Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:38
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
38. he that taketh not his cross ] A further advance in the devotion and self-abandonment required in the disciples of Jesus. These are deeply interesting and solemn words. The cross is named for the first time by the Saviour. The expression recurs ch. Mat 16:24, following upon the announcement of the Passion to the disciples. By the Roman custom criminals were compelled to bear the cross to the place of execution. The Galilans would know too well what was meant by “taking the cross.” Many hundreds had paid that forfeiture for rebellion that had not prospered under Judas the Gaulonite and others. (See Introduction, Chapter 4.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And he that taketh not his cross … – When persons were condemned to be crucified, a part of the sentence was that they should carry the cross on which they were to die to the place of execution. Thus, Christ carried his, until he fainted from fatigue and exhaustion. See notes at Mat 27:31. The cross was usually composed of two rough beams of wood, united in the form of this figure of a cross It was an instrument of death. See the notes at Mat 27:31-32. To carry it was burdensome, was disgraceful, was trying to the feelings, was an addition to the punishment. So to carry the cross is a figurative expression, denoting that we must endure whatever is burdensome, or is trying, or is considered disgraceful, in following Christ. It consists simply in doing our duty, let the people of the world think of it or speak of it as they may. It does not consist in making trouble for ourselves, or doing things merely to be opposed; it is doing just what is required of us in the Scriptures, let it produce whatever shame, disgrace, or pain it may. This every follower of Jesus is required to do.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 10:38
He that taketh not; his cross.
Cross-bearing
I. What is is peculiar cross? He that taketh not his cross.
1. It may be the giving up of certain pleasures.
2. The endurance of reproach or poverty.
3. The suffering of losses and persecutions for Christs sake.
4. The consecrating all to Jesus.
5. The endurance of my heavenly Fathers will.
II. What am i to do with it?
1. I an: deliberately to take it up.
2. I am boldly to face it. It is only a wooden cross after all.
3. I am patiently to endure it, for I have only to carry it a little way.
4. I am cheerfully to resign myself to it, for my Lord appoints it.
5. I am obediently to follow Christ with it.
What an honour and a comfort to be treading in His steps! This is the essential point. It is not enough to bear a cross, we must bear it after Jesus. I ought to be thankful that I have only to bear it, and that it does not bear me. It is a royal burden, a sanctified burden, a sanctifying burden, a burden which gives communion with Christ.
III. What should encourge me?
1. Necessity: I cannot be a disciple without cross-bearing.
2. Society: better men than I have carried it.
3. Love: Jesus bore a far heavier cross than mine.
4. Faith: grace will be given equal to the weight of the cross.
5. Hope: good to myself will result from my bearing this load.
6. Zeal: Jesus will be honoured by my patient endurance.
7. Experience: I shall yet find pleasure in it, for it will produce in me much blessing. The cross is a fruitful tree.
8. Expectation: glory will be the reward of it.
Let not the ungodly fancy that theirs is a better lot: the Psalmist says, many sorrows shall be to the wicked. Let not the righteous dread the cross, for it will not crush them: it may be painted with iron colours by our fears, but it is not made of that heavy metal; we can bear it, and we will bear it right joyously. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Following Christ by way of the cross
When Alexander the Great marched through Persia, his way was stopped with ice and snow, insomuch that his soldiers, being tired out with hard marches, were discouraged, and would have gone no further, which he perceiving, dismounted his horse, and went on four through the midst of them all, making himself a way with a pickaxe; whereat they all being ashamed, first his friends, then the captains of his army, and, last of all, the common soldiers, followed him. So should all men follow Christ their Saviour, by that rough and unpleasant way of the cross that He hath traversed before them. He having drunk unto them in the cup of His passion, they are to pledge Him when occasion is offered; He having left them an example of His suffering, they are to follow Him in the selfsame steps of sorrow. (John Spencer.)
The cross taken up
The cross is easier to him who takes it up than to him who drags it along. (J. E. Vaux.)
The cross not to be made
We are bid to take not to make our cross. God in His providence will provide one for us. And we are bid to take it up; we hear nothing of laying it down. Our troubles and our lives live and die together. (W. Gurnall.)
