Take up Your Cross

Last Saturday, I was reading through the last chapters of John, when I was brought to a halt at the beginning of chapter 13. The description of Christ’s response to the awareness of His coming death struck me, and I had to go back and read the verses again.

None of us truly knows when we will die, or what suffering we may endure beforehand, and yet, we know that death will indeed come, and that it may come with suffering. What can we learn from Christ’s response? After all,

“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.” (1 Peter 2:21)

If we are to take up our cross and follow Christ, it is helpful to notice how He dealt with the taking up of His own literal cross. The scene at the beginning of John 13 gives us a glimpse into how Christ viewed His cross, as well as what He did in response to the knowledge that it was now time to begin to take it up.

 What Christ Knew:

“Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world not the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him;”(v1-2)

The time had come, the pieces were in place, and Judas was soon to walk out the door and set in motion the events which would lead to Christ’s death.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God;” (v.3)

Jesus stood on the brink of suffering and death, and yet He kept His focus on eternal truths: that God the Father had given Him all things, and that His suffering and death would only bring about His ascension back to heaven with the Father, from whence he had come to bear this very cross He was about to endure.

What eternal truths can we focus on when staring down the cross Christ calls us each to bear? Like Christ, we can know that God is in control, sovereignly working all together for good. (Romans 8:28) Like Christ, we can know that this life is only temporary: our true home is with God in heaven. (2 Corinthians 4:17) And like Christ, we can know that heaven awaits us in the very moment of our completion of the work for which God put us here on earth. (John 14:1-3)

What Christ Did:

Notice that Christ’s knowledge led to action. To help us see the connection between thought and action in this passage, I’ll include verse 2 in the passage below.

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.” (vv.2-5)

Christ’s response to the knowledge of His cross was not only to focus on eternal truths, but also to serve others. Instead of retreating inward in contemplation of His suffering, or putting His sorrow on display so His companions would comfort Him, He instead turned His attention to others.

This washing of the disciple’s feet (a task that only servants would have done) is, to me, one of the most touching displays of Christ’s love. It is no accident that this act of loving humility follows the statement that,

“having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” (v.1)

This washing of the disciples’ feet is even more remarkable when you consider where those feet were about to go: Jesus washed the feet of Judas, the very feet that would shortly carry Judas to the Pharisees to betray Him. He washed the feet of Peter, feet that would follow Him to the High Priest’s courtyard, where Peter would deny Him three times. He washed the feet of the other disciples, who would flee in the aftermath of His arrest, deserting Him in His hour of trouble.

These were the feet He humbled Himself to wash. It was an act of unconditional love, love extended to sinners whom He knew would not return His love faithfully.

What can we learn from this? We can learn to take up our cross without fanfare or self-pity. We can learn that the taking up of our cross is best done in humility and out of love for God and others. We can learn to love freely, fully, and without expectation of a return.

The taking up of Christ’s cross began with love and was characterized by love throughout His crucifixion. Christ’s cross caused Him sorrow, pain, and perhaps dread, but self-pity, anger, and bitterness are conspicuously absent from Christ’s response to the pain and suffering of the next terrible hours of trial, torture, and crucifixion.

If we are to do as Christ said in Matthew 16: 24, if you and I are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ, we must learn to do so in Christlike love, quiet humility, and a focus on the eternal.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)