Dr Paul Allen

  JOHN 13:4 Jesus’ call to his disciples in the Synoptic Gospels is clear. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). We are called to “take up our crosses” and die to ourselves. It is less clear exactly what Jesus means when he asks us to “take up our cross.” Are we to imitate him in his death by literally dying on a cross, or literally dying on behalf of others? Are we all called to go to a closed country and be physically persecuted for Jesus’ sake? It is interesting that the gospel of John lacks this call to take up one’s cross. In fact, depending on the English version one uses, it can be difficult to see in John’s gospel anything at all that one is to “take up,” except for the healed paralytic’s taking up his “mat” (John 5:8). Reading the Greek text instead of relying on English translations, however, presents a different picture. John 13:4 gives us great insight into the meaning of “taking up the cross.” The English

Paul says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21). Amazingly, the Heidelberg Catechism says, "all the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life, He bore, in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race" (Q&A 37). Jesus lived under the weight of our sins. There are two practical lessons here for us as Christians. First, since Christ has borne our sins once and for all, we are to continue laying on Him all our burdens from day to day: "[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7; cf. Ps. 55:22). We need to pray daily for His help in bearing our burdens; and then, when we have done that, we need to continue praying. Second, since we in the new covenant are all priests of the Lord who can approach Him with boldness and confidence in prayer (Heb. 4:16), we are called by the Lord to bear one ano