The cross is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering which
every man must experience is the call to dying of the old man which
is this world. It is that dying of the old man which is the result of
his encounter with Christ. As we embark upon discipleship, we surr-
ender ourselves to Christ in union with his death---we give over our lives
to death. Thus it begins, fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the
beginning of our communion with Christ. When Christ calls a man, he
bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples
who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like
Luther's who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But
it is the same death every time--death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old
man at his call. Jesus' summons to the rich young man was calling him to
die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ.
In fact every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and
lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and his call
are necessarily our death as well as our life. The call to discipleship, the
baptism in the name Jesus Christ means both death and life. The middle
of the daily arena against sin and the devil. Every day he encounters new
temptations, and everyday he must suffer anew for Jesus Christ's sake.
The wounds and scars he receives in the fray are living tokens of this parti-
cipation in the cross of his Lord. But there is another kind of suffering and
shame which the Christian is not spared. While it is ture that only the
sufferings of Christ are a means of atonement, yet since he has suffered for
and borne the sind of the whole world and shares with his disciples the
fruits of his passion, the Christian also has to undergo temptation, he too
has to bear the sins of others; he too must bear their shame and be driven
like a scapegoat from the gate of the city. But he would certainly break
down under this burden, but for the support of him who bore the sins
of all. The passion of Christ strengthens him to overcome the sins of
others by forgiving them. He becomes the bearer of other men's burdens--
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ"
(Gal. 6.2) As Christ bears our burdens, so ought we to bear the burdens
of our fellow-men. Teh law of Christ, which it is our duty to fulfill, is
the bearing of the cross. My brother's burden which I must bear is not
only his outward lot, his natural characteristics and gifts, but quite
literally his sin. And the only way to bear that sin is by forgiving it in
the power of the cross of Christ in which I now share. Thus the call to
follow Christ always means a call to share the work of forgiving men
their sins. Forgiveness is the Christlike suffering which it is the
Christian's duty to bear.
Who is Deitrich Bonhoeffer? Bonhoeffer was a remarkable young
Lutheran pastor who worked against Hitler in Nazi germany. He
was a part of an underground plot to assassinate Hitler and when it
was discovered he was imprisoned for the last 2 years of his life.
Bonhoeffer was executed at the age of 39 just 3 weeks before American
troops liberated the Flossenburg extermination camp in which he was
imprisoned. The tree he was hung from bears a sign with just ten
words upon it, "Deitrich Bonhoeffer, a witness to Jesus Christ
among his brethren."
