Simon of Cyrene: The man who carried Jesus’ cross

Jesus fell to the ground under the burden of the cross. After their efforts to get Him to continue on His way, the Roman soldiers are in trouble, looking for a solution to the situation. According to Roman law, they could force a traveler to help carry the burden for a mile. They found Simon of Cyrene, seized him, and put the cross on his back to take it after Jesus.

Simon of Cyrene was a Jew who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. To hasten Jesus’ execution by crucifixion the soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross, which weighed approximately 88 pounds, a distance of three quarters of a mile from the fortress of Antonia to Calvary.

Simon is mentioned in three of the Gospel accounts: Matthew (27:32), Mark (15:21), and Luke (23:26). Each of these scriptural reports tell us something different about the man, Simon of Cyrene, and in turn, tell us something important about our life with Jesus.

First, it is not to be overlooked that Simon carried Jesus’ cross. Matthew and Mark clearly state the object Simon carried: “His [Jesus’] cross.” This might sound obvious, but it is insightful that this man, Jesus, who all the gospel writers clearly understand to be God incarnate, needs assistance at his moment of suffering. Simon carrying Jesus’ cross is our reminder of the humility of God.

God is always purposeful, and He may have directed the soldiers to choose Simon of Cyrene to carry the Lord’s cross for a portion of the way to Calvary. We must not lose sight of the fact that Immanuel (God with us), the Creator, the One who carries our burdens accepted help from a man. What a lesson in humility. And we know that part of the execution process involved shameful, public humiliation. Simon did not merely spectate; he also partook in the Lord’s advance toward crucifixion.

If we imagine the scene along the way, we envision crowds taunting the Lord as He bears the weight of His cross. The people probably jostled each other to see the Christ go by, the One to whom they so recently cried “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Isaiah says, “He was despised and rejected by men…He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Matthew and Mark say Simon “was pressed into service” to carry the cross, while Luke says Simon “was seized” and had the cross laid on him. In each account, Simon is pressed into service. The passages do not say he volunteered. In a manner of spiritualizing what Simon did, we, too, would rather not carry our own crosses.

The second significant thing about Simon of Cyrene, is that he is named. The Gospel of Mark gives us the longest introduction of who Simon is: “…a passerby, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.”

The significance of Mark naming Simon of Cyrene, who assisted Jesus, is a clear signal of the authority of the story. At the time of the circulation of Mark’s gospel, around 65 AD, Simon of Cyrene and his children could have been tracked down to corroborate this event. I can imagine someone hearing of this event and seeking out Simon or his children Rufus and Alexander to ask: “Did this really happen?” Was Jesus really who He said He was?” Mark is certain of their answer.

But it is also important that Simon is named here because there are not many names mentioned in the Bible. As we read God’s Word, anytime anyone is given a name with a location and a short genealogy, we must pay attention and note the significance of the passage of scripture. Consider this, how many “passerbyers” go unnamed in the New Testament? How many families, crowds, and even those who were healed from illnesses go without any proper name acknowledgment? Countless.

When the New Testament authors cite someone by name it shows us their significance in the story. The significance of Simon of Cyrene is that he helped Jesus during his time of need. Billions of humans have lived and died since the time of Jesus’ death on the cross, but still today we know Simon for what he did on Good Friday. Perhaps this shows us what God Himself remembers: our acts of kindness (no matter how small or large) to serve those who are suffering.

Finally, it is significant that Simon carried the cross “behind Jesus” as Luke mentions in Luke 23:6: “And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.” It is my opinion that Simon of Cyrene became, in some metaphorical way, the first Christian.

Let me explain. Before His arrest and betrayal, Jesus said to His followers in Luke 9:23: “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” To be a Christian is to live a “cruciform life,” a kind of existence that is shaped by and through the cross. Jason James states: “we are called to embrace a cruciform life, in which the cross doesn’t simply teach us that Christ has died, but teaches us how to live.” (Jason James, Embrace the Cruciform Life, 2022)

The Christian ministry is the cross and resurrection; sacrificial love and life. We who are followers of Jesus Christ surrender to the life and death of Christ so that his life may be manifested in our mortal bodies. Simon carried the cross provided for Jesus and that is exactly what we must do today. As Paul wrote , “we do this so that we may know Jesus “and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10):

Simon of Cyrene, following behind Jesus with the cross, is the picture of discipleship. Christ has gone first. He has gone and is going to where we cannot. Still, we follow in his steps, bearing the cross behind him. This is why Christians today join their hearts together in song singing, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” written by a Christian martyr named Sadu Sundar Singh.

“I have decided to follow Jesus; The world behind me, the cross before me; Though none go with me, still I will follow; My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus; No turning back, no turning back.”

Amen! God Bless!