Life is Full of Heavy Crosses
Life is hard. There are all sorts of trials and tribulations that we go through. None of these crosses are as heavy as the one Jesus carried.
These past several weeks we been going through Jesus’ final week, and what a week it was. He went from being celebrated as a king, to being crucified on a cross. He was betrayed by one of His followers. The people who had celebrated Him, turned on Him.
This was a lot to carry, to say the least.
The Roman soldiers mocked and belittled Him. Pretending to salute Him as they dressed Him in a purple robe and placed a crown of thorns on His head. All the while beating and whipping Him. (Mark 15:16-20)
Next, He was made to carry the heavy cross that He was going to be hung on. Some say that it was just the cross bar that he had to carry. It is estimated that it would have weighed 75 – 100 lbs. This He would carry after being beaten and physically exhausted.
He struggled to carry this heavy load up hill to where He knew what was coming. The soldiers then forced a man, Simon from Cyrene, who was passing by to carry the cross for Him. There they hung Him on the cross to die. (Mark 15:21-32) Carrying the weight of the world’s sin as He hung there.
Crucifixion was an excruciatingly painful way to die, physically, mentally, and spiritually. This would have been even more so for Jesus.
He chose to carry this heavy burden for us.
We all have crosses to bear. They won’t be as heavy as the load Jesus carried. But they still can be heavy, whatever those crosses are. It’s important to be willing to carry our crosses.
Like Simon, we are called to help others carry their crosses.
It can seem pointless to carry these crosses. Life shouldn’t be this hard. Why even bother?
But the cross isn’t the end. There’s more after the cross. The tomb is not the end of the story.
Pick up your cross, help others with theirs, and push forward to celebration beyond the tomb.
