The pastor at the church I go to preached on Luke 9.18-24 today. And he mentioned something I'd never quite realized before when talking about Luke 9.23.

The Romans were in the practice of crucifying people in Jerusalem and in other areas of Israel long before the crucifixion of Jesus. Just about anyone listening to Jesus that day as he was discoursing on “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” would immediately understand the reference. They were familiar with the image of criminals and ne'er-do-wells hoofin' it to the crucifixion spot with the cross-beam lashed on their backs.

This discourse of Jesus' was not necessarily a prophecy of his mode of death, but rather an incredibly shocking lesson for his disciples. He was telling them that if they wanted to follow him, they needed to daily pick up that cross-beam and hoof it to the hill. If they truly desired to follow him, they must die daily to their own wants and desires and instead follow Christ Jesus.

While I had implicitly understood the basics of this passage, I had never before realized how familiar and dreadful the image of “take up his cross daily” could be. Think if Jesus said, “ ... latch on your electric chair daily and follow me”. That's about the cultural equivalent, I'd guess. Yikes.