“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:38). Often when we imagine the act of taking up our cross and following after Jesus, we imagine stumbling and staggering beneath the weight of the cross as we march our way up the hill Golgotha to be nailed upon our own cross at Jesus’s side. This is definitely an accurate reading of that commandment. But there is another interpretation. Let’s look at another time that the Savior refers to the act of taking. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18) Christ made it very clear to Pilate that no one could take His life from Him. Only he could lay it down. And because He voluntarily chose to lay down His life for His friends, He retained the power to take up His life again. Not only did Jesus take up His cross on the way to Golgotha, He took up His cross once more on the way back to His Father’s kingdom. To this day, He bears the marks of that cross in His hands and in His feet. The cross became not just a symbol of His willingness to die for His brothers and sisters, but by taking up His cross once more as He took up again His life that He had laid down, the cross is also a powerful symbol of the power of Resurrection and Salvation for all those who will follow after Him. Many of us are willing to die the martyr’s death, or at least to suffer the pains of feeling alone and misunderstood and mocked by those who ought to know better. When we have lost all hope or any sense of optimism for the world or our place in it, then sure, we will take up our cross and be nailed to it side by side with our Lord. But after we have laid down our lives and the world has ended, will we take up our cross once more and follow Him? Are we willing to not just die as a martyr but to live again as a resurrected saint? Will we with patience and humility slowly and painstakingly put the pieces of our lives back together and build ourselves back up stronger and wiser and more compassionate than we were before? After we have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, will we follow our Savior once more to green pastures and still waters that we may be comforted? The power of resurrection is not held in reserve until the Day of Judgment. We can be born again and enter into the Kingdom of God right here and right now. At some point, we have to follow our Savior’s example and say, “It is finished.” And then we have to climb down from the cross and take it up and follow Him. “Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured” (“Stand True and Faithful”, Gordon B. Hinckley). We are meant to take our cross up the hill. And then we are meant to take our cross up even higher, all the way to Heaven.
