His bad knee is a cross to bear, but he never complains.
a cross to bear
idiomA heavy, ongoing personal burden or difficulty that one must carry.
Origin
The phrase draws on Jesus' words about the cost of following him, in Matthew 16:24 and Luke 14:27: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." To first-century listeners the image was brutally literal — the condemned were made to carry the crossbeam of their own execution to the place of death.
Taking up one's cross therefore meant accepting suffering and self-sacrifice deliberately, as the price of a chosen path. It later merged in the popular imagination with Jesus carrying his own cross to Golgotha.
Softened over centuries, the phrase now means any heavy, long-running burden a person has to carry — a chronic illness, a difficult relative, a private grief. To call something your cross to bear is to acknowledge a weight that is yours to endure, whether you chose it or not.
Caring for an ageing parent alone was her cross to bear for many years.
Every family has its cross to bear, and theirs was a chronic illness that reshaped every plan, every holiday, and every quiet ambition they had once allowed themselves.
The betrayal, trial and crucifixion.
- 01
wash your hands of it (idiom)
To publicly refuse any further responsibility for something or someone.
- 02
thirty pieces of silver (idiom)
A contemptible price paid or accepted for an act of betrayal.
- 03
doubting Thomas (idiom)
One who requires proof before believing.
- 04
a Judas kiss (idiom)
An act of betrayal disguised as friendship or affection.
- 05
a crown of thorns (idiom)
An honour or position that brings suffering rather than glory.
- 06
give up the ghost (idiom)
To cease clinging to life; to die.