Luke 23:26-32

When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus. And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him.^[1] 

Having been condemned to death, now Jesus must carry the cross beam of the instrument of His execution to the place where it would be carried out. Remembering that Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, His body surely had to have been in a weakened condition following the brutality He had endured at the hands of the Roman soldiers. Now to add insult to injury He is forced to try and carry His own cross. One can only imagine that His pace was slowed and perhaps eventually stopped as He was unable to carry the cross any further as He made His way down the Via Dolorosa. It is no wonder, then, that the soldiers reached into the crowd and found an African, Simon from Cyrene whom they forced to stand in for Jesus.

Luke does not say much about this man but the fact that he is mentioned at all makes him a significant figure in the story of Christ’s crucifixion. He is significant because he is just one of the many just standing by watching this oddly cruel parade wind its way through the streets. He is significant because he is not a Jew, but an African having nothing to do with Jesus. He is significant because his story is our story. He is significant because he could not refuse and perhaps did not want to refuse when he looked in the face of Jesus. When he encountered Jesus he had no choice but to follow and serve him. Something outside of him compelled him to carry Jesus’ cross. Something outside of each one of us compelled us and compels us still to carry the cross of Jesus; and, when we have looked in the face of Jesus we care not that we have been compelled against our will, suddenly it becomes our will. What joy it is to gaze upon Jesus.

Gracious Lord, we are so grateful for the day we met You. We are grateful that our encounter with You left us with no choice but to follow and serve You. Oh, how grateful we are that You found us when You did; and saved us from all our sin. Forgive us Lord when we fall short of Your glory. Forgive us when we fail to heed Your call to pick up Your cross. Thank You, too, that you have made Your cross light enough to carry. Help us, we pray, to continually surrender our wills to Your will, for the sake of Your everlasting Kingdom we pray. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Lk 23:26–32.