to God. It requires that one’s identity, priorities, attitudes and actions be reshaped and reformed. It is the relinquishment of all worldly values, possessions, and habits that stand in the way of obedience and fidelity to Jesus. This level of commitment will invite ridicule, misunderstand, and relation – hence a daily cross-bearing.”
Diane Chen, Luke (NCCS; Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017), 129.
I was wondering about this last year. After all, Jesus hadn’t died on the cross at this point so his call to “take up your cross” would have seemed very strange when first heard.
Is there any evidence that women were crucified?