NOTES for Mar 8:34

What did the disciples experience when they heard "take up your cross"? They had not yet passed through that terrible night and the day that followed. Jesus tells them that He will be the first to go to the Cross, but these are still only words that neither mind nor soul can contain. The words of the apostle Paul already sound entirely different: I have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:19). These are words "afterward." And though they speak of the same thing, of going up onto the cross for His sake and for people's sake, they already sound different, as if they give off resurrection light. But we must certainly try, though at times it seems impossible, as if to return to that darkness into which these words plunged the disciples, in order to share it with them. This is absolutely necessary, because we must pass through the whole path from beginning to end.