Jamie was sick. She had cancer and it was slowly eating her body away. She had prayed many times to the Lord to be healed, but without results. “Oh well,” she said, “this must be my cross from the Lord to carry. I am just like Paul who had his thorn in the flesh. God wouldn’t take it away from him either. It’s hard to understand, but I will carry my cross the best I can.”
Does God give sickness to people as a cross to carry? What did Jesus mean when He asked His followers to take up their cross and follow Him? Are the bad things that happen in our lives our crosses? The only way to find out is to go to the word of God and see what it says.
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? (Matthew 15:24-26)
34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34-38)
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)
Popular False Views on Bearing the Cross
I would like to start out with a couple of quotes that I totally disagree with just to show the thoughts that some people have about what it means to bear the cross.
This one is by Brian Harper:
Everyone has a cross to bear. It may be a disease, strained relationship, taxing job or lack of work at all. Some crosses are temporary, while others are here to stay.We all carry our crosses differently, because we all have different crosses to carry. Some of us try to play down our troubles, smiling and lying to ourselves and others that everything is all right when it is not. Some of us spiral into a whirlwind of self-pity, bitterness, anger and even hatred of oneself and others.
This one is from The Word Among Us magazine:
We All Have Crosses. When we look at the call to take up our cross, we tend to think of the way God asks us to accept and embrace the sufferings and hardships that come from living in this fallen world. While we have a difficult time understanding why a good God allows his people to suffer, we all know what suffering feels like, and we can understand how it can be linked to the cross.This kind of suffering can be physical or spiritual or psychological. It can range from cancer to the inner wounds caused by someone who persecutes you because of your faith. It can come in the form of a stillborn baby or in the form of a healthy child who is not doing as well as he or she could do in school. It can come from our standing up for innocent life in a culture of death, or it can come from having to endure the pain of a broken relationship. Whatever its source, we all have situations in our lives that we could honestly call “crosses” that we have to bear.
The idea that the cross Jesus is talking about is some sickness or major trial in one’s life is so common that you can even find it in the dictionary. Here is the definition under the heading “cross to bear”:
A burden or trial one must put up with, as in Alzheimer's is a cross to bear for the whole family, or in a lighter vein, Mowing that huge lawn once a week is Brad's cross to bear: This phrase alludes to the cross carried by Jesus to his crucifixion. Today it may be used either seriously or lightly. [Second half of 1500s] (Dictionary.com)
What Does the Bible Say About Bearing One’s Cross?
The real question is not what people believe about a topic, but what the Bible has to say about it. Too often many of the sayings and things people believe are not actually in the Bible. They come from people’s experiences and misunderstandings. So the best thing to do is to go to the source and see what it says and see if what people are saying is true.
Jesus is the one who says we are to bear our cross, Just what did He mean when He said this? Knowing that will once and for all clear up the issue as to whether sicknesses, trails, miscarriages, tough job situations, troubled children, and difficult relationships are what Jesus considered to be bearing your cross.
Jesus spoke the words in the quotes at the beginning of this post, it was to the crowds and His disciples. He said three things and then explained what He meant by them. He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
So the first thing to consider is that Jesus is talking about what people must do if they want to follow Him. He is speaking about the cost of becoming His true disciples who will walk in His ways.
The first thing you must do is deny yourself. The call to follow Jesus is all inclusive. He is Lord and in order to follow Him you must surrender your life completely to Him.
The second thing is to take up your cross, Luke adds the thought of doing it daily. The simple understanding of the cross is that it is an instrument of death. The cross represents an ignoble and tortuous way to die.
The idea in Jesus' mind is that if you want to follow Him you must die to your own ways and to your own desires. There is no thought of sickness in this concept or any other hardships. It is a call to self-denial in order to follow Jesus.
The third thing you must do is follow Him. That is the main point of what Jesus is talking about. It takes self denial and taking up your cross to truly follow Jesus. He is asking you to surrender your life and make Him Lord.
Jesus is speaking about the cost of following Him. He spoke about taking up the cross on other occasions:
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39)
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27)
The idea behind Jesus words is that we are not to place our family above following Jesus. His call in our lives is supreme and we must not elevate our families over His call.
The cross Jesus is talking about is something that you take up as a choice in following Him. You don’t take up sickness to follow Him. These concepts go against the truth of the cross of Jesus where Jesus bore our sicknesses and diseases.
Jesus Bore Our sickness on the Cross
I think by now it must be clear that taking up one’s cross has nothing to do with bearing sickness in your life as a believer. Sickness is not your cross to bear. It is something that Jesus bore on the cross.
Sickness is your enemy. Jesus saw it as an enemy and came to heal all who were oppressed by the devil. Isaiah prophesied Jesus would bear all our sin and diseases upon the cross. He said,
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)
The word “pain” in verse four should be translated as sickness. The concept behind the word is the weakness and the pain that is caused by sickness or oppression. It has to do with an illness. wound, or affliction.
Jesus also bore our suffering. This describes the physical and mental anguish that we experience in life.
Jesus also bore our transgressions and iniquities. He took upon Himself the sin of the world and became sin on our behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Matthew showed how Jesus actually fulfilled this verse of Scripture. He said,
16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16-17)
Every time you see Jesus cast out a demon the word spoken by Isaiah is being fulfilled. Every time you see a person healed by the power of the Holy Spirit, you see the word fulfilled. Don’t believe the lie for a moment that God has given you a cross of sickness to bear. He bore your sickness on Himself so you don’t have to bear it.
For Further Study
God is not the Author of Sickness
Sickness is part of the curse. It is a result of the fall and tool that Satan uses to bring destruction in a person’s life. There are no redeeming qualities in sickness. Everyone instinctively knows this and seeks to get rid of illness as soon as possible. So I wonder why some think that it is God who is smiting them with sickness? Here are just a few of the many verses that speak about God’s heart toward sickness:
Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1-5)
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness. (Psalm 4`:2)
2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 2)
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. (James 5:14-15)
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. . . 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. (Matthew 10:1, 8)
23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. (Matthew 4:23-24)
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:35-36)
Everywhere Jesus went throughout the land of Israel He healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus saw sickness as an enemy that needed to be defeated. He healed all who came to Him. Not once do we see Him smiting anyone with sickness for any reason. He always took sickness away, because He came to break its power over our lives.
What About Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
You may be thinking, but what about Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Didn’t he have some sort of sickness that He asked God to take away three times and He said that He would not because His grace was sufficient for Paul?
I am glad you asked that question, because that is the first false view of sickness that I covered. In it I show that Paul’s thorn is not a sickness but a person sent by Satan to cause him intense grief and suffering.
If you are thinking that Paul’s thorn was a sickness I suggest you click the link to the following article:
For Further Study
Come to Jesus
I hope I’ve convinced you that sickness is not from God and it’s not your cross to bear. It’s an enemy that must be resisted at all costs. Jesus is your healer. He paid for your healing upon the cross.
If you believed in any sense that sickness has come from God as something He wants you to bear, I encourage you to repent before the Lord for believing the lie, ask God for forgiveness, and seek the Lord for healing.
Just as you go to the doctor to be made well, turn your eyes on Jesus. Seek the Lord for healing. Begin to speak to your sickness in Jesus name and command it to leave your body. Seek out those who believe in the healing power of Christ and get them to minister to you.
See sickness as an enemy. Stand in the power of Jesus’ name and resist it. Be healed, in Jesus’ name.
How about you? Have you ever thought this idea of sickness being your cross? If so, let us know about it and what you plan to do based on this article.
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