No man, said Flavel, hath a velvet cross. As an old Yorkshire working-man, a friend of mine, said. Ah! it is blessed work cross-bearing when its tied on with love. (Newman Hall.)
Welcome the cross of Christ, and bear it triumphantly; but see that it be indeed Christs cross, and not thine own. (Wilcox.)
The cross a sweet burden
Christs cross is the sweetest burden that ever I bore; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or sails to a ship, to carry me forward to my harbour. (Samuel Rutherford.)
A procession of cross-bearers
The Saviour here, in His character of Seer, looks into His own future, and moulds His language accordingly. He sees the cross in the distance. He connects Himself with it. He comes out of Himself, as it were to look at Himself with His cross. He sees Himself bearing His cross. The vision grows into a complete picture. His followers are bearing crosses too! And thus the heavenly procession moves on, until a point is reached where time melts into eternity, and earth is the stepping-stone to heaven. At that point there may occur what men call execution; but, looked at on its upper side, the event is coronation and glorification. The crown surmounts the cross. (James Morison, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 38. He that taketh not his cross] i.e. He who is not ready, after my example, to suffer death in the cause of my religion, is not worthy of me, does not deserve to be called my disciple.
This alludes to the custom of causing the criminal to bear his own cross to the place of execution; so Plutarch, . Each of the malefactors carries on his own cross. See Clarke on Joh 19:17.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We have much the same in Mat 16:24; Mar 8:34; Luk 9:23; It is not he that maketh not, but
he that taketh not his cross; that is, he that doth not willingly, and cheerfully, and patiently bear and undergo those trials, and afflictions, and persecutions, which God in the way of his providence shall lay upon him, and bring him into, for my sake and my gospel, is not worthy of the name or reward of my disciples. Our Saviour calls all such trials, the cross, either with reference to the Roman last punishment, by crucifying, or signifying what death he should die, and with reference to his own cross.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. And he that taketh not hiscross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of mea sayingwhich our Lord once and again emphatically reiterates (Mat 16:24;Luk 9:23; Luk 14:27).We have become so accustomed to this expression”taking upone’s cross”in the sense of “being prepared for trialsin general for Christ’s sake,” that we are apt to lose sight ofits primary and proper sense here”a preparedness to go fortheven to crucifixion,” as when our Lord had to bear His own crosson His way to Calvarya saying the more remarkable as our Lord hadnot as yet given a hint that He would die this death, nor wascrucifixion a Jewish mode of capital punishment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And he that taketh not his cross,…. By the “cross”, which was a Roman punishment, whereby malefactors were put to death, are meant all sorts of afflictions, reproaches, persecutions, and death itself; and particularly the ill will, hatred, and persecution, of near relations and friends, which must be expected by such, who bear a faithful testimony for Christ. Every minister of Christ, or professor of his name, has “his” own cross, his own particular afflictions, appointed by God, and laid on him by Christ, and which he should cheerfully take up, and patiently bear, for his sake. The allusion is to the custom of persons sentenced to be crucified, to carry their own cross, as Christ did his, and Simon the Cyrenian for him; and which our Lord here may have a respect unto, as well knowing what death he was to die, and that some of his disciples also would die the same death: wherefore Christ says,
and followeth after me; led on by his example, to preach or profess the Gospel, submit to the ordinances of it, and cheerfully suffer for the sake of it, when called to it. If a man, who would be thought to be a disciple of Christ, is not willing to do all this, but, in order to avoid it, complies with his friends, conforms to the world, and turns his back on Christ; of such an one he may well say, he
is not worthy of me; it is not convenient that he should stand among his disciples and followers.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Doth not take his cross ( ). The first mention of cross in Matthew. Criminals were crucified in Jerusalem. It was the custom for the condemned person to carry his own cross as Jesus did till Simon of Cyrene was impressed for that purpose. The Jews had become familiar with crucifixion since the days of Antiochus Epiphanes and one of the Maccabean rulers (Alexander Jannaeus) had crucified 800 Pharisees. It is not certain whether Jesus was thinking of his own coming crucifixion when he used this figure, though possible, perhaps probable. The disciples would hardly think of that outcome unless some of them had remarkable insight.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
His cross [ ] . This was no Jewish proverb, crucifixion not being a Jewish punishment; so that Jesus uses the phrase anticipatively, in view of the death which he himself was to die. This was one of those sayings described in Joh 12:16, which the disciples understood not at the first, but the meaning of which was revealed in the light of later events. The figure itself was borrowed from the practice which compelled criminals to bear their own cross to the place of execution. His cross : his own. All are not alike. There are different crosses for different disciples. The English proverb runs : “Every cross hath its inscription” – the name of him for whom it is shaped.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he that taketh not his cross,” (kai hos ou lambanes ton stauron autou) “And he who does not take or receive his own cross,” or voluntarily assume trials when adversities come, to be a consistent professor, Mat 16:24; Luk 14:27.
