Jesus and the Cross

Contrary to what we might think, Jesus' ministry was not a bed of roses that just went south on the final week of his life. We read about the crowds impressed with the healings and provision and miracles he performed and think how great it would have been to be around Jesus.
But not everybody was giving him high fives or chest bumps and applauding His devotion to follow God.
Here is what a typical month might be like if you were Jesus or one of His followers back then:

• Preach at home church -- congregation gets mad and tries to kill you;
• Church leaders accuse you of blaspheming God and try to stone you to death;
• Religious higher-ups criticize you for eating with the wrong crowd, tell other people you are possessed by demons, and criticize your best friends for not being spiritual enough, especially when it comes to fasting and other church-related activites;
• When you deliver a tormented man who had been possessed by multitudes of demons and had been terrorizing the area, the people of the town are upset and demand that you leave;
• Your cousin in prison doubts that you are who you say you are;
• Your mom and brothers think you have gone crazy and try to get you to stop preaching because they are worried about your mental state;
• The most powerful people in the community are plotting to kill you and are continually setting traps to catch you in what you say so they can turn public opinion against you.

Still wish you could have hung out with Jesus?
Jesus told us that if we want to be his followers, we will deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. (Matthew 16:24)
His sufferings are not car wrecks, cancer or not having enough money to pay our bills. As traumatic as those events are, that is not what Jesus experienced and what he asks us to experience.
He carried a physical cross to Golgatha, but each day of his life, following the direction of his Father, he also carried another cross. This cross was one of misunderstanding and rejection, it was a cross of reproach and alone-ness in obeying God, it was a cross of criticism and wrongful accusation -- all of the things our flesh hates to endure.
Jesus denied what his flesh was telling him to do -- which was avoid rejection and misunderstanding and take the easy way out -- and accepted his cross every day. It was a necessary part of obeying God. Those who choose to follow him will face the same decision. Are we willing to deny the way of conformity to the world and the strong instinct to protect ourselves from hurt, or follow him in carrying our cross?