Simon of Cyrene      

It was a warm April day. One that would be remembered like none other before. Dawn peaked over the horizon giving birth to a blood-red sun that climbed steadily above the mountains. The morning air was thick and musky with a bitter odor that lingered, drifting slowly like a mist on the ocean.

At the foot of the mountains, bathed in the amber glow of dawn, lay the ancient city of Jerusalem. Among the many faces on the streets, that morning was a man who had come in from the country to worship. His name was Simon.

It was mid-morning and Simon walked methodically along the cobbled streets and alleyways, between ancient buildings etched with splintered veins of age. He passed other travelers and vendors peddling their wares, and as he approached the center of the city, he heard raucous cries in the distance that grew louder with each step he took.

As he mixed with others on the street, he felt himself being drawn and pushed forward by the movement of the crowd. He finally stopped at the edge of a narrow alley leading to a steep hill east of the city. A mob lined the narrow street, many of them screaming in anger, while others stood docilely silent.

Suddenly a handful of Roman soldiers burst through the melee pushing the people to the edge of the street. Behind them came a procession of three prisoners, each struggling under the weight of huge wooden crosses.

“What crime have these men committed?” he asked a woman next to him.

“Don’t you know?” she cried out with tears streaming from her eyes. “They are crucifying the One who has come to save us.” Then her voice was overwhelmed by the frantic screams of the masses.

He watched the first two stumble past him, then the third man followed, one different from the others. His robe was shredded, and his shoulders and back were bleeding as he staggered under the weight of the cross. Soldiers marched behind him, striking him with whips, and he watched in horror as the man fell to the street.

Suddenly, huge hands grasped Simon by the shoulders and tossed him to the ground. He fell alongside the man they had been scourging, and as their eyes met, he knew instantly this was the One the woman had spoken of.

“You will help this one carry his cross!” one of the soldiers screamed.

Simon leaned against the immense weight, feeling the splintered edge of the woodcut into his shoulders, and together they rose and slowly marched up the hill known as Golgotha.

What do we know about this man who helped Jesus bear the weight of his cross on that fateful day? Just 21 words in Matthew’s gospel describe how a passerby named Simon was pressed into service as our Lord made his agonizing march up the hill to his death. Yet, despite the brevity of Matthew’s description, this short scene carried enough significance to be written in three of four Gospels.

We know from Scripture, Simon came from Cyrene, a city in the northern part of modern-day Libya. In Luke’s gospel, it is written that Simon was coming in from the country. Most theologians believe he had traveled to Jerusalem for Passover like hundreds of thousands of others during Jesus’ time. The distance from Cyrene to Jerusalem is over 800 miles. In the first century, this would have been a long and potentially perilous journey across the desert lasting four to five weeks.

Over time there has been much speculation on how Simon came to be selected for this noble task. Until the Lord returns, we will never know the true intent in placing him on the street that day. But regardless, his role and the powerful message it conveys to us now is significant.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each wrote of this scene with few differences in their versions.  Only in Mark’s gospel do we learn that he had two sons, Alexander and Rufus. Simon was more than a symbolic icon for Jesus’ message to us. He was a real person, like any one of us, who played a fundamental role on the day of Jesus’ death.

Scripture often takes key lessons on how we should live our lives and repeats them many times so the messages are clear and comprehensible. Basic principles that are part of the very framework of Christianity such as, ‘Trust in the Lord’, ‘Do not be afraid’, ‘Give to the poor’,

‘Seek to have less rather than more’, are just a few examples of powerful tenets mentioned in the Bible time and again.

In the same light, Scripture also conveys God’s desire for us to ‘take up our crosses and live our lives according to his plan. Five times in the gospels, Jesus tells his disciples to take up their crosses and follow him.  Jesus spoke in Matthew 10-38, ‘Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.’ He stated his intent even more directly in latter chapters of Matthew (Matthew 16-20) and in Luke (Luke 9-23). ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their crosses daily.’

Through these passages, Jesus conveys three important things. First, what does it truly mean for us to take up our crosses?

Most of us will never be faced with the physical suffering Jesus endured during his crucifixion. But suffering is a part of all our lives. Scripture is clear that our world will be fraught with obstacles and challenges. James wrote, ‘Consider it all joy, my brothers when you encounter various trials.’ (James 1-2). In Romans, Paul said, ‘We boast of our afflictions knowing our afflictions produce endurance.’

But is the Lord asking each of us to seek hardship and afflictions in our lives? Of course not. But all of us, regardless of our circumstances encounter suffering of some form in our lives. None of us are immune. It is experienced by the richest and the poorest of this world. Each of the crosses we are called to bear individually may be different, but they still represent adversity we must deal with.

A few years ago, I attended a church retreat. In the course of the retreat, the Holy Spirit compelled several of the retreatants to step forward and speak of the burdens they had been forced to bear in their lives. One man talked about the hardships he and his wife had endured raising a special-needs child. A second retreatant spoke of the trauma of watching his father die slowly from a terribly debilitating disease. The last spoke with great emotion of his early years as a boy being ostracized and bullied by his classmates. Though each of these men’s burdens was different and varied perhaps in significance, their crosses were nonetheless difficult and traumatic for them to bear.

The second important element of Jesus’ message to his disciples was to ‘deny’ themselves. ‘Denial’ doesn’t imply everything desirable in our lives should be discarded. Rather, he offers the fact our life in this world and the things in it, are inconsequential compared to an eternity without pain and suffering. An eternity only he can offer. In the book of Revelation, John poetically described a vision of the next world Jesus described for us. ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.’ (Revelation 21-4)

Denial also means denying yourself those things that may be barriers to worshipping God the way he intended. They can be as simple as distractions that take our time and focus away from him. Or they may be false idols. Interests, actions, and thoughts keep us from becoming who God meant us to be. He wants us to surrender our old lives so that we can become renewed through him.

Last, Jesus tells his disciples to ‘follow’ him. He asks us simply to live our lives the way he lived his, and to follow his commandments. In this sense, all three messages are integrally linked together. A roadmap to the next life.

Suffering is a difficult concept for most people. None of us wish to bear pain or anguish in this world. But it is an inevitable part of life. Perhaps the words written by Philip Brooks, a 19th-century minister, give us insight into how we should bear our crosses.

‘Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.’

Twenty words. That’s all that is written about Simon from Cyrene in the first gospel. The man who helped bear the weight of the cross in Jesus’ last moments. But I believe embedded within those words, is a more powerful message. One that was intended for all of us to hear and follow.

‘For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.’ (2 Corinthians 4-17)