I want you to turn, please, to
Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15. I want to talk
to you about Simon the cross-bearer this morning, if the Lord will help me. And I would like for you to Insert
yourself into this person, Simon. Associate yourself with him and
in this record of him carrying the cross. See him as yourself. Verse 21, Mark 15, reads like
this. And they compel one Simon, a
Cyrenian, who passed by coming out of the country, Cyrene, where
he lived, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry the cross. This record of Christ being carried,
a cross being carried to his crucifixion is contained in all
four of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And just
listen to me as I read the other three of those accounts to you. Matthew describes it, and as
they came out of Jerusalem, it's talking about there, they found
a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, that's a Jewish name, and him
they compelled to bear the cross. Luke describes it this way. And
as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian,
that's said in all of them, coming out of the country, and on him
they laid the cross that he might bear it, get this now, after
Jesus. You take that cross, you get
behind him, and you follow him. That's basically what he was
compelled to do. The Apostle John says in his,
the gospel that he wrote that Christ carried his cross. In other words, Christ carried
his own cross. And he, Christ, bearing his cross,
went forth unto a place called the place of a skull, which is
called in the Hebrew Golgotha. Had not John recorded that fact,
we would have never had any reason to believe that Christ had carried
his cross himself. I never realized that, actually,
until I got to studying it. And I hasten to add, it's not
a contradiction with what the other three gospels say, what
the gospels say, that our Lord carried the cross himself, except
we had that, it's not a contradiction in that fact because Between
those verses, it simply means that our Lord carried the cross
himself until he was exhausted, until he couldn't carry it anymore. And after that, Simon was pressed
by the soldiers into the service of carrying that cross. Isaiah
describes Christ as having his visage so marred more than any
man and his form more than the sons of men. He was beyond recognition
after the whippings and the lashings of Pilate's servants that he
wasn't even recognizable as a man. I want us to see him. And I want
to ask you, how do you see him? And I want to use Simon as the
example. His visage, Christ's visage,
was so marred and His form so emaciated, He was not recognizable as a
man, but we have God in the flesh and the workmanship of the divine
Spirit of God and without sin in that condition. Pilate had
him stripped naked and fastened him to a pillar and severely
whipped him, hoping that the Jews would be satisfied with
what he was punishing, how he was punishing him, and not demand
that he be killed. Hoping that the Jews would be
satisfied with that scourging that he inflicted upon Christ
and that they would agree to his release But in spite of Pilate
and having that view, it was still unjust for him to do that
thing because he knew that he was scourging an innocent man
because he said, I find no fault in him. But it was foretold. by Christ
himself, and it was a necessity that those things he suffered, those things which he suffered
were necessary because that's what the prophets had foretold.
Believers see all this suffering as an emblem of the strokes and
the scourges of divine justice for sin, all that he endured. was for them, was for you. You see, Simon, that he endured
being the surety for his people in his soul and in their place. And though he was innocent, his
being scourged shows that it was not for his own sin, but
the sins of others. Pilate said that. He found no fault in it. He was
stripped by the Roman soldiers. Lashed, horse whipped with a
Roman cat of nine tails, beyond recognition as a man. And they
planted a crown of thorns and shoved it down around his head. They put on him a purple robe,
which is the color of royalty, and gave him a crown of thorns
so that he would kingly, that was his kingly dress, as they
perceived it. They yanked out his beard, spit
in his face, and saluted him with, Hail, King of the Jews,
in a mocking fashion. And never was any man's face
more unrecognizable as a man or his form more altered than
he was. Now here I want to point out,
though I've said those things and made those descriptions as
such, I want to point out, while I was studying this, Holy Scripture
teaches us by example to be reserved about the great sufferings of
our Savior. Some of the old commentators,
Gene, you may have had experience with this, Some of the old commentators,
they're good people, who have written volumes concerning the
sufferings of Christ are too ready to expand upon every little
minute detail of his physical grief that he suffered. I think
you'll get it when I explain here. They described his sufferings in great detail, they do that
to stir up their hearer's feelings. If you picture that, it's easy
to feel sorry for him. But scripture doesn't give us
all those details, give us such an example to follow. It just simply states those things.