2) “And followeth after me,” (kai akolouthei opiso mou) “And follow after me continually;” Christian duty, under trial, is painful, involves suffering and sacrifice of personal feelings, of selfishness and covetousness, 2Ti 3:10; 2Ti 3:12.
3) “Is not worthy of me.” (ouk estin mou aksios) “Is not worthy of me,” to wear my name, or be called a disciple, Luk 9:23; 1Co 9:26-27; Gal 6:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
38. He who doth not take up his cross From particular cases he proceeds to general views, and informs us that we cannot be reckoned his disciples unless we are prepared to endure many afflictions. If we are vexed and tormented by the thought, that the gospel should set us at variance with our father, or our wife, or our children, let us remember this condition, that Christ subjects all his disciples to the cross Yet let us also bear in mind this consolation, that, in bearing the cross, we are the companions of Christ, — which will speedily have the effect of allaying all its bitterness. The reprobates are not less firmly bound to their cross, and cannot with their most violent struggles shake it off; but as to those who are out of Christ the cross is accursed, a mournful end awaits them. Let us therefore learn to connect these two things, that believers must bear the cross in order to follow their Master; that is, in order to conform to his example, and to abide by his footsteps like faithful companions.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(38) He that taketh not his cross.The words were hardly a specific announcement of the manner of our Lords death, though they imply, interpreted by events, a distinct prevision of it, such as that which we trace in Joh. 3:14. To the disciples they would recall the sad scene which Roman rule had made familiar to them, the procession of robbers or rebels, each carrying the cross on which he was to suffer to the place of execution. They would learn that they were called to a like endurance of ignominy and suffering. When they saw their Master Himself carrying His own cross, the words would come back to their minds with a new significance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. Taketh not his cross As our Saviour had not been crucified, some have affirmed that he could not have uttered these words at this time. And some sceptical writers have affirmed that it is put into the mouth of Jesus in this passage by an anachronism on the part of the evangelist. But death by crucifixion, though a Roman punishment, had already been made by the Roman dominion perfectly familiar to Jewish eyes. It was the natural subject of allusion whenever the highest punishment of the law was to be mentioned. And for the same reason that it was the most obvious punishment specified in this discourse, it was the mode of our Saviour’s death. It was the representative method of capital execution. If the Lord was conscious that this was to be the mode of his own death, it would be rather a covert allusion to the secret future fact, than a proper prediction or prophecy.
