Jesus Bears Not His Cross Alone

And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him and put His own raiment on Him and led Him away to crucify Him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. Would you pray with me tonight? Lord, once again, we come to you. Now, we just ask for your help and grace as we study your word.

Thank you for the good songs we’ve heard and lord, the truths that they remind us of. Lord, give us a heart, Lord, ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart to understand what your word says and to grow from it and to take these things, Lord, as food for our soul and to joyfully bury your cross. So, bless our study. Help us, Lord, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

So as you see here in verse number 32, after the soldiers have done their will with Jesus and mocked him, they’re now gonna lead him out. And I’m well aware we’re skipping some parts, and as I said, we’re not covering this necessarily chronologically. Chapter 27, we’re covering it focusing on the figures in the in the story rather than just the events in order. So, we will come back to verse 27 later but in verse number 32, they’re leading the lord Jesus out from from the common hall, from the the where the soldiers were mocking him and they’re now now gonna lead him out of the city and the traditional place, the normal place that the the Romans would crucify is because they wanted it to be a spectacle, because they wanted it to be a a scene, they wanted it to be visible and to be public, they would lead, the condemned out of the city just outside of the city to a place where especially roads meet and so that where they crucified the condemned, it would be visible visible for all to see. In other words, it would be an example that would be public and everybody would know and it would strike fear in them, lest they challenge the Roman authority.

And so, they’re leading the Lord Jesus out perhaps up to 2,000 feet, not quite half a mile, that they’re gonna be leading the Lord Jesus out, maybe a little less, it all depends on where they are exactly, and there’s you know, there’s a little bit of debate over what particular place in Jerusalem they were, and But it was it was not a short distance, it wasn’t across the street, it was some distance.

And the Bible says, so they’re coming out. It’s important for us to understand that they’re coming out and the Bible says they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross. So Cyrene is a is a place that is in in modern day Libya, which is on the North Coast Of Africa. And, at this time in history, there were a large number of Jews that lived in Cyrene, which which in this in this time was ruled by by Rome.

In fact, in the one hundreds, so sometime after this in the one hundreds, there was a large scale Jewish rebellion in Cyrene. And so, were a lot of Jews who lived in Cyrene, and Simon was apparently one of them. His name, like Peter, his name is a Jewish name, And so we understand that this man was likely a Jew, especially because he was coming to the city. Remember the time period we’re looking at here, this is during the Passover, right? Remember there were three times in the year, if you remember your Old Testament, there were three times in the year that all the male Jews were to appear before God in Jerusalem at the temple. There was the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, There was the there was Pentecost and then there were there was the the feast of in gathering, the the feast of tabernacles if I’m not if I’m not mistaken.

And so, all three of those feasts, they were expected to travel to Jerusalem and that’s why you remember in Acts chapter two, there were so many Jews, some 50 after what we’re reading here, there were so many Jews in Jerusalem because of that Pentecost feast and so, this is another example of that. So, there were a lot of people that had come there for the Passover and the feast that didn’t live in Jerusalem, and this man was apparently one of them, Simon of Cyrene. So he was some he lived some distance, from, from Israel, and so he had traveled here. Imagine imagine being this guy and walking into Jerusalem.

But anyhow, he’s here and so, and so, let’s look a little bit more about this, from from the other passages. So, there is one verse in Matthew, one in Mark, and one exactly one verse in Luke, those three verses that mention Simon of Cyrene. So, let’s look at at the one in Mark chapter 15 and then the one in Luke chapter 23 just to get a fuller picture of this man, Simon of Cyrene.

There’s not a lot to say about him. So, we’ll just read it just to cover the basis here. Mark 15 and verse number 21. Mark 15 verse number 21, the Bible says, and they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the country. So note that, he he was just passing through. Some people have tried to tried to say that Simon was a disciple or something like that, and he was following the entourage. No, the Lord had been forsaken of all all his disciples. He is alone. Nobody is following him with a lone exception of some of the women that had followed him, and they were following him at some distance.