He spit in his face. They whipped him. No detail about
the lashings. No detail about which side of
his face the beard was pulled out of. And instead of detailing
us with an anatomy lesson on his sufferings, the scriptures
point us to his divinity. Have you ever noticed that? They
use those things to point to His divinity, God-man, the God-man. There's a lot that He endured
which can't be revealed, and whether He fainted once or twice
or three times, or didn't faint at all, we're not informed of
those things. True believers leave those ideas behind to worship
him and his deity. That's the point. They see the
one who is God incarnate, but tender in body and soul, and
who suffered the penalty of our sin, which is eternal death in
a love that surpasses all knowledge. Now, back to Simon. What can we know about that man? There's not a lot that's certain
which can be known about him. But this is the only occasion
that his name is ever mentioned, recorded, or considered. Simon, first of all, the name
Simon, is a Jewish name. He was a Cyrenian. These things
are in the verse we read. Cyrene was a settlement located
on the North African coast across the Mediterranean Sea from Israel,
located between two cities named Carthage and Egypt. our two countries between Carthage
and Egypt, and it corresponds with what we know as Tripoli
today, that being unimportant. But it was a far journey from
where he lived to the place in which he's found. And Jews were settled there in
very large numbers. And they traveled to Jerusalem
for the feast of Pentecost each year. It's my opinion, I have no proof,
that that man had traveled 800 miles. I think is what it is. I'm not sure. Don't hold me to
that. But to attend that feast. He
had two sons. Their names were Alexander and
Rufus. And the mention of his sons in
this verse would lead us to believe that Mark is saying, Mark is
saying you all know Alexander and Rufus, his sons, because
they were remarkable in the church at that time that Mark wrote
this book. And it could mean that their
father Simon was also a disciple of Christ, at least when these
gospels were written, whatever he was at the time of the crucifixion. He may not have known Christ.
But I think that he practiced the feast and the sacrifices
from a distance there in Cyrenia by coming to Pentecost. The apostle
Paul salutes, you remember this, the apostle Paul in the book
of Romans, he said, greet, or something to that effect, Rufus
and his mother. in Romans 16, verse 13, where
he says, Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, chosen, Rufus, chosen
in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Paul spoke of who apparently
was Simon's wife being his mother. I haven't, that's just an extreme
acquaintance, a close acquaintance which he had of Rufus, a mentioning
of that acquaintance that he had with Rufus and his mother. That affection expressed by Paul
seems to mean they were quite well known to him, obviously,
and the church in Rome at that time. Now, jump from there and ask
this question. What could have prompted these
Roman soldiers to compel Simon to carry our Lord's cross? Well,
you got two considerations. He's not a believer, but he's
chosen. And, or he's not a believer.
And well, let me just say this. They could have chosen Simon
for a couple of different reasons or any other in the whole crowd. There was a multitude there. Because they could have chosen
him because he was shouting crucifying louder than anybody else. They
say, look here, we've got a guy that really believes in what
we're doing. He'll get out there and walk behind him scoffing
him. It could be that he was the first to spit in Christ's
face, or even first one to pluck the beard out of his face. Put
yourself in Simon's place now. And the soldiers thought he might
enjoy the task of contributing to our Lord's death. But there's
another reason. that he may have been chosen
and compelled by these folks. And it's one that I choose to
be the most probable. Who is the person, now get this,
who is the person who could watch another man surrounded by these
hellhounds with dry eyes? We see people in the street getting
whipped and murdered and everything else and nobody even turning
around, even turning their back on doing anything about it, calling
the police, involving themselves or anything else. But it, human nature alone by
itself in all of its depravity and without one ounce of grace
added to it has some remains of a conscience and feeling to
show that it's not totally void of humanity. A man that doesn't express that, something wrong with him. We
all know what's wrong with him, but this gives us reason to think
that the soldiers may have observed some degree of sympathy in the
countenance of Simon, which provoked them to lay the cross on him. Maybe he just shook his head. or perhaps his eyes were a little
watery, like the women that were there, that the Lord told, don't
weep for me, weep for yourself. Now, all of that said, it still
remains that we know that Simon was compelled. What does that
word mean, compelled? When we see the word compel in
the New Testament, as I have studied and think I'm right, it means to put constraint on
one, to constrain him. And that word has an element
with it that involves three things, the option of three things, or
maybe all three things. Involves threat, constraint,
force, and persuasion. Threat, force, or persuasion.
