SIMON OF CYRENE

CARRYING THE CROSS OF CHRIST

The Lord has always reserved certain people to experience special blessings and become part of Biblical history, and Simon of Cyrene is one of them, since the logical thing would have been for one of Christ’s disciples to carry His cross helping Him until He reached Golgotha, the hill with the shape of a skull, also known as Calvary. Other people who were chosen outside the Lord’s closest group, Luke 4:25 to 27, were the widow from Zarephtha of Sidon, who was visited by Elijah, or Naaman the Syrian, the leper who was cleansed by Elisha. Their hearts were close to God, just like Simon the Cyrenian was, whose experience next to Jesus changed his life forever after, even though he was not one of His disciples at the time.

Simon of Cyrene represents each and one of us, with whom Jesus shares His work, with whom Jesus becomes our partner in life’s sorrows and victories, in death and resurrection – we will never be without Him "...Where can I flee from Your presence. Psalm 139:7" throughout eternity. The moment we bear His yoke, we bear the spiritual burden of the greatest mission which man can take part in: establishing the Kingdom of God, Universal and Eternal; and this experience transforms our heart, it is unity with Jesus, it is understanding His humiliation and ours, for glory and exaltation, it is victory of the King of kings in the greatest battle ever won, it is sharing the fight for love, for us, for our brethren, for Him, for the Father in the Spirit. Let us carry the Cross of Christ, our own cross, and the Lamb’s yoke – there is no greater privilege. The victory is through His merit. We are a friend of the King of the Universe; we are personal friends of the Son of God, of God’s heir and joint heirs with Christ. To Him be the praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

This story appears in three of the Gospels: Matthew 27:32, Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26, and leads us to one of many precious situations when we share spiritual intimacy with Jesus; but this time, under the Cross and on the way to Golgotha, through Simon of Cyrene we will share one of the greatest privileges a Christian may ever have.

…Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. 33And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of a Skull... Matthew 27:32.

...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. 22And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. Mark 15:21.

...Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. 27And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. 28But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. Luke 23:26.

 

THE WAY TO GOLGOTHA

Simon of Cyrene was on his way back from the country, he was earlier than usual because Jerusalem was busy preparing for the Jewish Passover, and he belonged to the synagogue of the Cyrenians. On arrival, he came across a crowd and roman soldiers, who were leading three men to be crucified. Simon’s mind was surely disturbed by this situation - just like any of us would have been – even though it was not an unusual thing, but it was the evening before Passover, and when they walked passed close to him – so close – he must have asked himself: why is that man covered in blood and with a crown of thorns on his head? He had never seen anything like it. Why have they done that to him, and not to the other two? Who can it be? He cannot be recognized. Woman, who is that man? He is Jesus the Messiah. Jesus falls with His cross in front of Simon, He cannot bear it any longer because He is too weak due to the mocking. Poor man!. Suddenly, a hand hits Simon on the shoulder: “Hey, you! Help him carrying the cross up to Golgotha, come on, quick”. Oh my God, what have I done? Why me? I don’t even know him, he is not my friend, I have only heard about him. Simon took the cross, covered with Christ’s Blood, which was then over Simon’s skin, over his hair, clothes, hands. Jesus then stood up and when He was side by side with Simon, just like under a yoke, looked at him. The friendly look, filled with the deepest love, from His eyes must have riveted in Simon’s heart. A look he would never forget, a look which would remove any judgement, which would make him His best friend, which would be filled with faith. Whilst we walked together they were spitting at him, throwing stones, insulting him, whilst He sacrificed for them and for me. I don’t understand anything, but here I am, under this heavy cross where this man - they say he is the Son of God – and who is now my friend, my best friend, is going to die.

We do not know what they said to each other on the way up, but surely Jesus must have thanked the Father to relieve his burden by sending Simon, the chosen one. The prayer from Jesus for Simon, his companion sharing the burden, must have shaken heaven. Abba, Father, give Simon the strength so I may fulfill Your assignment, and give him faith to believe in Your Son’s work, keep him for my kingdom.