And so, this man is not following Jesus. I don’t think there’s a reason to think that he knew Jesus at all. In fact, living in Cyrene, he might not have even heard of Jesus whatsoever until this moment. And so he’s coming, he’s passing by and it says he’s coming out of the country. So he’s coming out of the country into the city. And so, if you if you can picture it in your mind, they are going, if you if you can picture Jerusalem, so they’re they’re up near the temple in the the Fortress Of Antonia which is where the pilot likely was, and they’re gonna go this direction to get to the city wall, so they’re going out toward the country while Simon is coming from the country. So, they’re crossing paths like this right here, going opposite directions.

And the Bible says this, the father, so this is Simon now, he is the father of Alexander and Rufus to bear his cross. So this, if I was having a conversation with you and I would have mentioned two names and I knew that you had no idea who I was talking about. Like if I mentioned, if I mentioned Sue and Bill or Kathy and Larry and I say that and you’re like, what does that even mean? And I don’t explain to you that those are my dad’s sisters and their husbands and so my aunts and uncles, you know, I would normally explain it if I didn’t if I didn’t expect that you knew who I was referring to, but he doesn’t, Mark doesn’t explain it. He says, as he’s writing to his audience, he says, you know, Alexander and Rufus, their dad. This is their dad and everybody that’s reading is like, oh, okay. I I know who this is now. In other words, it’s it’s expected that they understand who that Mark Mark is expecting that they understand who he’s referring to, Alexander and Rufus. So let’s go to Luke, we’ll come back to that in just a minute, but Luke chapter 23 and verse Luke 23 verse number 26.

Luke 23 verse 26, the bible says, and as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country and on him, they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. Note the words, bear it after Jesus. Now, look at one more place before we head back to to Matthew 27. Look at Romans chapter 16. Romans 16.

Romans 16. Verse 13, the Bible says, salute Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. So we have to read between the lines a little bit, is this the same Rufus that is the son of Simon the Cyrenian? We have no way of knowing for certain. We have no way of knowing for certain. But it does mention Rufus, it does mention his mother, which if that’s if we’re reading this right, that would be the wife of Simon, the Cyrenian, and Paul is writing to Rome, and so we expect that Rufus is someone who lives in Rome. So if we if we do assume that Rufus is Simon’s son, then that kinda adds a different tone, a different shade, because that means this man who was once a stranger to Jesus, as he cross crosses paths with the Lord, his children are believers, which strongly indicates that probably Simon himself and maybe his wife, if all of this fits together, that he ended up becoming a believer, including his children. Because remember Romans was written sometime after the events we’re reading about in Matthew. All right, this is a couple, at least a couple of decades after the Lord was crucified. And so, when you look in retrospect, I think you could argue that this event that Simon stumbled upon had a huge effect upon Simon.

In fact, we might even put it like this. This wasn’t just like you saw a car accident or you saw, you know, a terrible thing happen or something like that. No, this was this was the pivotal moment in world history. Right? This, all of world history was leading up to this moment and everything after it was coming down from this moment. This is the climactic moment in all of human history and all of God’s redemptive plan is our Lord going to the cross.

This is a big deal. So, it’s no wonder that Simon was apparently very powerfully affected by it. Now, we have no idea why he was, but it seems that it had such an effect that he later might have become a believer. And so, it’s no wonder that would be the case given this event. Now go back to Matthew 27.

Matthew 27, the Bible says that in verse number 32, and as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled. Him they compelled to bear a cross. Now understand when we see this word compel, we might think that the soldiers grabbed him and said, hey, you need to carry this cross. No, it was it was far more than that. It was this was this was law.

When the soldiers were were on duty and they had a they had something they needed to do and they needed help, or they needed an animal, or they needed equipment, they could requisition that, they could commandeer that from anybody around and that person was bound and obligated to help them. And if you didn’t, if you didn’t, you would probably get the pointy end of a weapon. It was a big deal. And so the Romans would enlist help to carry or to any kind of human labor or animal labor, whatever, in order to do this. This was a legal right, it was called Angaria, Angaria, the power to commandeer property and labor for their duties.

