Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15:21)

We can often decide to go somewhere for a reason and find ourselves diverted from our intention because of events beyond our control. No doubt, Simon felt something like that when he was compelled by the soldiers to help Jesus carry the cross to Calvary.

Simon was not from Jerusalem. Instead he was from Cyrene in North Africa. In all probability, the reason he was in Jerusalem was to attend the Passover and maybe he was making his way to the temple to participate in the worship connected to the death of the Passover lamb. If that was the case, he would have prayed often for the Messiah to come. Whether he was going to the temple or not, he found himself involved in helping the real Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.

The weakness of Jesus

The apostle Paul reminds us that Jesus was crucified in weakness. Here we have a reminder of the reality of his humanity. He has had no sleep during the night and he has been beaten several times and badly treated in other ways. It would have been obvious to the soldiers in charge of Jesus that he was unable to carry the cross by himself. So they did what often occurred on such occasions, which was to force someone to help with carrying the cross.

The working of providence

Simon had his reasons for coming into the city at the time that Jesus was being led out of it, because Calvary was outside the city. Yet behind the scenes and in all the workings of each scene the Lord was in control. If Simon had come in five minutes earlier or five minutes later he would not have been there to carry the cross. We will think in a moment of why there is evidence that Simon became a believer. In the meantime, we can think, if we are Christians, of the different events that led us becoming followers of Jesus.

The providences can cover our lives in an obvious way if we were brought up in a Christian home. Yet even then we need to ask ourselves why we were present at a certain service when the gospel came with power or why we read a particular book that helped us to understand what the gospel was all about. And those of us who were not brought up in a Christian home can ask why we happened to be in the location where we met a believer who told us about Jesus. Or why we happened to come across something that made us what to investigate the gospel.

The point I am making is that God works secretly in providence. Simon may have been in Jerusalem because he wanted to obey the revealed will of God about going to Jerusalem to keep the Passover. He may have done this annually, since that is what God required. But he had no idea about the contents of God’s secret providence. No-one does, yet we are all part of it.

It is also important to remind ourselves that God also works strategically in providence. Simon, if he was a devout Jew, would have acknowledged that God acts in providence continually. If the Lord did otherwise, he would not be governing all things. So if we could have asked him why he, out of the crowd that would have been there, was compelled to carry the cross, he would have agreed that God would have arranged it. And if we had asked him if he thought God had a plan of which this activity was a part he would have said yes. But he had to wait and see what place in God’s plan this role had. We will soon see what some of the other details were. And we will see something of the divine strategy for Simon. Thinking of ourselves, the reasons why we are here today may be many, but it may be the day when Jesus has arranged to meet with you personally, perhaps for the first time, or maybe to give you guidance about the next stage in your life.

The wonder of grace

It is obvious that Mark expected his original readers to know who the sons of Simon were because he names them as Alexander and Rufus. Church history tells us that the first recipients of Mark’s Gospel was the church in Rome. If we were to turn to Romans 16, we will see that Paul in verse 13 refers to a Rufus who lived there, but whose mother was well known to Paul even although he had not yet been to Rome: ‘Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.’ So it is generally assumed that Rufus is the son of the man who carried the cross. And since Mark knew what Simon’s name was, it very strongly suggests that he became a believer in Jesus as an outcome of carrying the cross.

What was it that brought Simon to faith? He heard what Jesus said to the women about the coming of severe judgement, and about his instruction to them to weep for their children, and perhaps he realised he would need to weep over his own sons. Maybe he stayed around and heard Jesus forgive the soldiers who crucified him. Or perhaps his curiosity was aroused later when he heard that the body of Jesus had disappeared, and the subsequent claims that he had risen from the dead. He may not have been converted until the Day of Pentecost because people from Cyrene were present when Peter preached.

It is interesting to consider which men are named in connection with the cross of Jesus. We are not told the names of the soldiers who crucified him, the name of the criminal who believed in him, or the name of the centurion who confessed that he was the Son of God. But we are told the names of the individuals who did something for Jesus at the cross: Simon who helped him to carry it and Nicodemus and Joseph who took his body down from the cross. Is God telling us here that he loves the names of those who did something in helping his Son?

Yet as we look at Jesus and Simon carrying the cross, we must note that one of them deserved to be punished for his sins as far as God’s judgement was concerned. That man was Simon. In contrast, Jesus did not deserve to die. So here we have two men carrying the cross, but as they carry it the roles, we might say, are reversed. The one who deserved to die (Simon) under God’s judgment would not, whereas the one who did not deserve to die (Jesus) was punished instead. Simon went to the place of judgement and was not judged, and in his experience we can see what Calvary should mean to believers. We can go there and experience forgiveness because Jesus died in our place.

The way of discipleship

The role given to Simon here of carrying is a wonderful illustration of discipleship. It was Jesus who likened discipleship to the carrying of a cross and here is Simon doing so. What lessons can we take from this situation.

First, Simon’s change of direction illustrates repentance. We can see from the account that Simon initially was walking in the opposite direction to Jesus. But after being selected to carry the cross, he found himself turned around. That is what repentance is. It means going in the opposite direction to the life of sin. Prior to meeting Jesus, we are walking away from him. Repentance is walking with him as our Master.

Second, Simon had to put his feet into the footsteps of Jesus. He discovered that being identified with Jesus by the cross meant he had to go wherever Jesus went. Literally, Jesus was in front of him directing where the cross would go. Simon was forced to go wherever Jesus wanted to take him. What was true literally of Simon should be true spiritually of believers. The cross of Jesus guides us where we should go. There are some places that would not be suitable for the cross to be seen.

Third, Simon discovered that the cross gave a new set of values. When he took hold of the cross, the instrument of death, Simon knew that he was not allowed to take part in the Passover because he had become ceremoniously unclean. This meant that he could not make his way to the temple once he had reached the place where Jesus was crucified. Maybe this caused him to remain at Calvary. Whether Simon realised the impotency of Judaism at that moment cannot be known. But at some stage he would have discovered the liberating power of the cross and how its blessings are far better than even the best of other religions.

Fourth, Simon became the means of the message of salvation coming to his family. We have already referred to how his wife and sons were so useful in the church. It may be that he was married before he carried the cross, or it is possible that he married later on. Yet we can imagine him relating to his wife and children what took place on the day when he carried the cross of Jesus. They would know the big difference the cross had made in his life, and they were glad to follow him.

Some applications

The first detail that stands out is that the providence for Simon came very unexpectedly. Simon might have been praying as he entered the city as a devout Jew, but he would not have been praying about this meeting with Jesus. It is possible that some of us did not expect to meet with the crucified Christ today, but you have been given the opportunity.

The second detail is that the unwilling became the willing. When the soldiers seized Simon, he would have resented what they asked him to do because it would have prevented him attending the Passover. Yet at some stage Simon became a willing follower. How does one become a willing follower of Jesus? The answer is straightforward. We do so by watching Jesus carrying his cross to Calvary.

Third, the best way to have lasting significance is to do something for Jesus. Lots of important people were in Jerusalem that day, but they have been forgotten. Yet Simon’s name is remembered, and it will be so on the Day of Judgement. And in the world to come, Simon will always be known as the man who helped Jesus to carry the cross to Calvary.

Preached on Sunday 16th October