What would we tell Jesus if we had been in Simon’s place? Now we know about Jesus and how He has changed our lives, but at that time, without knowing about Him we cannot know our reaction. Without any doubt, the experience of walking next to Him would have transformed us. His eyes, His words, the people around, some of them crying out, and others rejecting him; His presence. Today, now, we can tell the Lord many things: thank you for saving me, for loving me even in my sins, for looking at me and calling me, for doing your work inside me every day, and for showing me how You are, how to change and grow in the Spirit to be there for You and for my friends in Christ. Thank you for so many things, for bearing that cross in my place and for dying for me, for resurrection and for the strength to live until You come, for changing my heart. Make our faith grow and keep us under your shadow until the day comes. 

Simon carried on all the way up to the end, left the cross on the ground, they pushed him aside and they crucified Jesus and the other two men. The quest for replies started from this moment onwards, Simon’s prayer to God, the questions to those who knew Him. Simon was transformed, he would never be the same again, his family would be transformed, just like his friends, when he told them about his experience. He would not consider himself worthy of having shared the Cross of The Lord, The Messiah of Israel and the world, but he would thank the Father for that privilege. His son Rufus would be called to the ministry, as mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13. Simon looked for Jesus once he found out that He would resurrect and that He would appear before the apostles or maybe the Lord Himself appeared in this man’s dreams or visions. This man was not chosen at random, he was no doubt chosen before he was born to carry the cross of Jesus, with Jesus, in which He would save humanity, those who believe in Him. The Church would welcome him with brotherly love. This could be the real story of Simon of Cyrene.

Simon of Cyrene’s wife, surely already converted, already prayed for him, as we can gather from the details found in the Bible: first, the fact that his sons, Alexander and Rufus are known in the community, as they are mentioned in the Gospel, and because Paul considered Rufus’ mother as a mother, Romans 16:13. Her prayers could not have found a better reply than placing her husband under their Lord’s Cross.

Having Jesus so close to him in such an emotional circumstance, real, so deeply relevant meant that this man would never in his life forget his burden partner, a burden which at the beginning he must have felt as somebody else’s and not his own, but imagine what Simon must have thought when Jesus resurrected on the third day. He, himself, had been carrying the cross through the Via Dolorosa, up to Calvary and once there, he saw Him being crucified. What would we have done under that circumstance if we did not believe in Him while the Lord was dead? We would have searched for Him, we would have looked for the disciples, or his family, or any of those who knew Him, in order to find out more about Him.

An experience which must have made Simon understand the Jesus’ words to the Apostles when He was showing us to carry our own cross, how Jesus Himself helps us to carry our own – He does not take it away from us – He carries the heavier part of the burden; just like we have to carry the heavier burden for those brothers who cannot bear it. Sometimes it means we need to pull them along, instead of judging and condemning them, when our brother/sister is a stand still or cut off sheep, we will be there for them, not looking at whether we are better or worse friends, whether we like them more or less, whether they are more or less saint – knowing that they love the Lord and their brethren should suffice, because we all fall and fail many times. We will carry a Christian’s burden, with the hope that God gives us to be able to raise fallen lives – no matter how difficult it may be – because Christ will not leave us alone doing the work, He is there, next to us, in life, in this great tribulation which is life on earth, the prelude to eternal life.

 

FOUR VISIONS OF THE CROSS

The first one is when we are compelled to carry His cross up to Calvary – what is our reaction when we have to carry the gospel to the rest of the world, and when they ask us for help?.

The second one is the attitude of the malefactor one who offended Christ, being arrogant, with disbelief.

The third one is the attitude of the other malefactor who reprimanded the first one and asked Jesus to remember him when He came in His Kingdom, and he received the reply that, that day he would be with Him in paradise. These two men are the two attitudes of man on Judgment Day, one, to despise salvation through faith on its own and the other one to recognize oneself as sinner, repent and pray for mercy.

The fourth one is before the Cross of Christ, who gives His life for us and for our personal relationship with our Saviour the moment we understand that He has died in our place, that we should be the ones on that Cross, not Him.

All of them start on the same street, in Jerusalem, almost two thousand years ago, when the Son of God was forced to take a cross which He would carry together with a man who represents all of us – Simon of Cyrene.

