Coming in from the fields!
Living in the city can be quite noisy at times. Nowadays, the use of microphones and loudspeakers add volume to the voices of people who gather in the city to demonstrate and declare issues close to their hearts. Marching through the city with banners and flags, they call out their concerns. Can you imagine walking home from work and suddenly being forced to join in a demonstration like this and carry a banner or a flag not knowing what it represents?
We read in God’s Word, Mark 15:21, about a man, called Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the fields to his home in Jerusalem. Suddenly, he was grabbed and forced into a situation out of his control. The scene before him was confusing. There were crowds demonstrating and taunting a badly beaten man carrying a heavy cross. They were jostling each other to see the one known as Jesus of Nazareth, the one to whom they so recently cried “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Simon recalled witnessing that a few days ago.
Now he was carrying the cross of this man. It was laid upon him. Luke says, “he carried the cross behind Jesus.” What a confusing situation before him. Try to imagine what Simon of Cyrene saw, heard, and thought as He carried the cross.
Perhaps he recalled the Scripture he had been taught, Isaiah 53:3, “He was hated and rejected; His life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at Him. We despised Him and said, “He is a nobody!” As Simon surveyed the scene, he saw the scoffers and soldiers, but he also recognised the men he knew were followers of this teacher who had been talked about so much.
We can only imagine the great impact that carrying Jesus’ cross had on Simon of Cyrene. Simon’s plans for the day were turned upside down and he was forced to head in another direction. Little did he realise that this was to be a turning point in his life and that of his family. As part of His divine plan, God chose Simon to encounter Jesus only hours before He died, in order to bring salvation to Simon’s household.
Mark 15:21 also tells us, Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander. We further read of Rufus and his mother, believed to be this same Rufus, in Romans 16:13, “Greet Rufus, that special servant of the Lord, and greet his mother, who has been like a mother to me.”
Simon carried the cross for Jesus! Carrying the cross behind Jesus is a beautiful and painful picture of our calling as followers of Jesus. This Easter take time to reflect on His call to you. What will be your response? How will it affect your family, friends and neighbours?
“Then Jesus said, to all the people, “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Take up thy cross and follow Me
I heard my Master say
I gave My life to ransom thee
Surrender your all today
My heart my life my all I bring