Compelling someone can be accomplished by persuasion, or force, or threat. I looked at several places where
the word constrained was used. And the main one I'll give you
is that Christ constrained his disciples in Matthew 14, 22 and
Mark 6, 45 to get into the boat. He didn't force them to. Well,
maybe he did through persuasion. He compelled them through that
persuasion It's interesting to note that Simon was pressed. That meaning is involved with
compel also. He was pressed into duty. And
the word used, astoundingly to me, signifies that the person
who is compelled was impressed into a royal service. It has
a connotation of royal service. This is exactly the way the Lord
deals with us in bringing us to Christ. You see that? You see that? We're compelled. We're brought into his presence
willingly in the day of his power. Drawn. Forced. But he's drawing us in his loving
kindness and constraining love may use all three elements of
the meaning of that word. You know, there is a degree of
threat we feel at times, but his loving kindness and his
constraining love is what brings us to his feet. With that in
mind, let's put ourselves in Simon's place again. We're told
by Christ to take up our cross and follow
him. That's exactly what happened
here. Simon took that cross and they told him in God's providence,
they laid that cross on him and said, get behind him and follow
me. Get behind him and follow me.
When he had called the people unto him with his disciples also,
he said to them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me. Simon denied himself merely
by the fact that they were able to compel him to carry that cross. What'd that crowd think of Simon
following him down through there? His cross was his reproach. And so he was bearing the reproach
of Christ. And that's what Christ tells
us to do. Take up your cross. Hebrews 13 and verse 13 says,
let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing
what? His Christ's reproach. And the cross of Christ is Christ's
reproach. And Simon was carrying it. And
Simon was carrying it. This is where the meaning of
take up your cross and follow me, I believe is defined. he
took on himself the reproach of Christ. It was necessary for
Christ to be led out of the city. That had to happen because the
prophets had said that he must not die in Jerusalem. He must
be carried outside the camp, away from the place of sacrifice,
to die in an ordinary place. Though the temple was the central
place of sacrifice, and I've never really thought about this,
the Son of God was not to be and must not be offered on those
altars. He had to be carried outside
the camp. He mustn't die on their altars. The rulers of the city
so hated and so detested Christ and his reproof of them in his
preaching that they rejected him and wouldn't even allow him
to die within their city walls. But it was in fulfillment of
God's prophecy. Like a thing that was accursed,
he's being hung where every other felon Every other fellow suffered their deserved punishment. It
was the commonplace where all ordinary criminals suffer. And
it was done exactly as God determined it to be done. Do you see Simon carrying that
cross after Christ, following Christ? Followers of Christ are to take
up their cross and follow Him, and we're despised for our association
with Christ and our faith in Christ. People can't believe
you. You really believe He's gonna save you? You really believe
that that man is gonna save you? The reproach of Christ is synonymous
to the reproach of Simon there. as he bore that cross on that
occasion. He was bearing the reproach of
Christ by his association with him. He was worshiping a devil. Simon, in the eyes of this mob,
was worshiping a devil simply by submitting to carrying that
cross. And so his reproach is our reproach. Let's look at how Christ was
dressed. That's a part of this context. You might think this
is a trivial thing, but I believe there's something to learn by
looking at it. How is he dressed? In the context, we find that
they had mocked him. And they had put a robe on him,
a purple robe, a robe of royalty in color. But they removed it
from him when he was let out. and they put his own clothes
back on him. Have you ever thought about why
they do that? Ordinary clothing. Clothing which
was common to those he associated with, but there was one thing
conspicuous about what they did in terms of his dress. They took
off that royal robe, but were not told that they removed his
crown of thorns. He continued to wear that to
the cross and on the cross. Why? Because Pilate had written
above him, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Was that crown of thorns appropriate
at all? Appropriate in terms of that
description? Well, listen to this, I find
it interesting. He died a royal monarch wearing
that crown. He was king of the curse. When God cursed the human race
and Adam, he said, cursed is the ground for your sake. Thorns
and thistles shall it bring forth to you. And now we see the king
of that curse, the king of glory. And he's the man by whom we are
redeemed from the curse that was put on us in the garden. And he's crowned with the very
product, the curse of the earth, which came by the curse of man
in Adam's fall. That's the only reason those
things ever existed. Thorns and thistles. He was given his own clothing
so that all who looked on him might know that it was the same
man who had preached in their streets. Still dressed the same, looked
the same. Without a doubt, it was that
man that they had, had, had, seen and known preaching and
healing those around him, preaching to and healing those around him.
