The cross. If you close your eyes and try to picture a cross in your mind, it’s hard to do without seeing Jesus hanging on it. His sacrifice is forever linked to our understanding of Roman crucifixion even though Jesus was not the only person to die that way. There were many. 6,000 Gaul and German prisoners were crucified by General Marcus Liscinius Crassus along the Appian Way from Brindisi to Rome in 72 B.C. Historians estimate around 2 million people died on Roman crosses in ancient times. The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion. They got it from the Greeks. Alexander the Great crucified 2,000 POWs from Tyre on their own beaches. Crucifixion is the most famous form of execution. Affixed to a tall cross where everyone passing by could see you dying slowly, painfully was a clear warning to others not to rouse the anger of government. That is why it surprises us to read in three of the four gospel accounts, that we are to take up our cross as followers of Jesus, Matthew 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27. Surely Jesus does not want us to die slowly and painfully. Disciples of Jesus are children of God. God is our Father. No parent wants to see their children suffer. In each of the five passages listed above, Jesus is explaining the need for commitment from anyone wishing to be a Christian: “If anyone wishes to come after Me.” Following Christ requires commitment, because bearing the name of Jesus means those who despise Jesus will despise you. There are places you can go in this world where if they discover you are a Christian, you will be killed. The world has been like that ever since Jesus died on His cross. So, we have a cross to bear as well. Loyalty demands that we not shrink back from our vow to Christ just because things get tough. Christ does not want us to suffer, but He also does not want us to quit.