SIMON – SOMEONE WHO GOT AN IDENTITY
Luke 23:26 says: ‘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.’
There were hundreds of people who had turned up to watch Jesus being crucified. Simon was just one of them – the only difference being he was an outsider. But the Gospels talk about him only because of his association with the cross of Jesus. From being someone in the crowd, Simon went on to become someone who got an identity.
Early in his ministry, Jesus told His disciples and others how to follow Him.
Mark 8:34 records it: ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’
That was the theory class, but when it was time for the practicals all His disciples flunked. Peter denied him thrice. Mark ran away leaving his linen cloth. Of course, John followed Jesus but he did not take up the cross of his Master.
Bearing the cross of Jesus fell upon Simon. But he did not volunteer for it. The Bible says, ‘he was compelled to bear it.’
It was Roman practice to compel the Jews and others to carry their burdens. At the point of the sword, Simon was compelled to bear the cross.
Although he was compelled, Simon learned several valuable spiritual lessons on the way to Calvary.
In Matthew 5:41 Jesus said: ‘And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.’ Simon fulfilled that too, almost.
The distance from Pilate’s court to Golgotha was only half a mile. But the cross was heavy, it must have weighed between 36 to 50 kilos.
If carrying the cross was heavy labor, then Simon of Cyrene can be called the first co-laborer of Jesus, literally! He bore the burden of Jesus several years before Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 3:9, ‘we are God’s fellow workers.’
Simon, in a way, became a co-worker of Christ by bearing the cross. Simon had to walk behind Jesus, step by step. Slowly. Painfully.
One of the first truths he learned was this: A co-laborer is a co-sufferer. You cannot carry the cross of Jesus and not suffer with Him.
Simon also learned another truth. Carrying the cross had a sure reward. Romans 8:17 says: ‘…and if children then heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together.’
Are you carrying any cross? Do not worry. God is making you a co-heir with Christ.
‘Count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience’ (James 1:2).
The most important truth Simon learned was to come. Somewhere along the way, Simon got to know the Man whose cross he was compelled to bear.
There were four significant things that Simon of Cyrene came across.
* Luke 23:27 says a ‘great multitude followed Jesus and women mourned and lamented for Him.’ Why would the crowd follow Him and women mourn for Him, if Jesus were a criminal and a mere man?
* Luke 23: 28, ‘But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.’ Even at the height of his own physical pain and agony Simon saw Jesus consoling the women of Jerusalem.
* Luke 23: 29, ‘For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed! Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ Simon heard Jesus making a prophecy that would be fulfilled in the last days. That was unheard of. How could any mere man who was nearing his own death prophesy about what was to come in the last days of the world.
But the culmination of it all was when Jesus said: ‘For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?’ (verse 31).
At that instant, Simon must have realized the darkness of his own soul and the dryness of his own spirit. With all the floggings and beatings when mere men would weep, bawl and plead for mercy, here was a man who was braving it all and calling the attention of the world to the richness of His own self, the greatness of His own spirit and the greenness of His own sap.
Some drops of the blood of Jesus must have fallen on Simon too. All the blood stains on his clothes and his body disqualified Simon from entering the temple. But the blood of Jesus that seemingly defiled him, qualified him for eternity. Yes, Simon felt the power of the cross and the power of the blood of Jesus.
The blood of Jesus offers us forgiveness of sins, says Ephesians 1:7. The blood of Jesus gives us the confidence to enter the holy places, says Hebrews 10:19.
‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin,’ says 1 John 1:7.
Christ took up the cross and shed His blood for you and me. Continued on page 3
