Luke 9:22-24“The New Testament in Seven Sentences: Cross”

22 And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

The Cross is central to Christianity and has often been described as the ‘path of descent.’ Jesus, being God, stepped down from that exalted place to walk among us, becoming like us. The Cross was not an accident, but the embrace of a self-sacrificial life for the sake of the redemption of humanity. But the Cross is not supposed to be unique to Christ. He invites those who believe in him to take up their Cross and follow him on the path to descent. Strangely, Jesus reveals that the path of ascension toward God begins with the descension of the self for the sake of the other.