Luke 23:26-31 (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Crucifixion was a horrible form of execution used by 1^st century Romans. Yet it was the form of death that God had ordained. Jesus was led to the place of execution, forced to carry his own cross. It wasn’t actually the entire cross that Jesus carried, but the crossbeam that would attach horizontally onto the pole that would stand in the ground. This crossbeam could have weighed up to one hundred pounds. Since Jesus was a carpenter and a thirty-year-old man, it would not have been difficult for him to carry this piece of wood a short distance. But Jesus had been so badly beaten and tortured that he just didn’t have the strength to carry the crossbeam. Just when it appeared there might be a problem, a North African man from the city of Cyrene “happened” to walk up. His name was Simon. He was an answer to the Romans’ dilemma of what to do with Jesus’ cross. The Romans would never have picked up a cross and been identified with that type of shame. So Simon was seized and forced to carry Jesus’ cross. It all must have happened so quickly. Simon was minding his own business one minute, and before he could blink, he was carrying the heavy crossbeam for a condemned criminal. Little did Simon know he was modeling what it was like to be Jesus’ disciple. Like Simon, followers of Jesus must also “take up their crosses” and follow after him.

Then Jesus made an interesting statement to the women present, weeping and mourning for him. He said, “Do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.” They would soon suffer greatly during the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans, so they should mourn for themselves. But what happened to Simon? In the Gospel of Mark, Simon’s sons are mentioned by name: Alexander and Rufus (Mark 15:21). How did Mark know Simon’s sons? Many believe that Simon actually became a follower of Jesus! How amazing! God uses even unexpected circumstances for our good. Simon must have regularly thanked God for selecting him to pick up that crossbeam and follow Jesus. If God is allowing you to live with an odd situation right now, be encouraged. You never know! You may end up thanking him for it later.