Title: Characters of the Cross
Theme: Learning from those who were around the cross.
Text: A variety
Simeon of Cyrene
Mark 15:21 Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
Matthew 27:32 Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.
Simeon was probably there to sell during the Passover season. He got caught up in the crowd probably passing through. There is no evidence that he was involved in any of it.
He is compelled by the soldier to carry the cross of Jesus. Compelled is forced. It was an interruption in his plans and life.
Point: God has a way of interrupting our life to get our attention.
Point: When you come in contact with the cross your life is changed. (and your family)
Point: Jesus did not carry the cross, it was not His cross to bear. It was ours. He challenges us in scripture to “take up our cross and follow him”
Point: Rufus is more than likely the same in Romans 16:13
What do we want for our family? A life of eternity. This is bigger than the dreams and pleasures of this life.
The Mocking
Matthew 27:39-44 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads (40) and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross." (41) Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, (42) "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, [159] let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. (43) He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' " (44) Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
As Jesus is driven to the cross the crowds gathered and they were relentless. They constantly mocked him. They threw insults. The mockers were made up of three people.
Three groups
1) The crowd, those who passed by blasphemed and “wagging” or shaking their heads.
Maybe they got caught up in the emotion of things. Maybe they were truly angry and bitter at God.
Bitterness and anger will cause of to miss the savior.
2) The chief priests with the scribes and elders
Matthew 27:42) "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. (43) He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
They said they would believe if He came off the cross. Yet they did not believe when Jesus healed the lame, caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dead raised. They would not believe now,
3) The Robbers
The Two Thieves – God will let you choose
Luke 23:39-43 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." (40) But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? (41) And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." (42) Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, [157] remember me when You come into Your kingdom." (43) And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
It is amazing how people who come from the same place will act differently.
• Able and Cain
• Abraham and Lot
• David and Saul
• Peter and Judas
They both saw the same thing yet made different choices.
It really isn’t about your circumstance.
Illustration: Edwin had two brothers, John and Junius. Both were actors, although neither rose to his stature. In 1863, the three siblings united their talents to perform Julius Caesar. The fact that Edwin’s brother John took the role of Brutus was an eerie harbinger of what awaited the brothers—and the nation—two years hence.
For this John who played the assassin in Julius Caesar is the same John who took the role of assassin in Ford’s Theatre. On a crisp April night in 1865, he stole quietly into the rear of a box in the Washington theater and fired a bullet at the head of Abraham Lincoln. Yes, the last name of the brothers was Booth—Edwin Thomas Booth and John Wilkes Booth.
Edwin was never the same after that night. Shame from his brother’s crime drove him into retirement. He might never have returned to the stage had it not been for a twist of fate at a New Jersey train station. Edwin was awaiting his coach when a well-dressed young man, pressed by the crowd, lost his footing and fell between the platform and moving train. Without hesitation, Edwin locked a leg around a railing, grabbed the man, and pulled him to safety. After the sighs of relief, the young man recognized the famous Edwin Booth.
Edwin, however, didn’t recognize the young man he’d rescued. That knowledge came weeks later in a letter, a letter he carried in his pocket to the grave. A letter from General Adams Budeau, chief secretary to General Ulysses S. Grant. A letter thanking Edwin Booth for saving the life of the child of an American hero, Abraham Lincoln. How ironic that while one brother killed the president, the other brother saved the president’s son. The boy Edwin Booth yanked to safety? Robert Todd Lincoln.
Edwin and James Booth. Same father, mother, profession, and passion—yet one chooses life, the other, death. How could it happen? I don’t know, but it does. Though their story is dramatic, it’s not unique
The Women of the Cross
John 19:25-27 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. (26) When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" (27) Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
They stood next to the cross. They were dedicated. They were different than the disciples. Jesus took care of the family.
Roman Soldiers
1) Gambled for His clothes
2) Tried to give Him “a pain killer”
3) Saw the true miracle
Matthew 27:50-53 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (51) Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, (52) and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; (53) and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
Matthew 27:54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
Luke 23:44-47 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. (45) Then the sun was darkened, [159] and the veil of the temple was torn in two. (46) And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.' " Having said this, He breathed His last. (47) So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"
Maybe he was at the trial of Jesus. Maybe he was with the soldiers as the mocked him. Maybe he was the one who put the crown of thorns on Jesus head. Maybe he was there as the crowd followed Jesus to the Golgotha. Maybe he was the one who compelled Simeon. He could have been the one who gambled for Jesus’ garments at the foot of the cross. Either way something happened. He saw something.
Yes the clouds darkened, yes the temple curtain was rent. There were those who came out of the grave and witnessed for Christ. But I believe it was something else the Roman soldier saw that changed him and caused him to see who Christ really was.
Conclusion - Father forgive them
Luke 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." [154] And they divided His garments and cast lots.
Jesus forgave them for what they did, what they were doing and what they were going to do.
Wow! This was the savior on the cross.
Stephen (the first martyr of the New Testament followed Jesus’ example)
Acts 7:60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