And so, they see Simon, now we’ll get to why they’re doing this in just a minute. But they see Simon, they apparently grab him and say, hey you, come here, carry this, carry this. This was called a petabulum. Petibulum, excuse me, petabulum. This was the crossbar. We talked about, I mentioned it this morning. Let me describe this to you. And this this is all just kind of reading the background. The scripture doesn’t go into like measurements.

That’s not the point. But to help us get a better view of what he’s carrying, what Jesus is carrying, remember Jesus has already endured the whip. And this is not the Jewish 40 stripes save one. This was the Roman scourge, which is beat you almost to death until I’m ready to stop. But I don’t want to kill you. I don’t want to kill you. The cross must kill you.

But I’m gonna bring you as close as I possibly can to death. And so, this petibulum, this crossbar, this piece of wood, more than likely hardwood. Those of you that are in the construction industry, this is a five inch or six inch by six inch piece of lumber, likely hardwood, six or seven feet long. Okay, so this is not a small piece of wood. This is not your Lowe’s bowed two by four.

No, this is a serious piece of wood. This is something that was 75 to 100, maybe even more than 100 pounds, depending on the kind of wood it was made with. And so they grabbed Simon and they say, here, carry this. I don’t know if he carried it 100 feet, 1,000 feet, 2,000 feet, I don’t know how far he carried it. I wanna tell you something, if this happened to me, I would not be a happy camper.

Talking about ruining this guy’s day, what if I said, hey, hey, I got something, I got a 75 pound piece of wood I need you to carry to a third of a mile for me from here down past the trailer park, you know, halfway up to the Publix, here have fun.

This would have ruined Simon’s day. If you take a peek at Matthew chapter five and we’ll come right back, but just to get a little bit of context, Matthew chapter five.

This is a common practice, this compelling. Matthew five verse 41, Jesus says, and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. See, Jesus mentions this in passing, in talking about in teaching about forgiveness and about reconciliation, those kinds of things. So, this is what it means to compel. So, this is where this is this is the interruption that is happening in Simon’s life.

I wanna tell you something. This kind of interruption is the kind of, this is the kind of divine interruption that the Lord often brings into our lives, and we ought to pay attention to those kinds of interruptions in our lives. Divine interruptions that the Lord puts in front of us and causes us to pay attention to. So, as I mentioned, the crossbar, he’s carrying the crossbar. I wanna read this quote to you, this is from the book Roman Antiquities by a man named Dionysius from Halicarnassus, alright? This is an old, this is from July, and here’s what it says. A Roman citizen of no obscure station, having ordered one of his slaves to be put to death, delivered him to his fellow slaves to be led away.

The men ordered to lead the slave to his punishment having stretched out both both his hands and fastened them to a piece of wood which extended across his breast and shoulders as far as his wrists. Followed him tearing his naked body with whips. Alright, this is a contemporary description of this scene.

So, if we can picture it, maybe not as we have always thought of it, we thought about, you know, the big cross and Jesus is carrying the whole thing. Mean, he couldn’t have carried that by himself, that’s like over 300 pounds. And so, he’s carrying the cross member which was their practice, but his arms would have been probably attached to it, right? Tied to it.

And the Bible says, as I mentioned, that Luke Luke makes it clear that once Simon was carrying the crossbar, the Bible says, he went after Jesus. Now, you look a little bit ahead at the book of Mark, Mark chapter eight.

In our study of Matthew, we already covered this verse or the Matthew version of this verse. Verse 34, Matthew eight, or rather Mark eight verse 34. And when excuse me. And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also he said unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Now, when we read this, we didn’t really have a clear illustration of this. Now, think about it. Our Lord, knowing, of course, all in advance, I’m no doubt having seen people being crucified in Jerusalem and other places, the Lord in his mind no doubt had Simon. Know, God is the God of providence. You know, the Bible doesn’t say it, but we know that God is the God of providence, the Lord’s train sometimes runs slowly but it always arrives on time and it often arrives at the same moment that something else important is happening. And this was that moment where Jesus is walking this maybe one third of a mile from where where he was judged to the cross and in that amount of time it takes to walk that. We’re talking twenty minutes, you know, assuming he’s, you know, he’s not doing not doing well, having been beaten and all. So, that twenty minute period, at that same moment, Simon is also at that same moment, in that same path coming into Jerusalem.

