Gospel in Art: Whoever does not bear his own cross cannot be my disciple

Christ Carrying the Cross, by Sir Stanley Spencer 1920 © Tate Modern, London / Alamy / Estate of Stanley Spencer

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 7 September 2025
Luke 14:25-33

At that time: Great crowds accompanied Jesus, and he turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.'

Reflection on the painting

In today's Gospel, Jesus does not soften His words: "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." The English artist Sir Stanley Spencer offers us a striking interpretation of this challenge. Instead of showing Christ carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem, Spencer relocates the scene to his own village of Cookham. He believed that the sacred could and should be found in ordinary settings. The deepest religious truths are woven into everyday life. The painting indeed reflects this conviction: we see Christ moving through familiar English streets. The painting was partly inspired by watching builders carrying ladders down a Cookham street. These figures are present in the painting, following behind Christ. The Virgin Mary sits by a railing in the foreground. She has her back turned to the scene; it is simply to cruel to watch her son suffer. The brick house is the artist's family home. The artist makes the ancient Gospel story immediate, relatable and so contemporary.

To follow Christ is to take up the cross God places before us. For some, that cross feels weighty and unavoidable; for others it may be lighter, though the road is far from straight. Jesus even says that discipleship may mean going against family and friends when the Gospel demands it-not in the sense of literal hatred, but in the willingness to put God first, even when it costs us.

Stanley Spencer knew something of this cost. His unusual canvas provoked sharp criticism and resistance, yet he remained faithful to his vocation as an artist. He painted what he felt compelled to paint, and that required both courage and conviction. In much the same way, Christ asks us to bring courage to our discipleship: to stay faithful, even when we stand at odds with those around us, and to let our lives, like Spencer's art, witness to the Truth with a capital T.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-14-25-33-2025/