Living Memento Mori Part 10: The Cost of Following Jesus
Does looking at a crucifix make you uncomfortable? It does me. Most of us would say we prefer to look at an empty cross. One person I spoke to at a church I was visiting pointed to the empty cross behind the pulpit. She enthusiastically exclaimed, “No crucifixes at this church, just empty crosses. We focus on the resurrection here. Christ is no longer on the cross!”
But he once was.
The 11th station of the cross, Jesus being nailed to the cross, conveys a harsh reality. Jesus would hang there publicly, suffering until he died.
Fast forward three days in which Jesus, now resurrected, is having a conversation with Peter. It’s not a happy-clappy conversation with Jesus encouraging Peter that his best life now was just about to unfold. It was a sobering, serious talk in which Jesus tells Peter:
- His youthful, assertive lifestyle would give way to a time when, according to Jesus, Peter is old: “You will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”
- He would die from crucifixion. Historical accounts tell us that Peter was crucified in 64 AD at the hand of Nero. By this time, all the other apostles with the exception of John, had been martyred.
- In spite of this ominous future, Jesus tells Peter to “follow me.”
John 21:18-19
Looking back to when I was invited to “accept and follow Christ,” the future presented to me was different. There was a sense of urgency in the air. I needed to make up my mind soon. Not only could I receive forgiveness now, I could also skip suffering and death and go straight to heaven in a rapture (a taking of the faithful off the earth before God lets the world have it). The rapture event was to take place no later than 1980.
This teaching was delivered in the form of sermons, books, and movies. Living in Southern California at the time, it was so convincing and widespread that some of our friends began moving their wedding dates up and charging their credit cards to the max. They wanted to experience marriage before entering heaven where there was no marriage. They didn’t care or see the need to pay their credit cards off. They’d soon be looking down from the clouds with Jesus in the heavenlies so it didn’t matter. This was the season of the rapture rush as we then called it.
Living Memento Mori means holding as true and life-impacting both the resurrection and the crucifixion together, excluding neither. To help us do this, I can think of no better prayer to return to often than the serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Thanks for reading!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE
Spring Testing begins next month. Get your student ready by utilizing one of our practice tests. Both The One Hour Practice Test and Achieving Peak Performance will do the job. Available in instant download and paper copy formats!