God’s providence has this man in his sights because this man is going to be the living example of the truth of Mark eight thirty four. Notice what it says, Jesus says, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself. Now there’s a little bit of difference between what’s happening with Simon and what’s happening with what Jesus is saying here, because Simon was not carrying this cross of his own free will, he was compelled.

He wasn’t happy about it, no doubt. But the Lord says, let him deny himself. That is something that Simon had to do. He had to definitely deny himself, which was pretty easy to do considering he probably had a Roman spear, you know, jabbing you if you didn’t deny yourself. So, it’d make it a little bit easier if we had the Lord’s spear in our back if we didn’t deny ourselves, but there is a matter of our will in this.

And it says, and take up his cross and follow follow me. Now notice it says, take up his cross, referring to one’s own cross, not the cross of Christ, but one’s own cross. And it says, and follow me. And that’s exactly what we read that Simon did is he he took the cross and he went after Jesus. So you have this picture of Jesus walking, he’s in front and Simon is behind him and that is that is the way our carrying the cross is supposed to be. Now the the difference is that in this case, Simon was not carrying his cross, the custom cross of his own, but he was literally carrying the cross of Christ.

Very literally. Did you ever thought about this? Simon was the only, the only person to ever carry the cross outside of Christ Himself. He was the only person to ever carry the cross outside of Christ Himself. Now, let me just, before I get to the end, because this is all I got, it’s just a little thought. Before I get to the end of the message, I do want to clarify one thing.

Simon was not helping Jesus. I guess some people could could kinda twist this story and sometimes suffering, suffering reproach, suffering for the name of Christ over the years has been warped to mean somehow if we suffer for Christ we’re in some way contributing to our salvation. Now think about think about Simon, Jesus is going to the cross. Simon picks up the cross. Remember, he’s not doing this of his own free will. He’s not helping Jesus because he wants to help him. He’s doing it because he must.

He has no choice in the matter. So it’s not like he’s contributing to Jesus. He’s aiding him. He’s he’s helping him. No, he has to do it. And in fact, the reason why the soldiers did this kind of thing, according to history, the reason why, they don’t they don’t they do not have any mercy on Jesus. They just spent, you know, I don’t know. They just spent an hour, half hour, whatever it was, mocking him. They have no mercy.

To them, Jesus is a lowly, disgusting Jew who is dying a slave’s death that he deserves. They don’t have any mercy, so forget that idea. So why then did they compel Simon? It’s simple.

Having been whipped and mistreated all night and then finally whipped by the Roman whip, they didn’t want Him to die on the way. Think about that. Not a far cry from mercy, it was cruelty. They didn’t want him to die as he’s carrying the cross this third of a mile or so, so that he could go to the Golgotha, the place of execution, and they could they could actually put him to death on the cross, which was their the whole purpose. In other words, that was the cruelest method possible and they need to make sure and ensure that he did not die on the way. So, they give the cross to somebody else.

Lest this weak man die before he even gets to the cross. So, it wasn’t mercy at all. So, Simon, again, Simon is not helping Jesus. And to that point, did you know it is not possible that anybody could help in any way the Savior secure our salvation by His blood. It’s not possible to help Jesus. Anytime, listen, anytime someone takes something, anything, any work of man, whatsoever it be, howsoever it might be called and adds it to what Jesus is doing here.

They are in effect saying, I am going to help Jesus secure my my atonement, my redemption. I’m going to help him because he needs help and somehow, sometimes that’s how it’s kind of framed. When we, in other words, some some people have framed in Christianity, they have framed the idea that suffering for Jesus is in some way contributing. In other words, you have to suffer in order to order to enter the kingdom of God. It’s your part that you contribute. There is there is not a word of truth in that at all.

