Foreshadowing of the Cross
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overpowered, and the instrument of torture was bound upon them.
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But Jesus bade His followers take up the cross and bear it after Him.
To the disciples His words, though dimly comprehended, pointed to
their submission to the most bitter humiliation,—submission even unto
death for the sake of Christ. No more complete self-surrender could
the Saviour’s words have pictured. But all this He had accepted for
them. Jesus did not count heaven a place to be desired while we were
lost. He left the heavenly courts for a life of reproach and insult, and
a death of shame. He who was rich in heaven’s priceless treasure,
became poor, that through His poverty we might be rich. We are to
follow in the path He trod.
Love for souls for whom Christ died means crucifixion of self. He
who is a child of God should henceforth look upon himself as a link in
the chain let down to save the world, one with Christ in His plan of
mercy, going forth with Him to seek and save the lost. The Christian
is ever to realize that he has consecrated himself to God, and that in
character he is to reveal Christ to the world. The self-sacrifice, the
sympathy, the love, manifested in the life of Christ are to reappear in
the life of the worker for God.
“Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall
lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.”
Selfishness is death. No organ of the body could live should it confine
its service to itself. The heart, failing to send its lifeblood to the hand
and the head, would quickly lose its power. As our lifeblood, so is
the love of Christ diffused through every part of His mystical body.
We are members one of another, and the soul that refuses to impart
will perish. And “what is a man profited,” said Jesus, “if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul?”
Beyond the poverty and humiliation of the present, He pointed
the disciples to His coming in glory, not in the splendor of an earthly
throne, but with the glory of God and the hosts of heaven. And then,
He said, “He shall reward every man according to his works.” Then
for their encouragement He gave the promise, “Verily I say unto you,
There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they
see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.” But the disciples did not
comprehend His words. The glory seemed far away. Their eyes were
fixed upon the nearer view, the earthly life of poverty, humiliation, and