Title: Those Who Want to Follow Jesus
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And he said to the crowds, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is a man if he gains the whole world and loses or is taken away from him? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of himself and of the Father and of the holy angels. Truly I say to you, some who are standing here will see the kingdom of God before they die. (Luke 9:23-27)
Next, "Take up my cross". This verse is connected with every day. The old translation says, "Each one must take up his own cross." For those who set out to follow Christ, each person has a cross to bear. This means that the cross I should bear is not the one I made and carried with my own hands on my back, but the cross that the Lord put on me. When we interpret God's mission, we often misunderstand a certain theologian, a certain preacher, and the designer of the cross that people must bear. If it were a cross, it would not be a cross that each of us had to bear. It is clear that each cross must not be the design of any theologian or preacher, but it cannot have the same identity with the cross carried by Christ Himself. Then, in the end, the cross that each person bears must be the work that the one who called us and set us up before him gave me, entrusted me with my share, and prepared and trained us for that work. And it will be the same cup that the One who pours out on me, sometimes including exile, imprisonment, torture, starvation, sickness, and even death.
Those who carry their own cross, their mission, their work, and the work and destiny given to them by their own cross, look at the cross that others have carried and stamp it, or have the opportunity to share in the cross because they are also wearing it. can't have Originally, people who looked at other people's cross and said what they thought about it were Roman soldiers, bad priests, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc., enemies of the cross. Those who wanted to follow Jesus did not dare to go there, and even if they did go, they could not look at it and looked at it again. Even if you do, you are in a situation where you can't talk much. Seminary students are those who have already taken up the cross in the work of theology. It is clear that the work of theology, the assigned work of mine, must be his cross.
I will not be ashamed or envious of anyone's cross, even though it is bigger and brighter than mine. Because for me, even if it is a small wooden cross that is dull, dark and unpopular, I have no choice but to erase it, so I have nothing but gratitude. Once a person sets out to follow Jesus, the object they look at is Jesus and no one else. Jesus didn't want to take up the cross and become a hero. Heroism is the enemy of the cross, even if it is a crossed hero. Kyle's heroism was therefore only applicable to the rise of Western nationalism in the 19th century. So the worship of heroes is the enemy of democracy. Each of us has his own cross, that is, today's mission that I received, and the leaf of my share is already the cross, and it is something that we must bear as the work of bearing the cross.
Finally, he says, "Follow me." Every time I hear these words, I recall Abraham's response to God's call in Genesis 12:1-2 and following him. In Hebrews 11, the writer summarized Abraham's expression by saying, "He obeyed." I am convinced that following Jesus requires obedience like a fool. I believe that only in following Jesus is obedience like a fool. It is to take up your cross, the mission given as your share, and to follow it every day, not just at any time. I can see the image of a mature believer who bears his share of the cross proudly and steadily, enough to say, “Follow me,” to the country, family, society, and academy in which he is involved. I want you to live the life you see.
The cross is a narrow road that is never easy, but our lives in obedience to it. There are our freedom, peace, service, humility, and the happiness of a satisfied believer.