Mark 8:27-38 tells us about the way of the cross. Jesus asked his disciples who people were saying he was. They answered that people thought he was one of the prophets who had come back to life. Then Jesus asked them who they thought he was. Peter answered for the group, “You are the Messiah.”

Jesus then began to teach them what kind of Messiah he would be. He would suffer many things and even be killed, but after three days he would rise to life again. Peter could not accept this idea, and he even had enough nerve to rebuke Jesus! Jesus in turn rebuked Peter quite harshly for having human concerns rather than the concerns of God.

What follows is some of the most important teaching about what it means to be a Christian. “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’” (Mark 8:34-38).

One of the greatest misunderstandings about Christianity is the thought that it is an easy life. Jesus says quite the opposite! Just as Jesus had to make sacrifices to leave heaven, take on human form and die on a cross, his followers too must make sacrifices. Many would-be followers of Jesus pursue the pleasures the world has to offer, but Jesus says the life of a disciple is one of self-denial, to the point where we must take up our own cross and follow him. That doesn’t sound like a life of leisure now, does it?

We must constantly ask ourselves some tough questions: Do I have a cross on my back? Am I living selflessly? What am I denying myself in order to live for Jesus?

This is a difficult teaching, but one that every professing Christian must take seriously. To miss this point is to miss everything! Eternity is at stake!

Here’s hoping that you find some splinters in your shoulder!