Our Lord here indeed specifies what did not take place at his own crucifixion. One did follow him, taking up not his own cross, but the cross of the Saviour. But what the Lord here commands is, that each follower should take up, not his Saviour’s cross, but his own. The requirement is, that as Christ bore his own cross to his own crucifixion, so his followers should bear each his own cross to his own crucifixion. So the great crucified leader is followed by an endless train of crucified followers. They are crucified symbolically, in all their sufferings of mind or body, in behalf of Christ and of truth. Each follower who hath the spirit of his Master, is crucified in fact or in readiness of spirit. The Spirit of Christ is the spirit of martyrdom.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Mat 10:38. He that taketh not his cross This alludes to the custom of criminals carrying the cross to which they were to be fastened; and was a strong intimation, that he should himself be crucified; and that none could be a sincere Christian without a willingness to bear even that shameful and cruel death for his sake, if he was called to it. He follows Christ, says Grotius, who leads his life, as much as possible, in conformity to Christ’s life and precepts.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:38 . To take up his cross means, willingly to undergo the severe trials that fall to his lot (2Co 1:5 ; Phi 3:10 ). Figurative expression, borrowed from the practice according to which condemned criminals were compelled to take up their own cross and carry it to the place of execution; Mat 27:32 ; Luk 23:26 ; Joh 19:16 ; Artemid. ii. 56, p. 153; Plut. Mor . p. 554 A; Cic. de divin . i. 26; Valer. Max. xi. 7. The form of this expression, founded as it is upon the kind of death which Christ Himself was to die, is one of the indications of that later period from which the passage from Mat 10:24 onward has been transferred to its present connection. Matthew himself betrays the prolepsis in Mat 26:24 f.; comp. Mar 8:34 ; Luk 14:27 .
: in conformity with the Hebrew . Comp., however, . , Arist. Plut. xiii.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Ver. 38. And he that taketh not up his cross ] Omnis Christianus crucianus, saith Luther. Every Christian is sure of his cross; but, first, it must be “his” cross, such as God hath laid upon him, not such as he hath created to himself (as Baal’s priests, who cut themselves with knives and lancets, 1Ki 18:28 , the Circumcelliones of old, and the monks at this day, with their voluntary penances, &c.). Next, he must take it, and not stay till it be laid upon him; or then bear it as an ass doth his burden, because he can neither will nor choose; but he must be active in suffering and take God’s part against himself. Nay, he must (as he may) be cheerful under his cross, and thankful for it, as a favour, an honour. Act 5:41 ; Act 20:24 ; The very beasts take blows from their keepers. Turks, when cruelly lashed by their officers, give them thanks and go their ways. Porters go singing under their burdens, &c. Levius fit patientia quicquid corrigere est nefas. (Horat.)
And followeth after me ] Or cometh not behind me ( ); and this not aloof off, as Peter, Mat 26:58 , but close at heels, as Caleb, Num 14:24 ; walking in Christ, Col 2:6 ; as Christ 1Jn 2:6 ; putting him on in his virtues, as Constantine’s sons did their father, and preaching forth his praises, 1Pe 2:9 . He is a Saviour to none but those to whom he is a sampler; neither have any his redemption but they that take his direction; his benediction, but those that submit to his jurisdiction.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
38. ] How strange must this prophetic announcement have seemed to the Apostles! It was no Jewish proverb (for crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment), no common saying, which our Lord here and so often utters. See ch. Mat 16:24 ; Mar 10:21 ; Luk 9:23 . He does not here plainly mention His Cross; but leaves it to be understood, see Mat 10:25 . This is one of those sayings of which Joh 12:16 was eminently true. Neander (Leben Jesu, p. 546, note) quotes from Plutarch, de sera numinis vindicta, c. ix., (meaning, as he explains it, a guilty conscience ), as a proof that our Lord used this saying without any conscious reference to His own Death. But he confesses that if the of Joh 12:32 is to be understood as there interpreted ( Mat 10:33 ), he should be ready to allow the allusion here also. Seeing then that we do thus understand it, his inference has no value for us. Besides which, the passage of Plutarch does not even prove the expression to have been proverbial.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 10:38 . . There is here no necessary allusion to the death of Jesus Himself by crucifixion, though one possessing such insight into the course of events, as this whole discourse indicates, must have known quite well when He uttered the words what awaited Himself, the worst possible probable if not certain. The reference is to the custom of the condemned person carrying his own cross. Death by crucifixion, though not practised among the Jews, would be familiar to them through Roman custom. Vide Grotius for Greek and Roman phrases, containing figurative allusions to the cross. This sentence and the next will occur again in this Gospel (Mat 16:24-25 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