The burden of the cross is the yoke of Christ, which He invites us to share and which He describes as light and easy to carry thanks to the greatest power which God gives us: the love of Christ. The yoke is, as we all know, a wooden piece which allows two oxen to pull the burden together. This yoke is the same cross in horizontal, where the two parts which were used to nail the hands of the Messiah, were placed on the shoulders of each of the men – Jesus and Simon – when he was forced to help Jesus carry His cross. That obligation would later became a privilege for him.

It is needless to say that we are not saved by our cross – it is the one of the Lamb of God, Yahshua the Messiah, which saves us. Our help does not provide us with salvation, neither does our testimony or our spiritual effort but the life of the Son of God given and resurrected. But Jesus has left for his bride, the Church, part of the burden, as the Bible says: …I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church. Colossians 1:24.

Carrying the cross of Christ means carrying His testimony, preaching the Gospel, offer up a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name, Hebrews 13:15; be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reveal His work amongst men, speak in places and circumstances where nobody talks about God but about vanities, profit and flesh; defend – out of love for them – the salvation of the soul and repentance, publish a type of conversation which the human mind does not like because it is condemned by it, because it announces its foolishness and death. Additionally, the cross of Christ implies carrying the suffering which He bears when He looks at the souls being lost because they reject Him and us, to see humanity destroying itself, people hurting one another, to dominate, due to envies, to have power, to prevail, for hate; all those things which are totally opposite to the love of God have been nailed on the Cross in those who accept Him as their Saviour, changing their hearts. The cross of Christ means that we will be hated, prosecuted, some of us even killed, and all this tribulation is for the Lord’s glory, which is very different to the gospel of well-being, financial prosperity and blessings which the crowds are looking for in some mega-show churches. We, the Christians are called to bear our own cross for our love for Christ, and for our brethren; we see it in Galatians 6:2 and 1John 3:16 and 17, this is our Melchizedek Priesthood, priest forever, our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

BIBLE TEXTS

...My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. Psalm 38:11. When He sees His friends and beloved ones far away when He carried the Cross.

...Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22. Simon did not leave The Just fallen and carried His Cross.

...It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; Lamentations 3:27-28. This is the yoke which the Father imposed on His Son to save His bride, the Church. 

...It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Isaiah 10:27. The yoke will be destroyed because of the anointment from the Spirit because it is no longer a burden, but for the love of God.

...Thus says the LORD: “Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 17:21. This was also fulfilled when Jesus died, just before the Grand Sabbath, the day known as the Grand Passover Sabbath.

...And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Matthew 5:41. Simon went with the Lord until the end, carrying the cross through the first mile and he would then carry his own cross in his life, which was the second mile.

...Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28. This is what Jesus teaches us, that the yoke which He carries is for the salvation of man: He conquered that miracle and we proclaim it throughout the centuries.

…What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:4. The Cross of Christ is the one which gives life to the lost sheep which is the Church – ourselves. Because of us He left His throne, came to earth, died and resurrected.

...Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2. The Law of Christ.

… Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? 19Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. 1 Peter 4:12.

 

CONCLUSION

Simon of Cyrene represents our life next to Christ for His glory, not because we are forced to by religion, but for love for Him and for those whom He loved and for whom He died. It is walking the way of the cross, which should have been our path to being condemned, and which He took in our place. A symbol which was already seen in Abraham when he had to offer Isaac, and whose place was taken by a lamb, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Cyrene, a small community. Simon, a privileged Jew whom the Lord called to receive salvation of the true Messiah, so that we, today, can have testimony and nourish our spirit with such a magnificent experience which brings us closer to Jesus, to face the moment of our death, to discover that the Lord Himself will also be next to us on that day when we are called to go with Him, and with Him in His coming, in the rapture flying to heaven in praise, to the eternal kingdom, to the dwellings which He is preparing for us inside the Father’s heart, so we can face that moment with confidence.

Now, let us rejoice in our sufferings for our loved Lord Jesus Christ, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh for his body's sake, which is the church., according to Colossians 1:24. Glory and honour be to our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is coming. Amen.