NewtonPooton

Jesus said a few times in the gospels for people to take up their cross and follow him. I know cross means burden, at least that's what the old preachers used to tell me, but why would he have said that to people back then before he was actually hung on the damned thing? Would that have made any sense to them? That's like some modern day wacko prophet going around saying, Follow me and carry your electric chairs!

A bit extreme I know, but it's almost the same thing.

So any opinions?

shawn

drewjmore

Matthew 10:37-39... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

Matthew 16:23-25... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

Mark 8:33-35... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

Mark 10:20-22... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

Luke 9:22-24... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

Luke 14:26-28... http://bible.gospelcom.net/passage/?...ontext=context

There, I've carried my cross today.

Ben C Smith

John Dominic Crossan points out somewhere in The Historical Jesus (IIRC) that this saying is attested outside the gospel traditions. One of the cynics said something very much like it. I presume the saying would have made sense in a countercultural setting akin to what we find both in cynicism and in the Jesus movement.

Ben.

GoodLittleAtheist

It is a literary technique called foreshadowing.

Chili

Only and all Galileans have a cross and until we arrive in 'Galilee' do we not know our cross. Galilee is when purification takes place after we have been given a new identity (we call this born again). This would be the reason for Jesus' detour on his way to Israel and so he could rightfully say to those Galileans in his days to pick up their cross an follow him, while it means the same for us when reading his story 2000 years later.

Our detour is called Purgatory where our sin nature becomes our burden and therefore the very cross on which our sin nature must be crucified.

Xixax

Is there a way to ignore certain users posts in a thread? Chili consistently hijacks threads with this kind of drivel, I would prefer to just not see his posts at all.

Chili

Sorry, does it help for me to add that our sinner complex is our cross after we are saved?

Julian

Click on his name, select View Public Profile and click on the link to add him to your ignore list. The link is hard to find, just keep looking.

Julian

motorhead

One possibility is these take up your cross and follow me sayings were never actually spoken by Jesus. They were written by the Gospel writers many years after Jesus had been crucified on the cross.

Chili

Yes, either that or the Gospels are for saved sinners only.