In Luke 23:26, we read: “When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.”
I want to comment on this situation and make points that we can apply to our lives today.
First, let's understand the scene. It is early morning in Jerusalem. During the last 12-15 hours, Jesus has been arrested and bound, has been taken all around the city to appear in three different kangaroo courts, has been verbally abused and mocked, has been physically abused (with multiple slaps to His face, punched with fists, spat upon His face more than once, repeatedly beaten on His head with a hard reed, flogged 40 times with a leather whip which had pieces of metal sewed into the whip's ends so as to tear through skin and muscle, and had a crown of long, sharp thorns forced upon His head and brow), and repeatedly rejected by His countrymen. Having been through all that, He leaves the courtyard carrying the horizontal beam of the cross He would soon be nailed upon. John 19:17, “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross.”
Now, the place of the crucifixion was outside the walls of Jerusaem at a place called Golgotha. To go from the Preatorium to Golgotha, they would have to exit through the Joppa Gate. The Joppa Gate was so named because it connects with the busy main road leading to the seaport city of Joppa.
Now Simon was from Cyrene, a city in the African nation of Lybia. Three hundred years before this event, 100,000 Jews were exiled to Cyrene and there was still a very large community of Jews living in Cyrene at this time. It was commanded in the Mosaic Law that all Jews were to assemble in Jerusalem to observe the 3 primary Feasts, two of which were the Passover and Pentecost. In Acts 2:9-11, we find Jews from all over the confines of the Roman Empire had journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost and some who were there were from Cyrene. It is very likely that Simon had sailed from Cyrene to Judea, which required that his ship arrive at the port city of Joppa and then he would take the Joppa Road to reach Jerusalem, entering the City at the wide Joppa Gate.
It was at the Joppa Gate that Simon ran into the Roman troops that was conveying the three 'criminals' out of the City to Golgotha. I gather that from two Scriptural passages: Matthew 27:32 states that Jesus was leaving Jerusalem when they found Simon - “As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon.” Mark 15:21 states that Simon was entering the City and was a mere passer-by when he bumped into the soldiers and Jesus - from the country or Joppa Road – Simon was “a passer-by coming from the country.”
At the very moment that these two parties ran into each other, something happened to Jesus. The soldiers no longer had Jesus carry the cross beam. Was it because Jesus, in His weakened condition, was walking too slow carrying the cross? Was it that Jesus, in His weakened state from lack of sleep, physical trauma and blood loss, fell and dropped the cross beam? Was it that the soldiers recognized that Jesus was showing symptoms of shock and were fearful that carrying the heavy load any longer would kill Him before they even reached Golgotha? We don't know. The Scriptures only say that the soldiers picked Simon out of the crowd to have him carry the cross the third of a mile trip from Joppa Gate to Golgotha. Luke 23:26 says the soldiers “laid hold upon one Simon” (KJV) or “seized” Simon (NASB). Both Matthew and Mark states that the soldiers “pressed into service” Simon to bear the Lord's cross.
With that, let's consider what lessons we can take from this scene to apply to our lives -
(1) Bearing The Cross is the Ultimate Demostratuon of Self-Denial.
At least, for part of the journey from Pilate's courtyard to Golgotha, Jesus bore the heavy cross. Not that Jesus wanted to suffer. Rather, three times He asked the Father to remove the cup of suffering that He was about to experience. But, at the close of each request for deliverance, He concluded: “Not My will but Thy will be done.” Carrying the cross and being crucified was the ultimate demonstration of self-denial.
Any one who would wish to be a genuine Christian must understand that the primary principle of true Christianity is self-denial. Luke 9:23, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross.” There must be a total submission to the will of God. It is entirely giving to the Lord our minds, our hearts, our souls and our strengths. It wasn't easy for Jesus to completely give-up His will to the will of the Father. Paul said, in Hebrews 4:15, that Jesus was “One who was tempted in all things as we are.”
To try to make us understand the great degree we are to deny ourselves as we live for the Lord, Paul says in Romans 12: 1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” We need to ask ourselves – 'When was the last time I truly sacrificed my will in order to fulfill what God expects from me?'
For many who claim to be Christians, even 'born-again' Christians, the concepts of self-denial and sacrifice are totally foreign to them. They have a cheapened idea of grace and they do not feel that they have to change any of their lifestyles...no change in attitudes, values, and priorities. To me, I do not think that these persons ever really repented in the first place. Luke 14:27, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”
(2) We Ought Not Bear Our Cross Alone.
Jesus did carry His cross but, due to profound weakness, had to have the help of another to bear His burden and help Him reach His final goal. If Jesus reached the point where He needed help in bearing His cross, surely there will come times when we will need the help of another individual or group of individuals to help us bear our burdens.
Of course, we always have the Lord and His Spirit to help us cope with or overcome our heavy loads. Jesus is quoted in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.” And, in Hebrews 4:15-16, “We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
In addition to the Lord, we have our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us in our greatest trials and tribulations. One of the chief designs of the Lord in establishing His Church was so that it would be a spiritual support group. This is one of the top reasons why attending services of the Church is so important. Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Paul was writing this to Jewish Christians who were being severely persecuted for their Faith and wh were wavering on whether or not to continue following Christ Jesus. They were afraid to assemble with their fellow Jewish Christians for fear that they would be found worshiping the Lord Jesus and suffer time in prison, lose their homes and all of their possesions, or even be stoned to death. If Paul thought that those were lame excuses for not attending the assemblies, what would he say about our excuses for not attending every service of the Church?!?
But, receiving encouragement and support through simply attending services on Sunday is often not enough for our brothers and sisters who are struggling with the cross they are carrying. In Hebrews 3:12-14, we are commanded - “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end.”
One thing that I have often thought about is how dishonest we are with one another. We are asked, “How are you doing?” And we reply “Okay!” when in reality we are going through a real rough time. Why do we pretend to be so strong and so perfect that we cannot even admit we are human and we have times when we are struggling and suffering inside? Yes, in admitting our humanity we make ourselves vulnerable; but, if you can't trust your spiritual family to try to understand and help, who then can you trust?
Now, we have seen that Simon was forced to carry the cross of Jesus, but we should be happy to help our fellow Christians. Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another's burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.”
(3) Submission Comes Before Glorification.
Our last lesson, which will be short, is that before Jesus was resurrected and was granted His majestic throne, He had to bear His cross. The same goes for us...there is no glory unless we first bear our cross.
Hebrews 12:2, says of Jesus “for the joy set before Him [He] endured the cross.” In other words, Jesus set His mind on the glory that would soon be His and that helped Him endure the cross.
We also need to “look away from the cross to the glittering crown.” 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul reminds us that our “momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” I have loved this verse every since the now departed brother Eric Bloom explained it to me some 30 years ago. Paul has in mind a scale with two trays to compare the weight of one thing to another. Paul says that on one tray, you can put your afflictions and on the other tray place our future eternal glory. He says our current afflictions are light in weight compared to the eternal weight of glory. If fact, the tipping of the scales on the side of eternal glory is so huge that it is really “beyond all comparison”. Whatever our cross may be, it is nothing compared to the glory we shall experience if we endure to the end.
