Many in the crowd must have wondered what he was talking about. Who in their right mind wants to take up a cross? What kind of a person would willingly wish to carry a cross that leads to torture and death? It almost seems as if Jesus is trying to drive people away.

Whenever I hear this reading, I wonder what cross he has in mind for me. I wonder if I am really willing to deny myself and take up my cross. Not knowing what cross awaits me, it is easy to say that I am ready and willing to do so. However, when the cross does come my way, I’m not sure how I will actually respond. Will I embrace it or flee from it? Will I take it up, but complain about it the whole time? Will I look for an easy way out or will I take it in my hands with courage and fortitude?

Knowing that he took up his cross, knowing the suffering he endured, knowing that the cross ultimately did not defeat him, gives me hope. If I thought the cross was the end, if I thought the cross would defeat me, I certainly would not take it up, but because I know what those who heard him did not know, I know about the resurrection. I know that the story does not end on Calvary, or even at the empty tomb, I have hope. I have hope that I, too, can endure whatever cross comes my way, because I know what the Father did for him in raising him from the dead, and I know the promise he made once risen, “I will be with you always!”