We Must Not Bypass the Cross

"From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." - Matthew 16:21

"As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day." And they were greatly distressed." - Matthew 17:22-23

"And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." - Matthew 20:17-19

"You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified." - Matthew 26:2

When Jesus was being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness he was provided an easy way out. Satan was offering him the world without the cross. Instead, the Lord Jesus resisted the Devil in perfect obedience and choose the way of the Cross. He knew the pain and agony he must face to provide eternal glory for all of his children. We see four times in Matthew were He mentioned His death. He could have taken the easy way out but chose to endure, persevere, and set an example for his children to follow. We must realize that there is a cross involved in our obedience to the will of God. As Dennis Kinlaw said in his devotional, "Before every step of obedience, we will find resistance that must be overcome, temptation that must be fought." We must not bypass the Cross.

Most of us will never have to endure what Christ did, but in our daily obedience to Christ we will face opposition and temptation. How many times have you been invited to church, a retreat, mission trip, or any God centered event that you knew was going to draw you closer to God but the voice in your head told you that you need rest and need to stay home. Or maybe something less important came up at the last minute and you chose to do that. We must understand that the enemy's number one goal for Christians is to make them ineffective and unproductive (2 Peter 1:8). He wants to keep us from the blessings that come from encouragement and growth in Christ. We must not bypass the cross and take the easy way.

"Iron sharpens Iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17

I have never liked conflict. I don't like hard conversations. I want everyone to get along and just be happy. God has been teaching me the past couple years that I can't have effective ministry by avoiding hard conversations and taking the easy way out. It also hinders my growth in relationships not only with my brothers and sisters in Christ but with my relationship with God. I am beginning to learn that through hard times, through hard conversations, through conflict we can be made stronger through Christ. Jesus knew this, He knew the power over sin and death that would come by not bypassing the cross. If we choose not to bypass the cross in our lives we can experience victory and freedom. We can strengthen and deepen relationships with one another and most importantly our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23