Jesus, by love, defeated evil; we are gravely mistaken if we think we are going to defeat it some other way. His weapon was not a sword or gun; it was suffering love hanging on a cross. Now, do you know what it means when He said, “Take up my cross and follow me”? Following Jesus is far more radical than we thought. The method of the suffering love of the cross defeated the old Serpent.
21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised….24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Matthew 16:21, 24 (ESV)
