Simon, Who Carried His Cross

What if Simon of Cyrene hadn’t been passing by when the soldiers compelled him to carry Jesus’ cross? Today, Sinclair Ferguson describes the encounter on the road to Calvary that forever changed Simon and his family.

We’re thinking this week on Things Unseen about some of the people who form part of the drama of Jesus’ journey to the cross. We’ve got a great deal to learn from them. But we’ve even more to learn from Jesus Himself and the great issues involved in either trusting Him or rejecting Him.

Today, I want to think with you about our “what if.” You probably know what I mean by that. I have a book that imagined some of the “what if” moments in history: What if Julius Caesar had never crossed the Rubicon? What if the emperor Constantine had never been converted? What if Muhammad had been ignored? What if Martin Luther had decided to keep his Ninety-Five Theses to himself?

We all have personal “what ifs,” don’t we? What if we’d arrived late? What if that person had changed his plans? Maybe you wouldn’t have the job you have or live where you do, or, at least humanly speaking, even be married to the person who is your husband or wife. I wonder if you can guess from that introduction who’s on my mind today? Now, think about these words from Mark 15:21: “Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country.”

Most of us have to consult a reference book even to know where Cyrene was. It’s in what we call Libya. In our Lord’s day, there was a large Jewish population there. It looks as though Simon was visiting for the Passover. Jerusalem would have been crowded, and maybe he had found the Palestinian equivalent of an Airbnb somewhere out of town.

There he is casually, perhaps happily, making his way to the temple. He was on holiday because these were holy days, and the rest is history. But, what if he’d come half an hour or perhaps just five minutes later or earlier? We would never have heard of Simon of Cyrene. Five minutes later and obliterated from Mark’s gospel would be the words: “And they (the Roman execution squad) compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, to carry the cross.” But if you know Mark’s gospel, you might realize I’ve actually missed out some words from Mark’s gospel. They are really amazing. Mark says Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.

What’s so amazing about that? Well, our instinctive reaction might be, “Well, who were Alexander and Rufus?” Of course, that’s the point: Mark’s first readers and hearers probably didn’t need to ask that question. They probably thought, “You mean he was the father of Alexander and Rufus?” I suspect Mark’s words can mean only one thing: Alexander and Rufus must have become Christians.

That reminds me of something hidden away in the closing greetings of Paul’s great letter to the Romans. Remember that long list of names in Romans 16? Well, here’s Romans 16:13: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.”

It is surely too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. It looks as though the first crucifer, crossbearer, Simon of Cyrene, actually became a believer, as did his wife and his sons. God’s grace reached his son, Rufus, and transformed his mother. Simon’s wife became a real mother in Israel, and now apparently she was in Rome. Paul had never been to Rome, so he must have met her elsewhere.

A moment that turns Simon’s plans for the day upside down and forced him to head in another direction than the one he intended, actually turned his whole life and that of his family in the right direction. His plans for his own life that day and every day afterwards evaporated. That day, he began to take his first steps to fulfilling Jesus’ words: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Those words also come from Mark’s gospel: chapter 8, verses 34 and 35.

I wonder if there are “what if” moments in your life, or perhaps one in particular that has changed everything? It’s even conceivable, isn’t it, that someone is listening to the podcast today who really didn’t intend to. Perhaps it’s you, and as sometimes happens, you have no idea how you even got to this podcast on your computer or your phone. It’s a “what if” moment. You’re hearing about a man who followed Jesus. You’re hearing about Jesus and His crucifixion, His death for our sins, His promise of new life. Perhaps you’re hearing a voice that really isn’t mine saying to you, as He’s said to so many: “Follow Me. Take up the cross and follow Me. It’s the only way to eternal life.”

If that’s true, don’t let this “what if” moment become one that you look back on later and think, “I wonder what would have happened if I responded to the voice of Jesus and come to trust Him?” So, take up the cross and follow Jesus now. It’s the way to eternal life.