“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.” (Luke 23:26)
This illustrative Scripture gives us a clear picture of this incident with Simon with the phrases, “they laid hold” of him and “bear it after Jesus”. In the pictures that I have seen of Simon helping Jesus with the cross, Simon is the one carrying the cross for Jesus. And all my life, I thought Simon actually carried the cross for Jesus because Jesus couldn’t anymore. What a misconception! God doesn’t waste one word of His Word. Each Word is intentional and has significance for us.
First, and this is a point of contention for many, Simon didn’t volunteer. I always had it in my mind that Simon, out of love and compassion for Jesus volunteered to carry the cross because the cross was heavy and evidently too heavy for Jesus to carry in His wounded condition. But Luke, a precise recorder of the events wrote, “they laid hold” of him. That phrase is summed up in one Greek word meaning seized him. Simon helped reluctantly, because the cross was heavy, because it was a cross of shame and because it was a cross of death.
What a description of the work of Jesus. He is carrying His cross as we are commanded to carry our cross. “And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23) Jesus was saying that He was going to die by way of the cross. And we are also to die by way of the cross. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.” (Luke 9:24) The cross was heavy for Jesus. Our cross is heavy and like Jesus we feel sometimes we’re unable to bear it. And like Simon, we are reluctant to carry it. But Jesus tells us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) And this is what Simon did. He carried the back part of the cross, the lighter load. Jesus carried the heavier load. The phrase “that he might bear it after Jesus” means the rear part, the lighter part. And what a picture of what Jesus is asking us to do. When we pick up our cross and carry our cross, Jesus is carrying the heavier part of it for us. Jesus is not asking us to do anything He didn’t do first. And He is not asking us to do it alone. He is right there carrying the heavier part of our cross.
Just like Jesus died on the cross, we are to die on our cross. We are to die to self. Luke’s words are “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily.” This is a daily commitment. We cannot say we will do it for a week, a month or a year. This is too long a commitment. But daily we determine to take up our cross, just for that day, for however long it takes.
“If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27) These words that Jesus said are as hard to take and understand now as they were then. Part of bearing our cross is to love Jesus more than our fathers, mothers, wives (and husbands), children, brothers, sisters and our own lives. The Greek word that was translated hate means to love less. This is why it’s so important to study the Bible and not merely read it. We need to have a real understanding of what Jesus said or we can be led astray or deceived. What Jesus was saying was that to follow Him and be His disciple, we must love Him above all else and everyone else, even ourselves. We must take up our cross, no matter how shameful or how heavy and die to our flesh, our desires, our wants and dreams, because we are not alone. He is carrying the heavier part.
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