Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 9:23 (New Living Translation)

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Jesus is talking to a crowd. Consider the subject: a cross. The cross was an instrument of capital punishment. Like a noose for a hanging, bullets for a firing squad, or poison gas for a gas chamber.

One big difference:

The cross was intended to be cruel and unusual punishment.

There was nothing quick or relatively painless about a cross and capital punishment. The person to be executed would suffer a long time and hope to pass out soon so they would die asleep.

Jesus was telling people that if they wanted to follow Him, they needed to be ready for pain and anguish daily. Must be some sort of mistake in translation or something, right? How can anyone gather followers with that kind of talk?

If you are now ready to read a good, nuanced answer to that question that helps us  understand everything, I am sorry. I don’t have an answer to that question.