And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
My wife has a dear aunt who is one of the most spiritual people I have ever known. She has the gift of being able to see beyond the veil, to see spirits, both bad and good. She is humble, meek and is without guile.
This special person has been suffering for years from a breast cancer that has completely destroyed her breast. She is in constant pain and needs constant attention. Recently, she was taken to a medical clinic where they found that her breast had become infested with worms or maggots, eating the remaining flesh in her breast and dozens of worms were removed from her breast. So bad has it become that she is beyond the hope of being operated on and having her breast removed as there is no tissue left that could be healed.
She has always believed that the purpose of life is to suffer and to learn from our suffering. AKA, the School of Hard Knocks. She was told many years ago that she could be healed by believing in the power of Jesus and that she could heal herself. No operation was necessary. All was within her power to be healed miraculously. She refused an operation and said that it was her destiny to suffer and learn from her suffering. She feels that she has blessed other family members by allowing them to minister to her and attend to her needs.
One of her favorite scriptures that supports her beliefs in the nobility and beauty of suffering is,
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
She is not alone. The vast majority of Christianity subscribe to this notion that a true disciple of Christ will “take up his cross” and follow him. Since the cross is a symbol of suffering and Christ suffered on the cross, we must do the same if we are to be like Christ. Let us analyze this saying of Jesus in the light of the Holy Ghost and in light of his other sayings:
What does “let him deny himself” mean? In Greek, the word for deny is similar to forgetting oneself, losing oneself in a greater cause. To deny oneself is to acknowledge our own nothingness as previously discussed. By acknowledging our nothingness, we find our greatness. By losing our life for Christ’s sake is to find our life. In Greek, the word for lose means to utterly destroy. Losing our life for Christ’s sake does not mean to experience literal death of the body. Losing our life for his sake means to utterly and completely turn our life over to Christ, giving our “all” and then to have life “more abundantly”.
What does “take up his cross” mean? The cross to which Jesus refers in Greek is stauron, or the cross beam of the cross used in the Roman crucifixion. Therefore, it seems obvious here that my wife’s aunt and millions of other Christians are correct, we are to suffer like Jesus by taking up our cross. But hear all ye ends of the earth, this is not what Jesus is teaching! The Greek word for take up is “airo” which means to take away or to remove. WHEN JESUS SAID A PERSON SHOULD TAKE UP HIS CROSS, HE WAS SAYING, TAKE IT AWAY, REMOVE IT, DON’T LEAVE IT IN A FIXED PLACE AND DON’T REMAIN ON YOUR CROSS OF SUFFERING, REMOVE IT! Jesus’ message was liberation. Jesus message was healing and overcoming.
As further evidence that “taking up one’s cross means to put it away, get rid of it, consider this:
John 5:8Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath
Now, if to take up thy bed meant to carry it around all the time, then the concept of taking up one’s cross as a burden of life would make sense. Obviously, Jesus did not expect the newly healed man to carry his bed on his back wherever he went. The Greek definition of “take up” applied, that is, to put it away and to leave it behind.
What does it mean to “follow me”? If the path for Jesus eventually lead to pain and suffering upon his cross, shouldn’t we do the same? No, when Jesus invited us to follow him, it was for the purpose of following him into a life of victory and salvation. To do otherwise negates his other sayings,
“O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not.”