cross. Greek. stauros. See App-162. All criminals bore their own cross (Joh 19:17). Compare Mat 16:25.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
38.] How strange must this prophetic announcement have seemed to the Apostles! It was no Jewish proverb (for crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment), no common saying, which our Lord here and so often utters. See ch. Mat 16:24; Mar 10:21; Luk 9:23. He does not here plainly mention His Cross; but leaves it to be understood, see Mat 10:25. This is one of those sayings of which Joh 12:16 was eminently true. Neander (Leben Jesu, p. 546, note) quotes from Plutarch, de sera numinis vindicta, c. ix., (meaning, as he explains it, a guilty conscience),-as a proof that our Lord used this saying without any conscious reference to His own Death. But he confesses that if the of Joh 12:32 is to be understood as there interpreted (Mat 10:33), he should be ready to allow the allusion here also. Seeing then that we do thus understand it, his inference has no value for us. Besides which, the passage of Plutarch does not even prove the expression to have been proverbial.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:38. , his cross) The cross, which was unused by the Jews as a punishment, was not employed proverbially to denote extreme adversity: our Lord therefore, in this passage, alludes to His own Cross, which He was already bearing in secret.-, taketh) sc. willingly.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Mat 16:24, Mat 27:32, Mar 8:34, Mar 10:21, Luk 9:23, Luk 9:24, Luk 14:27, Joh 19:17
Reciprocal: Gen 22:12 – now Pro 23:26 – give Hag 1:9 – Because Mat 19:29 – or brethren Mat 22:8 – but Mat 25:42 – General Luk 7:4 – worthy Luk 9:61 – but Joh 21:19 – Follow Act 14:22 – we 2Co 5:14 – the love Heb 12:1 – let us lay 1Pe 2:21 – even
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE CROSS
He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.
Mat 10:38
The Cross is held in honour now; not so in our Lords day.
I. The literal Cross.It was a thing most hateful and most horrible. This must have been a very dark saying to the Apostles; they had never thought of the cross in connection with their Master or themseves.
II. The spiritual cross.The literal cross is no longer to be feared; but the cross is still the emblem of our religion. The Lord has warned us that we must take up the cross daily; that without bearing the cross we cannot be His disciples.
III. Taking the cross.The words imply acceptance; the cross is offered, the true disciple takes it. It is offered in many ways.
(a) In our religious dutiesprivate prayer, the study of Gods Holy Word, public worship, the Holy Communion. It is easy to attend to these when all is well and comfortable, when we have no difficulties to contend with. But then there is no cross. The cross is offered to us when there are difficulties, when we are cold and wearied, when there is need of effort and self-denial, when the services seem to us to be dull and unattractive.
(b) In our ordinary occupations. In the little worries of daily life, in our family life, in our amusements, in our business, it is not easy to be always watchful, to keep the thought of Gods presence in our hearts, to try always to please Him.
IV. The cross of suffering.In the daily round, the common tasks of life, there is abundant room for self-denial. The details of everyday life seem small and commonplace; but it is just in those little details that the trial of our faith commonly lies. If in these small matters we take the cross, we shall be prepared by Gods help to bear that heavier cross which must some day come.
V. Worthy of Christ.There is no true religion without the cross; self-denial for Christs sake is the measure of our love for Him, and therefore of the reality of our religion. None that take not the cross are worthy of Christ (Rev 3:4).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
0:38
The cross is used figuratively in this place. The original word is defined by Thayer simply, “A cross.” However, the same author cites us to some history that explains the language of Jesus as follows: “The judicial usage which compelled those condemned to crucifixion themselves to carry the cross to the place of punishment, gave rise to the proverbial expression [about bearing the cross], which was wont to be used of those who on behalf of God’s cause do not hesitate cheerfully and manfully to bear persecutions, troubles, distress,–thus recalling the fate of Christ and the spirit in which he encounters it.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:38. Taketh not his cross, etc. We may supply in thought: as I shall carry my cross. The culprit bore his own cross to the place of crucifixion. The first allusion to the mode of the death, which must have startled the Apostles, even after what had been said.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 38
That is, he who is not ready to bear any privation or suffering, in which fidelity to the Savior’s cause involves him.