Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV) “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.’”
Living in a land where the freedom to worship God without fear of persecution is all many of us have known, it is easiest to relate to a figurative understanding of Jesus’ words to take up our cross. When Christ-followers in America talk about taking up their cross, it is in reference to a difficult relational or financial or health situation. Rarely do we face the potential of losing our lives for the sake of Christ. It is just outside of our “world”. However, if we are to follow the teachings of Jesus, we must understand that the Lord was also saying that to follow him could mean the possibility of giving up our lives. What would we do if we were faced with the option of denying Jesus and saving our life or affirming our faith in him and losing our life? Even more, what would we do if we were told not to talk about Jesus or else we would be killed?
These questions are the kind that Christ-followers have had to answer throughout the centuries. Could it be that in America we are coming to a time where we may have to answer those questions also? In the first century, there is a story that has been passed on about the apostle Andrew which John Foxe recorded in his famous book, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs which was first published in 1563. According to Jerome, who was an early church father of the faith and the translator of the Bible into Latin, Andrew preached the gospel in what is now the Caucasus region by the Black Sea, Asia Minor and Greece. When many had come to Christ in Greece, the governor of the region, AEgeas, was confronted by Andrew with the claims of the gospel. AEgeas commanded him not to teach or preach the gospel, and threatened him with crucifixion if he continued. To this Andrew replied that “He would not have preached the honour and glory of the cross, if he had feared the death of the cross.” (Foxe, p. 8) Andrew was then sentenced to death. Foxe described in detail Andrew’s route to the cross.
Andrew, going toward the place, and seeing afar off the cross prepared, did change neither countenance nor colour, neither did his blood shrink, neither did he fail in his speech, his body fainted not, neither was his mind molested, nor did his understanding fail him, as it is the manner of men to do, but out of the abundance of his heart his mouth did speak, and fervent charity did appear in his words as kindled sparks; he said, ‘O cross, most welcome and long looked for! With a willing mind, joyfully and desirously, I come to thee, being the scholar of Him which did hang on thee: because I have always been thy lover, and have coveted to embrace thee.’ (Foxe, p. 9)
Rather than save his own life, Andrew was unwilling to stop telling people about Jesus Christ. Yet Andrew was not looking to die for Jesus because he had a death wish. At the time of his crucifixion he had been preaching Christ for 40 years! When push comes to shove, we must all answer the question of what is more important to us, saving our life or losing it for the sake of Jesus. If we don’t answer this question, then it matters not if we are ever faced with the threat of losing our lives for Christ because we will neither live for him nor die for his sake and the sake of the gospel. Jesus was pretty clear that surrender to him means all. He is worthy of our lives and any sacrifice that he asks us to make. Let us settle in our hearts that we will take up our cross for him, no matter if that is a real cross or a figurative one.
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, © 1981 by Whitaker House.
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