The lord Jesus did everything. You say, well, what about faith? That’s what people seem to always misunderstand. People who have a an axe to grind always try to turn faith and say, see, you do faith. So, faith is basically a work. No, it’s not. Faith is the very opposite of a work. Faith is the is the leaning upon the one who is doing the work. It is the non work.

Right? It is not it’s not possible. It is actually an offense to God to try to help Jesus save you. You either rely on him or you don’t get in. Jesus did it all or you have no salvation, nor do I. So, if we at what Simon is doing as a matter of help, he wasn’t trying to help, he didn’t wanna help, he was being compelled, so what then was he doing? Here’s what Simon was doing. Simon was sharing in the reproach of Christ.

And that’s the core of what we’re talking about when Jesus says, take up your cross and follow me. He’s talking about primarily about the reproach of Christ. Let me show you that. Hebrews chapter 13. If you would look there, Hebrews 13.

Look if you would at verse 12. Hebrews 13 verse 12. The Bible says, wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate, that is outside.

Verse 13, notice the words, let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. See the bearing? That’s the same visual picture, right? Carrying. So that cross, although it was very literal and very real both for our Lord and for Simon, that was a literal cross. The Lord uses that as a figure. As a figure for what? As a figure of reproach and suffering as a result of our identification with and association with the Lord Jesus Christ.

That is what that cross represents to us. And that, and think about it, that is exactly what Simon the Cyrenian endured when he carried that cross. Imagine, imagine looking on that scene and you see, you see Jesus and no doubt, there was, I mean, the you know, the Bible says, there was a whole cohort of soldiers that had mocked Jesus. I don’t know how many soldiers are in this train. It’s probably a bunch, especially if there’s a crowd. There’s no doubt a mob because there were people, remember, at the cross mocking the Lord Jesus. So this this is not, I mean, is a kind of quite an ado, right? This going through the city here out to the place of execution and so, there’s soldiers, there’s Pharisees and scribes and chief priests and and there’s Jews and there’s Romans and all of this group is coming through and and there’s women. You know, we read in in the book of Luke. There’s women following after and they’re weeping and all of those things. You see, all of this. So, this is quite a crowd coming through here.

And they see, of course, they see Jesus, you know, if you were at at at that part of the of the parade, if you will, you might see Jesus carrying the cross at the beginning, and so he’s, you know, he’s carrying the cross and you think, yeah, well, you know, know, mean, he he obviously deserves it. Look at him. He’s a bloody mess. Yeah, he must have done something really terrible.

And then later on, if you were a little bit further down in the parade, you look and you don’t see Jesus, the one who’s a bloody mess, you see Simon, a man who might be well dressed, a man who might, you know, he might just look like a guy who’s traveling into the country, and you see him carrying the cross, but you know that cross belongs to the man in front of him.

Because obviously he’s the one been beaten. But because He is carrying the cross, you associate Him with the condemned. That’s what we’re talking about. Bearing our cross. It is the identification of, it’s our identification with the Lord Jesus Christ and all the reproach that he bears.

Because Simon, the Cyrenian carried Jesus cross, carried Jesus cross to the average bystander, he was subject to the same shame as Jesus. So, if people are spinning at Jesus, he’s gonna get spit on. If people are throwing rocks at Jesus, he’s gonna have rocks thrown at him. If if people are jeering, he’s gonna he is he is gonna be he’s gonna be subjected to that kind of maltreatment and that kind of harm and reproach. He is receiving. He is sharing in the reproach of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, know he’s not doing it will willingly, at least not at this point.

But the picture is there before us in living color for us to see. What does it mean to share in the reproach of Christ? I wanna tell you something. This is, this truth, sharing in the reproach of Christ is a lost art in Christianity in our day.

