Must Jesus Bare The Cross Alone

"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

"Must Jesus bare the cross alone and all the world go free, No there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me." What a beautiful phrase to a wonderful song. In the gospel of Luke we're studying the final day of Jesus our Saviour. The bible tells us that Jesus beaten and spat upon was forced to carry his cross but He being severally wounded and exhausted was unable to, enter Simon of Cyrene. All 3 synoptic gospels mention Simon from the country of Cyrene which was associated with Africa, so this means that Simon was a black man. This was not a voluntary act of Simon, but rather this job was thrust upon him. There was no evidence that he was forced. I believe when they told him to do this, that he willingly did it.

Condemned prisoners were required to carry the heavy crossbeam of their cross to the execution site. Jesus, exhausted from a sleepless night and severely wounded and weakened by whipped by a cat of nine tails, which is a shorten type of multi-tailed whip. Jesus our Lord and Saviour was unable to continue. The Roman guards conscripted Simon, apparently at random, to carry Jesus’ crossbeam the rest of the way. Simon, from the North African city of Cyrene, was on his way into Jerusalem. The identification of him as “the father of Alexander and Rufus” (Rom. 16:13), is evidence of Mark’s connection with the church at Rome. Most people who were crucified carried their own cross, but the cruelty with which they had scourged Jesus had left His physical body so weak that there was a need for someone to carry this heavy cross for Him. There were Jews living in that area and many believe Simon was a Jew, as well as being an African. God uses little things like this to show His acceptance of different races of people. We're all one in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Even though they seemed to force this on Simon, we see no protest on his part. He will have a crown in glory for helping the Lord. There is a great deal of spiritual meaning here, as well. Jesus said all believers must take up their cross daily and follow Him. It may not be a wooden cross, but we too have one to bear. Simon took up the cross and followed Jesus. "Must Jesus bare the cross alone and all the world go free, No there's a cross for everyone and there's a cross for me."