JESUS OR SIMON-THE CROSS CARRIER
In every young man’s life there comes a defining moment. The moment where a young boy knows that he has taken a large step towards manhood. This moment happens quickly but after it has past the boy will never go back again. It is the moment where a boy is on his bicycle and his father is running behind him to hold him up. The father does not let go of the seat because he is worried that his young son may clash into the ditch. Boys wonder if he is truly riding his bicycle or is his father merely holding him up. Who is really doing the work? Is the boy doing it or is the father really the one in control?
In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke we are given a situation where it seems like one person is doing the majority of the work. It seems that a person has to be there to hold up Christ because Christ could not function on his own. There is just one verse from these accounts that provide a huge lesson. This one verse teaches a power principle. But it is hidden in the text. Only some people can see this secret truth. It is hidden from the swallow minded and from the carnally minded. Only the spiritual can see this powerful point. Only as Jesus says those who have ears, let them hear can hear the truth declared by the Gospel writers.
The text declares “And as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross (Matt. 27:32). “And they pressed^ into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross (Mark 15:21). “And when they led Him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus (Luke 23:26). The three gospel writers tell of the same events. Jesus is being lead to the site of his crucifixion. He is walking down the narrow pathway to the place of the skull. Typically people have stated that this was a small hill area that had the looks of a human skull in the land.
Jesus at this point would have been terribly tired from all the abuse that he has endured. He has been through various trails by the hands of the Pharisees and the high priest. He has stood before Pilate and Herod to be interrogated. The soldiers have beaten him over and over and over again. He would have been flogged with a whip made of leather with pieces of sharp bones in the rope. They would have hit him to the point where you could see his flesh and muscles of his back.
The soldiers have mocked him and spit on him over and over again. His face would have been bleeding and bloody would have covered his body. Christ would have lost a ton of blood during this punishment. Typically, some men died over a flogging. He would have been tired and weaken by the lost of blood and his muscles would been aching from the serve mistreatment. No wonder Christ needs some help in carrying his cross.
But I still propose to you that Christ carried the cross and not Simon. Let us look at the text to see. Each writer mentions some added details to this scene. Matthew mentions his name and where he is from. He is from Cyrene which is in North Africa today. He also mentions that he was forced into this service. Mark notes that he was coming from the country. This is the time of the Passover so he would have been coming to Jerusalem to celebrate with the Jews. Also, he is the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then Luke mentions that he was coming in from the country so he was coming from the different direction than Christ because Christ was being lead from out of the city and Simon is going into the city to worship. Also, Luke mentions that he has to carry the cross behind Jesus. Therefore, Christ his holding the top portion and Simon have the end part.
There are many theories on what this cross looks like. Some say that Christ is only carrying the top part of the tee of the cross while others state that Christ is only carrying the beam portion. Or maybe Christ has to carry the entirety of his cross. Nevertheless, we know for sure that this is a heavy and difficult task to perform when you have lost gallons of blood and you have been beaten. This makes us believe that Simon and Jesus were partners in carrying the cross. But I still affirm that Christ truly carried the cross for Simon.
But there is a partnership in the gospel when it comes to carrying crosses. The bible commands us to carry a cross for Christ. We are commanded to do the same thing that Simon did. “"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me (Matt. 10:38). Matthew 16:24 “"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34 states the same command. “"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 “"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke says that we do this daily. Luke 14:27 “"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Clearly we are to be carrying a cross for Christ too.
The reason that we carry crosses today for Christ is because he first carried our cross. But with Simon he has to carry a cross first. But still Simon did not really carry the cross for Jesus.