We have been taught, we have been deceived, we have been manipulated and lied to that following the Lord Jesus Christ means you get pats on the back and shouts of acclamation and words of praise and that is not biblical. Jesus said, if any man will be my disciple, if any man will follow me, let him what? Take up his cross and follow me. You know, it is not possible for you or for me to live for Jesus and to be his disciple in very deed. I’m not talking about nice sounding words about how much we love Jesus. I’m talking about actually following him.

It is not possible for us to do that unless we are willing to share in our lord’s reproach. Now, how does that how does that look like? How does that look in 2026 in The United States where we have all of this religious freedom? What does that look like? We don’t live in a country, and I’m thankful for this, we don’t live in a country where we’re we’re gonna be, you know, you’re worried about the the Gestapo or the SS is gonna beat down your door and take you to take you to a prison camp. We don’t We’re not concerned about that. None of us are.

But Christians over the years, over the centuries have absolutely been concerned, and this applied to them as much as it does to us. So how does it look to us who live in relative peace and safety?

If you are actually, if I am actually going to be a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, that is one who learns of Him, one who does His will, one who follows his word. And I mean seriously. I don’t mean playing, I mean serious about it. And you are resolved that you, with God’s help, you are gonna do what the lord wants you to do. You’re gonna follow and obey his word no matter who likes it or who doesn’t like it. I promise you, you are going to be ridiculed.

It might not be to your face though sometimes it might be but it definitely will be behind your back. You are gonna be ridiculed and you’re gonna be set aside as a crazy and you’re you’re a radical and you’re too much involved with with this and you’re gonna have your name tarnished and people are gonna say bad and mean and unkind things about you, that, listen, remember Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, he divided persecution into two categories.

Persecution for his name, if you remember, and persecution for righteousness sake. Sometimes you might receive reproach because of your mere association with the Lord Jesus because you are one who unashamedly owns him as your savior and is not afraid to say something to other people about it. But then other times, and this is the, I think this in in where we live, if you lived in in some, know, kinda far out, you know, place, you know, in Denver or Portland or somewhere like that, and you say you’re a Christian, people might think you totally lost your mind, you know, in one of those enclaves of Utopian enclaves.

Yeah. But even in Greenville, South Carolina, if you live for Jesus and you want to do righteousness and you want to obey him and you do without trying to please people with your first priority is pleasing and honoring and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ, you will carry his reproach. You will bear that cross just like all of those before you. You will. The question is, are you willing to bear that reproach?

The truth is, a lot of people, a lot of Christians are not willing to pick up that cross. It’s too much. The praise of man is too enticing. They’re just, they’re unwilling to pay the price of reproach to be completely sold out to their Lord as His disciple.

But the Lord calls us to share in His reproach. Not help Him, He did it all. But He does call us to share in the reproach, to experience what He has experienced.

We might say, the Lord, our Lord Jesus, does not intend on bearing the cross alone. Like you see with Simon. And just as the Lord Jesus is already and will be glorified, so we shall be glorified with him when we suffer with him, when we bear his reproach and identify with him without being ashamed. First Peter four thirteen, but rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Are you willing to share in that reproach? We might say that glorious reproach. I read one writer when he commenting on Simon the Cyrenian and he in what he was writing, he exclaimed, he said, what a blessed man who could carry the very cross of Christ and share literally, not figuratively only, but very literally in the reproach of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s supposed to be the attitude of the Christian. Remember those disciples in the early part of the book of Acts, Peter and James, when they were when they were persecuted for the name of Christ, and they were brought and they were drug in before the council to give an account for why they were preaching and teaching in Jesus name. And finally they let them go because they couldn’t hold them any longer, and they came out and the bible says, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

Man, how opposite that is to what we see today, right? But that’s supposed to be the attitude of the believer, that it is a glory. We rejoice in reproach for the name of Christ. So, what I’d like to do is look around you and find that song that we sang during the song service, Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone? Find a copy of that. And we’re gonna take a few minutes and we’re gonna sing that to close the service.

Let’s pray. Brother Ben, can you pray to close the service? And then after you pray, everybody stand and we will, we’ll sing the song, and once the song’s over, we’ll be dismissed.