Smoodock's Blog

Normally, if you were to pick up a Bible, any translation, and read Matthew 16:24 that Jesus claimed that, if a man would want to follow him, he must “take up his cross” (stauros, G4716) and follow him, vis-à-vis follow Jesus. The problem is that the saying: take up your cross wasn’t known to the Jews, or anyone else for that matter, in the first century AD. In other words, it isn’t an idiom that we could find in pre-Christian literature. Furthermore, nothing like this is known in our own modern language. That is, no one uses a ‘hangman’s noose’ or an ‘electric chair’ to denote self-sacrifice. So, what should we do with the phrase, “take up your cross” (stauros, G4716)?

As it stands, if this is what the Lord actually said, the saying would have fallen on deaf ears. Moreover, since none of Jesus’ disciples questioned Jesus about the saying, nor is there an editorial added by way of explanation (like that in Mark 9:32; John 2:22 and 3:24), the disciples had to have understood what Jesus said. Thus, we must conclude that it is we who do not know what Jesus said, vis-à-vis he did not say: “take up your cross” and follow him. If it is true that we don’t understand, what did Jesus say, and does the saying have a similar meaning today, as it did in the first century AD?

To begin with, I believe it is important to realize that Matthew has taken us with Jesus to northern Galilee near the border of Caesarea Philippi. This is where Peter made his ‘great confession’ that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus took Peter’s confession as a kind of landmark in his disciples’ faith that they were now mature enough to consider some contradictions to their understanding of who the Messiah is. They had been taught by the Pharisees that the Messiah would never die, but from the time of Peter’s confession forward, Jesus began teaching them that it was actually necessary that the Messiah would be rejected by the Jewish authorities and executed (cp. Matthew 16:31). Jesus seems to have told them this, while they walked together, presumably away from Caesarea Philippi, vis-à-vis on their return journey, because his “turning about to look at his disciples” (Mark 8:33) implies Jesus is ahead of them, leading them somewhere.

Moreover, if we take Matthew literally at Matthew 16:31, meaning Jesus had never told the disciples of his ultimate execution by the Jewish authorities prior to Peter’s confession, what should we do with Matthew 10:38, where Jesus says: “He who doesn’t take up his cross and follow after me, isn’t worthy of me!” If Jesus didn’t speak of his coming death until Matthew 16, how do we explain his speaking of his death, vis-à-vis the cross, in Matthew 10? It seems to me Matthew 10:38 contradicts 16:31, if stauros (G4716) means “cross, death, execution.” Therefore, in the spirit of John 10:35 “…the scripture cannot be broken,” we must look for an interpretation that permits both texts to agree.

We need to keep in mind that, when Jesus taught the people and/or his disciples, he often took his surroundings into consideration, when making his point. This is no different, when he spoke of stauros (G4716, translated “cross” 28 times out of 28 occurrences). The Greek word literally means “stake” or “pole”. Long-story-short, Jesus was referring to “pulling up stakes” which was done in the wilderness before the Jew came to the Promised Land. The “stakes” were for their tents or tabernacles. Time had been passing, while Jesus and his disciples crisscrossed the Sea of Galilee on several occasions after the feeding of the 5000, which occurred about the time of the Passover.

John 7 indicates that Jesus went up the Jerusalem in secret to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Synoptics terminology at Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2 and Luke 9:28 roughly indicate a week between Jesus telling his disciple to take up their stauros (G4716) and his Transfiguration. If we allow the term, pulling up stakes (stauros; G4716), to imply dismantling a tent or tabernacle, then Jesus was taking the Feast of Tabernacles into consideration, when he told his disciples they needed to deny themselves, pull up stakes (in this world), if they were to follow him. Moreover, this saying: pull up stakes indicates the same thing today as it did during the first century AD. Set aside one’s life here to travel to a different place. Forsake life in this world to gain one’s life in Christ.[1]

         [EB1] 

[1] I had argued this point in more detail in my study of the Gospel of Mark. See Pulling Up Stakes and Where Was the Mount of Transfiguration.