Matthew 27:32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.

 

Mark 15:21 A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.

 

            How many times do we have the opportunity to carry another’s burden?  Maybe it is at the grocery store, helping someone who is trying to juggle too many bags, or has dropped something and you pick it up.  Maybe it is the neighbor whose auto is stuck in the snow as you push him out.  Did you bring a meal to a family in time of illness or death of a loved one?  How about the time you opened the door for another whose arms were full?

 

            Did you ever stop to help a criminal carry his belongings on the way to his imprisonment?  How about taking on part or all of his sentence for him?

 

            Simon of Cyrene just happened to be at the point where Jesus was being led to his crucifixion by the Roman soldiers.  Whether Simon was visiting in Jerusalem for the Passover or if he was a number of Cyrene Jews who had immigrated back and now lived there, we do not know.  We only know that his path into the city and Jesus’ path out met at a certain point that Friday morning. 

 

            It appears that Jesus, in his physical state, was so weakened by the beatings and torture that he could hardly carry the cross assigned to him.  The soldiers grabbed this Simon and conscripted him to carry Jesus’ cross.  If Simon was a faithful Jew, he certainly did not expect to see his promised Messiah beaten and scourged and carrying a cross to his own execution.  If Simon was a faithful Jew, it would have been an added insult to this entire thing to have to carry a cross no matter who it was for.  Even touching a cross was an insult to a Jew as the cross was cursed as anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse [Deuteronomy 21:23].  

 

            But Simon carried that cross that day and most likely against his will.  He did not want anything to change what he had in mind to do that day.  It just was not on his agenda.  But he carried that cross, just the same.  He saw and heard those who jeered Jesus, and those who cried and lamented.  He heard Jesus’ words to those along the way.  He was in the presence of Jesus, the Messiah he was expecting, but did not know it that day.

 

            Simon is also noted as the father of Alexander and Rufus.  It is an interesting note by Mark.  Usually we identify someone by naming his father.  Today, Mark only names his sons.  Mark wrote this Gospel many years after Jesus’ earthly ministry.  We can safely assume that Alexander and Rufus are known among the Christian community.  We can also safely assume that Simon of Cyrene sometime came to faith in this man whose cross he carried.  We can safely assume that Simon, a faithful Christian, instead of carrying a cross carried the word of Jesus Christ to save others.

 

            What is happening here is Simon is here to celebrate the Passover of Death – saving the firstborn.  Simon is carrying a cross that will kill the firstborn – Mary’s first son, God’s only son.  Simon is here to celebrate the Passover – God delivering his people not only from slavery in Egypt, but slavery to sin, death and the devil.  Simon is carrying the cross that completes all of this.  Simon is carrying a cross so Jesus will bear God’s curse on that cross.  Simon is carrying a cross so that neither he nor any other believer in Jesus will ever bear God’s curse.  Simon is carrying a cross because Jesus is carrying his sins and his curse.  Simon is carrying a cross because Jesus is carrying the sins of all people of all time.  Simon is carrying the cross while Jesus carries your sins and your curse.

 

Isaiah 53:4-5, 12b Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed…For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

 

 

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Deuteronomy 21:23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.