The Lord’s Message: Journey to the Cross, Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross of Jesus

The Lord’s Message: Journey to the Cross, Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross of Jesus
Date:  March 22, 2026
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Mark 15:16-22      

            In 1 Peter 3:18, it says that “Christ died for sins once for all.”  Do we truly grasp the suffering and death that Jesus went through for all of us?  There was a group of Christians who could not accept that Christ in human body had suffered and died.  They could not accept that the Son of God would willingly surrender His body to be beaten and killed.  They concluded that it was not His body that suffered the abuse and death by crucifixion, but His spirit.  This theology became known as Gnosticism.  I will be the first to admit that I can not fully understand why Jesus would allow Himself to suffer and be crucified for me.  I know that it is true, the Bible confirms it over and over again.  In 1 Peter 4:13, as followers of Christ, we are called to suffer as Jesus suffered.  How did Jesus suffer?  Peter answers this question in 1 Peter 4:15-16.  This morning, we are going to look at the ways that Jesus suffered and how His suffering is able to transform us.

            Let us pray.

            In the last weeks, we observed how the disciples abandoned Jesus and did not even provide any defense for Him.  The Jewish Ruling Council had a sham of a trial to convict Jesus, even though Jesus calling Himself the Son of God was true.  The only person that gave a defense for Jesus was of all people, the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate.  Yet, in the end, he was forced by the crowds being persuaded by the chief priests and Sanhedrin to have Jesus crucified.  This is confirmed in Mark 15:20b.

            In Mark 15:21, we learned that Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry the cross of Jesus.  Cyrene was an ancient city in North Africa located west of Egypt and roughly 400 miles from Jerusalem in what is now modern-day Libya.  Simon is a Hebrew name.  The name means to one who hears, or listening, or God has heard.  So, this Jewish man traveled roughly 400 miles to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. 

            Now, the Romans had a law that they could conscript anyone that was not a Roman citizen to acts of service, such as carrying goods for one mile.  That is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:41 that you should carry the goods not one mile, but two. This is part of the teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. 

            Why did Simon of Cyrene have to carry the cross for Jesus?  Even though Jesus is the Son of God, He is fully divine and fully human.   His earthly body is exhausted and has been beaten to the point that He can hardly walk.  Yes, Jesus could have called ten thousand angels to lift Him up and carry Him, but that would not have fulfilled God’s plan of salvation.  I think that it is wonderful that the God of the Universe allows us to be part of His plan.

In Luke 22:16, Jesus says to the disciples that He will not eat again, until “it” finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.  The “it” is the Passover Meal.  This marks the transition from the Old Testament covenant to the New Testament covenant that is made complete by Jesus’ death and resurrection.  The bread represents His body that God placed our sins, past, present, and future upon: “This is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me.  The juice in the cup represents the blood from Jesus’ body that became our atonement for sins: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood poured out for you.  Do this is remembrance of me.”  This is the new covenant, the sacrament of Holy Communion.

This occurred at the Last Supper.  The last time Jesus ate or drank anything before His arrest, trials, beatings, and carrying of His cross to be crucified.  This was between 12 to 15 hours that Jesus had nothing to eat or drink.  His body was hungering for food, and thirsty for water. 

His body was also beaten down.  During His arrest, His hands were tied behind His back with very strong ropes.  At the end of His trial by the Sanhedrin, in Matthew 26:67-68, He was spit in his face and punched.  In Mark 15:15b, Pilate had Jesus flogged. 

The Romans flogging or scourging was a brutal, and often fatal, punishment.  The victims were stripped naked and bound to a pillar.  They were then whipped with a flagellum.  A flagellum was a whip that was composed of several leather thongs.  At the end of each thong was tied pieces of bone or metal. The bone or metal would rip open the back of the victim causing serve pain and enormous blood loss.   The number of lashes was determined by the judge.  Most victims died due to this punishment.  This type of punishment was used on criminals, slaves, and rebels, but not Roman citizens.  This is the punishment that Jesus suffered.

Jesus suffered more.  In Mark 15:16-19, the soldiers increased Jesus’ pain and suffering.  After the flogging, they put a purple robe on Jesus and made a crown of thorns and placed it on His head.  They took a staff and struck Him on the head pressing the crown of thorns into his scalp.  This resulted in the blood flowing out of His head.  Now the purple robe went over the wounds left by the scourging, which the blood had started to scab over.  When they ripped the robe off and put His own clothes back on Him, if any blood had started to scab over then the wounds would have been reopened again. 

Jesus is dying of hunger and thirst.  His body has been beaten and ripped open.  His head is bleeding from the puncture wounds of the crown of thorns and the wounds of the flogging.  Now, He is forced to carry the cross up the hill to Golgotha.  No wonder, He collapsed, and Simon had to carry His cross for Him.   

Now, many of us have seen the cross walk that many churches have on Good Friday.  A person carries a full cross with both the vertical and horizontal beams attached.  Most likely the cross that Jesus, and now Simon, is carrying was just the horizontal beam or patibulum.  This beam weighed approximately 70 to 90 pounds and was 5 to 7 feet in length.  A challenge for the best of men, let alone a man starving, thirsty, physical beaten, and bleeding. 

The pathway that Jesus and now Simon would walk is known as the Via Dolorosa.  It is less than half a mile starting at the Antonia Fortress and ending at Golgotha.  The elevation would be pretty flat and maybe a little downhill.  It is part of the old city.  Along the way there would be people.  Some weeping.  Some hurling abuse.  Some aghast by the sight. 

Simon, having just arrived from traveling 400 miles to attend the Passover celebration, is conscripted to carry this man’s cross.  Simon must have wondered, what has this man done? 

Simon carries the patibulum to Golgotha.  He completes his assignment.  Did he stay and watch?  Maybe.  If he did, he would have seen Jesus stripped naked. His wrists were nailed with 7-to-9-inch spikes to the patibulum and then hoisted up on the vertical beam, the stipes, where a notch was cut for the patibulum to fit.  This horizontal beam would be held there with nails and rope.  Then a spike would be driven into the ankles to finish securing the person to the cross.

I have often wonder, if I were Simon, how would I feel to carry the cross of Jesus?  Would I look it as an honor or being in the wrong place at the right time?  Would I be humbled by doing this or very inconvenienced?  How did this change Simon and how would it change me? 

Sometimes God interrupts our plans.  We may see someone struggling with moving a heavy package.  Do we stop and help them?  We may see someone that is depressed.  Do we stop and listen to them?  God’s timing maybe inconvenient to us.  Do we get frustrated at God?  If we have to suffer for God, are we willing to do it?

As far as how this changed Simon, there is no recording in the Bible which tells about Simon discussing this subject.  But Mark gives us a little clue.  Mark writes in Mark 15:21, that Simon was “the father of Alexander and Rufus.”  Alexander was a Greek name.  Rufus was a Latin name.  Rufus is mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13.   Mark’s mention of both Rufus and Alexander implies that both were well known Christian men, mostly likely connected to the church in Rome.  From this information, Simon carrying Jesus’ cross likely had a profound impact on not only his life, but the life of his wife and his sons. 

By following Jesus and doing what He says, what impact would that make on ourselves, our family, our friends, and our community?  Jesus suffered and died in His human body for you and me.

Keep listening to God and doing what He says.  Amen.