A mother hen does not lead her chickens to pain and suffering but the opposite, to safety and security. A mother’s instincts are to suffer for her children so that they do not have to suffer. A mother teaches her children how to avoid unnecessary suffering. Suffering is rarely necessary and when necessary, it is related to compassion, sadness and sorrow brought about by the unnecessary suffering and wickedness of others.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
If following Jesus means to suffer like him, then this scripture has little meaning or offers little comfort. Who are they who “labour and are heavy laden”? They are they who suffer unnecessarily. Jesus is inviting us to follow him, not to suffer but to find rest. A destroyed breast is not rest. No rationalization, self-hypnosis or twisted logic can convert a painful breast cancer into rest, nor is it a light burden. We may have chosen to take the “broad path” and to suffer like much of the rest of the world, we may have even covenanted to suffer and as such, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
There is a popular poster that is found on a lot of people’s walls. It shows a picture of Jesus and a caption that reads, “I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.” The truth is that Jesus never said that. Somebody tried to put words in Jesus’ mouth as if it was scripture. This man-made saying contradicts Jesus’ true words which are, “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The “worth it” part seems to imply that if we can just grit our teeth and tough it out, i.e., endure to the end or even endure our suffering gracefully, then it will be worth it after we die and receive his rest. Where did Jesus say anywhere that we had to die to find rest? If our rest was dependent on our going to the grave, then he would have told the lepers, the blind, the lame, the afflicted, “Endure it well and you will find rest and treasure after you die.”
Many of our beliefs are based on assumptions. We assume that our goal is a long life of “hanging in there”, of being a good person in spite of our suffering and that death will finally release us from our life long calling to suffer or of being vulnerable to the evil of others. Death will usher us into a new dimension where we will be beyond the reach of evil and all the suffering of this corruptible flesh. Jesus talks of laying up treasure in heaven that is beyond the reach of corruption and he talks of preparing a mansion for us. Our assumption is that Jesus means that we are investing in our grave site, our permanent place of retirement. Like a wise person who prepares for retirement, we have our investment account in heaven which we will be able access after death.
Our assumptions are wrong. They are false traditions. Jesus never said that our treasures in heaven are dependent on reaching retirement age and laying our body in a grave. Our treasures and our mansions in heaven are available now, in this life, not by going into the grave.
Let’s examine this more closely. Jesus said,
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is there where you will your heart be also.” Matt 6:20-21
And where is your heart? It is found loving the Lord thy God. If you are loving him now with your heart, then your treasure in heaven is now, not later. How is your treasure protected from natural and man-made forces? By the power of Jesus Christ who has said that he would deliver us from all evil and all harm and all unnecessary suffering if we lay up our treasure with him.
Most importantly, what is the treasure? It is eternal life. When is eternal life? It starts now, in this life and we can use the treasure now, it is freedom from the power of our enemies and the joys of serving God and fellow man.
Where is the treasure stored? In the mansion that he has prepared for you. Where is this mansion? In heaven after we die? NO! It is where our heart is, it is the storage place of our treasure. The mansion on high is the kingdom of heaven that is within us, it is the treasure that is laid up inside of us which no force on earth can destroy. The treasure in heaven is the two mites of faith and belief that have grown to a limitless treasure of power and knowledge. It is the mustard seed of faith that has grown into a tree of life. It is the power derived from obeying the Two Great commandments and a storehouse of serving our fellow man and seeking after the best interests of our neighbor. It is now, and it is liberation from all enemies and all unnecessary suffering.
I am currently working in an Islamic country in North Africa. The Muslim religion teaches that everything that happens in life is based on the will of Allah. A common expression is “Insha’Allah” meaning, if Allah wills it. Under this belief, we are subject to the will of Allah, for good or bad. This differs from Jesus’ doctrine in that we can influence the outcome of what happens to us, that God’s will can be our will and our will can be God’s will. All of the promises of Jesus are predicated on our obedience to his sayings, his commandments, and by following his formula, we can influence the outcome of our lives.
And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
To be proved by God does not mean to be subject to all of the random events of the earth. It does not mean to suffer unnecessarily or to be tried in the crucible of adversity. The proving involves seeing if we will do whatsoever the Lord commands us and thereby avoid unnecessary suffering. What are all things he commands us? To Love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, all of our being. It is the law upon which all blessings are predicated.
We are not like some ants on a branch floating down the raging river of life, subject to wherever the river takes us. We, as children of the Lord, as children of the light, are masters of our destiny. We can direct the raging river to change its course. We, like our first parents in the Garden of Eden, have been given dominion over the earth, over the elements and over all things.
Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Jesus’ message is that blessings of peace, safety and rest are available to us in this life and that we can be delivered from the power of our enemies.
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