Jesus wants us to know that true faith involves taking up your cross. The idea of taking up your cross is one that most people believe they are familiar with. In our society it refers to things like living with a painful back, or an annoying colleague at work or working through a difficult marriage. In these situations, we hear the phrase Well, we all have our crosses to bear and this just happens to be my cross.
When Jesus uses these words, that is definitely not what he means. He is not talking about the pains and aches of our bodies or the troubles that are common to all people in this world. He is talking about identifying with him in his death. A cross in the ancient world symbolized shame and death. It was not a piece of jewellery to wear around your neck; it was a place of death and humiliation. The cross is where people went to die.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.