Then Jesus said to his disciples,  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.   For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.   Matthew 16:24-25 NIV   I have tried to understand this from the perspective of the people who first heard it. When Jesus said this to his disciples, what did they think he was saying about taking up their cross?   Today I read something that has helped me a little bit. It was the Roman way to force the criminal to carry the instrument of their own death to their place of execution. One place I read that the condemned likely carried the crossbeam rather than the whole cross which could weigh 300 pounds or more.  The crossbeam was a more manageable 45 - 50 pounds. The upright posts may have already been in place of final execution. The condemned "carried" the crossbeam that may have been tied or nailed to them. Bas...