Matt.16:24,25 – Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
It’s funny how a change of perception or perspective can change everything. When you first see this verse probably the main thing that stands out is self denial. Actually that’s not the point Jesus was trying to make. He was actually telling His disciples there was another kind of joy or another kind of life available to them. It was only available through picking up the cross; in other words turning away from the pleasures of this life and pursuing a different kind of life. Self denial in itself accomplishes nothing, an atheist can deny themselves. The point is finding this other kind of life Jesus was describing. This is the life of God that becomes our passion through picking up the cross of Jesus. Here is something C.S. Lewis said about this.
“If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire.”
Picking up the cross and following Jesus is a recognition that this world has nothing to offer us. Following Christ is not about this life but finding pleasure in Him and sharing the joy of knowing Christ with others. Paul said that Christ embraced the cross because of the joy set before Him. It’s the same for us, we turn away from this life and turn our attention and our affection on things above, this is the place of pure joy.
