Simon of Cyrene, and Rufus and Alexander

Text: Mark 15:21
Date: Lent Midweek III3/22/06

  Of all the individuals we are considering in our midweek Lenten devotions this year, the one we know least about is very possibly the greatest example of faith in Jesus as the Son of God. We know of Nicodemus of the Pharisees as the secret and hesitating follower who was an early inquirer but a late confessor. The tragic story of Judas Iscariot causes us to consider our own denials of Christ and need for repentance. Pontius Pilate's involvement makes us reflect on when justice conflicts with personal reputation. Before our Lenten journey is over we will hear the repentance and faith of the thief on the cross and the wonderful climax of faith exclaimed by the Roman centurion, “Truly, this is the Son of God!” Tonight, however, we have a man whose involvement with Jesus was seemingly accidental and purely incidental as all we know of him is his name and that he was merely a passerby compelled to carry Jesus' cross.

  Now we could appropriately take off from this simple detail to expand and expound upon the subject of cross bearing according to Jesus' famous words, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” [Mark 8:34 (ESV)]. For this guy literally did that! And that would be good and helpful. But St. Mark provides us with a little detail that suggests we can know more about Simon than at first glance, and that is this: he says Simon was “the father of Alexander and Rufus.” Who are Alexander and Rufus you may ask. Well, the very brevity of this little comment suggests that those to whom Mark was writing obviously knew who Alexander and Rufus were. Apparently the Apostle Paul knew them, too, for in his concluding greetings of his letter to the Romans he writes, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well” [Romans 16:13 (ESV)], in other words Simon's son and wife! Though we know no more about his other son Alexander, this little detail suggests that something very significant and life changing happened there in this otherwise accidental and incidental happenstance of Simon's forced labor of carrying Jesus' cross, so significant that Simon's family became well-known Christians in the early church.

  Remember that it was Passover and that Jews from all over the known world were required to celebrate this most important festival at least once in the holy city of Jerusalem. Each Passover, therefore, the city was bursting with out-of-towners. Simon is called “of Cyrene” because he was a visitor from a city of Libya in North Africa. If the Simon (or Simeon) St. Luke refers to in Acts 13 (v. 1) is the same man, there it says he had a nickname, “Niger,” probably referring to his darker complexion as would be expected among those living in the tropical climate of Africa.

  On that Good Friday, Simon was simply entering the city with great anticipation of celebrating the Passover in the temple. His eyes may have seen the temple in the distance gleaming like a jewel in the sunlight of the early morning, beckoning him to approach with joy. Suddenly, however, he came upon a crowd of people and the Roman soldiers escorting three men apparently convicted of some heinous crime carrying their own crosses to their execution. Simon may have noticed two of them struggling with defiant anger in their eyes. But then the third one was different; obviously more bloody, having been severely beaten, wasted, weak and, finally, falling under the burden. He may have heard the women that were weeping for him as they followed. Then the command from the soldier and he was pressed into this strange, even revolting service of carrying the cross of a condemned criminal. That short distance to Golgotha spoke volumes however, for he heard Jesus' words to the women who lamented him. By carrying the cross, Simon of Cyrene came into contact, albeit briefly, with the very Word of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the Word made flesh, in whose flesh he was about to bear away the sins of the whole world into the jaws of death.

  Again, what Simon knew about Jesus before this we do not know. Neither do we know how long Simon stayed at the scene of the crucifixion. But because of that little detail, “the father of Alexander and Rufus,” well known Christians, we can assume that this brief encounter had profound and lasting effect, the effect of faith, not only on him but also on his family.

  It doesn't take any particular talent or spiritual insight to see that all the promises and words of the Old Testament that spoke of the Messiah were literally fulfilled in Jesus, especially his suffering and death. Look at him! He is indeed the Suffering Servant spoken of by the prophet Isaiah:

He was despised and rejected by men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

and as one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted [Isaiah 53:3-4 (ESV)].

Though it all looked like a terrible miscarriage of justice, the cross was no accident. It was all part of God's plan. On Maundy Thursday as the altar is stripped of its clothing we hear the words of Psalm 22 and make the unmistakable connection with what really happened on the cross:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

"He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"

My strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots [Psalm 22:1, 7-8, 15-18 (ESV)].

  The cross and the man who was condemned there fulfilled the messianic expectations in the way only a Jew who knew God's Word could see. Walking in the footprints of the Savior, Simon carries the cross and shows us the crucifixion, which the Holy Spirit had revealed seven hundred years earlier. The crucifixion and the Word of God come together and say, “Truly, this is the Son of God.”

___________________
Rev. Allen D. Lunneberg

Contacts:

deblocascio.stmark@sbcglobal.net

Pastor: Rev. Allen D. Lunneberg
7979 Commerce Rd.      (1/4 mile east of Union Lake Rd.)
West Bloomfield, MI 48324
Phone: 248.363.0741
Fax: 248.363.4755