He went about, preached in their streets, healed the blind, lame,
and the sick, and he even raised the dead. There was no possibility
of misapprehension. They knew it was Jesus of Nazareth, the pretender that they thought
This change of his dress was also necessary in another thing. The fulfillment of them restoring
his robe by which would later cast, for which they would later
cast lots because his robe was woven of one piece. One piece,
woven throughout. It was not sewn, it was woven
throughout. And it would have been worthless
if they had shared it by tearing it, cutting it, and dividing
it. So they cast lots for one to
get it in its entirety. That was predicted, and it must
come to pass. That was prophesied, not predicted,
and it must come to pass. Now the point of all this is
can't we wear our own clothes following Christ? Consider that
now. Can't we wear our own clothes?
Can't we wear our own habits? Can't we have our own characteristics
and our own peculiarities and serve the Lord? I say we can. Christ did. I'm a little suspicious
sometimes of how unnatural people are in services which require
men to put on some foolish, strange, outlandish dress, behavior, or speech, or even
feign a religious life by their conversation. Religionists think
they got to step out of their way and dress up to attend their
religious service to God. It's evil for a man. Evil, that's
what I said. When he can't lead in prayer
till he's gone to his closet and properly dressed himself
to do it. It was under the Old Testament
law that that was important. It was under the Old Testament
law when dress and vestments meant something. But ever since
our great high priest went up to that one sacrifice, wearing his common clothes, all
those types and pictures of the Old Testament law was fulfilled
and set aside. It's not necessary anymore. Look at Christ's company. Who
was around him? Simon's company, too, after he
took that cross. Who were those that were with
Christ when he was led up to die, led out to die? The first thing I think of is
these Roman soldiers. They were strong men, muscular,
unfeeling, murderous. They were ruthless. They had
no regard for human life. They were without human affection,
natural affection. In an instant, they would follow
any order given them, no matter how cruel it was. But you know
what? That didn't keep our Lord from
choosing a trophy out of them. Our Lord had a trophy from that
cruel band, and he cried out, certainly this was the Son of
God. It was a confession of faith
from one who became a disciple and a witness. There were two other men hanging
with him. One, after mocking him, finally said, we suffer
justly, but this man has done nothing amiss, nothing wrong. And then he prayed, Lord, remember
me when you come to your kingdom. The Lord said, today, you'll
be with me in paradise, a murderer. And our Lord even prayed for
his enemies before him. Father, forgive them, because
they don't know what they're doing. 40 days later, he saved 3,000 of
them, and I think it was every one he prayed for from that cross,
every one of them. They were the worst of mankind,
soldiers and the people, taking delight in his sufferings and
his death. How was that soldier and that
thief conquered? They were won by his loving kindness
and his gentleness. He didn't open his mouth. And suddenly that Roman soldier,
the thief, and hung with him, and perhaps even Simon, saw him
for who he really is. Wonderful counselor. Mighty God. The fairest of women and the
chiefest among 10,000. those who carry, those who bear
Christ's reproach and the world's hatred of Christ. Those who have
taken up their cross and walk behind him, after him, see this
emaciated visage of his sufferings and form for exactly who he is. He's the chiefest among ten Ba'ath.