There are a lot of significant stories within the overall Easter narrative. Several of these stories have well-known titles and have individual days devoted to their memory. These include The Triumphal Entry which is celebrated on Palm Sunday, The Last Supper which is celebrated on Maundy Thursday, The Crucifixion which is remembered on Good Friday, and The Resurrection which is celebrated on Easter Sunday. Technically, even the short-lived burial of Jesus gets its own day with what is often called Silent Saturday. In the midst of all of these grand stories is a short story that often gets overlooked. In fact, to call it a story may be a bit of an overstatement. It might more rightly be called a parenthetical detail or a footnote. It is the story of Simon of Cyrene, the man who helped Jesus carry the cross.
Simon’s story appears in each of the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and is covered in but a single verse in each instance. They are as follows…
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 on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross.”
Luke 23:26 – “As the soldiers led [Jesus] away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.”
Jesus chose to suffer under the weight of our sins and sorrows in order that He might make available to us salvation and the joys of eternal life.
While the gospel writers include different details, a few details remain the same. Most notably, a man named Simon was forced/made to carry the cross for Jesus. This was not an act of altruism. Simon didn’t make a conscious choice to offer Jesus assistance. He was compelled to carry the cross by external forces (i.e. Roman soldiers). Regardless of the source of his motivation, Simon ended up playing a part in the greatest, most significant event in human history: the sacrificial death of the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of the world.
I find the account rather ironic. Simon was compelled to carry the cross for Christ. But, the only reason Christ was carrying the cross in the first place was to provide salvation for sins He did not commit. In truth, the cross belonged to Simon more than it belonged to Jesus; Jesus was carrying the cross for Simon and all the rest of humanity. And, though the Romans may have believed they had forced the cross upon Jesus, He was carrying it by an act of His own will and compassionate grace. Jesus chose to suffer under the weight of our sins and sorrows in order that He might make available to us salvation and the joys of eternal life.
A key aspect of discipleship is the development of an internal compulsion to live and die like Jesus.
Unwittingly and unwillingly, Simon provided us with a powerful picture of what it looks like to follow Jesus. In Luke 9:23, we read these words of Jesus: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Obviously, as followers of Christ, we shouldn’t have to be coerced into joining Jesus in His salvific and redeeming work for, in, and through us. It is something we must decide daily to do. A key aspect of discipleship, then, is the development of an internal compulsion to live and die like Jesus. We are to work diligently to put to death the parts of our lives that don’t align with the character and commands of Jesus. We should willingly and gladly seek out opportunities to sacrificially give of ourselves for the good of others and the glory of God. Like Simon, we should shoulder the burden that is presented to us, our own or that belonging to another, and get in line behind Jesus, following to whatever end He may have for us.
