Mark 8:31-38

Today, Jesus asks us to rethink suffering under the cross. It is not pointless pain. Our crosses are not how we pay for sin. Jesus already did that on his cross. Our crosses are not redemptive, but they are constructive. Any suffering unbelievers face is only bad, a foretaste of worse to

come. But the suffering believers face under the cross is only good, a way Christ connects us tightly to himself with battle-tested faith.