This past holiday season Charity and I went to a Christmas tree farm in Lebanon, Tennessee. My little nephews came to help us pick out a tree. We searched and searched for an adequate tree. We looked over numerous trees and through numerous trees trying to find the perfect tree for the occasion. We finally settled on the perfect tree. I had the saw and everything. I asked the boys if they wanted to cut down the tree for me. Of course they were willing to perform this manly task. But this tree was too large for them. They were not strong even to cut it down all by themselves. So I got down on my hands and knees and helped the boys. Now I told them that I was just hold the saw in place but in reality I was pushing and pulling the saw for them. It was my strength that cut down the tree. But after the tree came clashing down to the ground, then Benjamin stood and declared that he cut down the tree. In his mind he believed this to be the case but truth there was a great power that did the real work. Simon was little my nephew. He may have thought he carried the cross but truly it was Christ.
The Bible declares this to be truth. “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:23-24). 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” And Romans 5:6-10 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
Spiritual Christ carries the cross of every Christian. We are saved based on Jesus’ work on the cross. On the cross Christ died for our sins so that we may have eternal life. Jesus carried the cross of shame and reproach for us. And I think he may also have carried the cross for Simon too.
The Gospel writer Mark mentions Simon’s children. No other Gospel writer does so through the Holy Spirit. So why does the holy include this seemly inconsequential detail. I do not believe that it was by accident or coincidence. There must be a reason. When Mark wrote his Gospel account he was thought to be in Rome. In Rufus is mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Romans. “Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine” (Rom. 16:13). Also, an early church writer by the name of Polycarp mentions Rufus in his letters to the Philippians. Rufus and his brother Alexander maybe could be known by Mark’s audience. He mentions them because the people at the time knew who they were. Also, in 1941 in a burial cave in Israel that was used by Cyrenian Jews, there was an ossuary that read “Alexander son of Simon.” We know that that one of his sons becomes a Christian and maybe his other son did too. If his son is a Christians and Paul also mentions his mother it would seem likely that Simon also became a Christian and follower of Christ. Acts 13:1 a Simon is mentioned with a person from Cyrene also. “Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” We can not know for sure if Simon became a Christian but the evidence does point to this conclusion.
There is a great irony in this verse. The one that helps carry the savior cross is the one that Christ carried the cross for. Christ carried the cross for all of us, because on that cruel cross Christ died for the sins of mankind. We can be saved because of his work at Calvary. On the cross Christ gave us atonement for our sins and gave redemption of our sins. Atonement means that Christ was the bridge the brought man and God back together. They were separated because of sin and through Christ’s death that wall or veil was ripped and relationship was restored. Also, he redeemed us. This means to buy us back. We were sold into slavery by our own choices and actions. Pretty much the devil owned us and we were working for him. But through Christ death he made the payment for our sins to be the propitiation for God. Christ blood was the cost of our sins.
Just like Simon did not know at the time whom was really carrying the cross there maybe some people in here with the same problem. They think that they are doing the work in the family for faith but it is really another person. There are too many teenagers that have the faith of the parents. They have never developed their own believes and understandings of the Gospel. They go to church because some else makes them. This is a situation of the parents really carrying the cross for the kids. Many times when young people go to college and move away from home they quit attending church. These people were never really cross carriers. They may have looked like Christians and attended services but the parents were doing the work for them.
Also, this happens in families. The father may come to church but the mother has the real faith. If the wife did not attend services you would never see the husband in church. He does not really carry the cross in the family but the wife does. She is the one that studies with the children. The one that tries to show a Christian example and the one that attempts to instill faith in the kids. She is carrying the cross and the husband is thinking he is raising the great kids.
When I meet the Dragromires it was common after the supper to thank Nick for cooking it. We all knew that Jeanie did it but Nick would get the thanks as a joke. There are too many fathers that are thinking that are leading the family spiritual but the mothers are the ones carrying the cross.
Moreover, grandparents are the cross carriers in families. The parents do not have family in God so the grandparents have to help the kids to develop spiritual. The parents do not want to carry the cross of Christ so that grandparents have too.
Who is the real cross carrier in your family? Who is the one developing the family spiritual? In a biography of Homer Hailey, it is said that he became a Gospel Preacher because of the influence of his grandmother. She encouraged him and took him to church. She was the real cross carrier in his family and because of her influence he carried his own cross for many, many years.
