“Faces at the Cross: Simon of Cyrene” Luke 23:26 The Rev. Dr. William E. W. Robinson Salem Presbyterian Church The First Sunday in Lent March 10, 2019

This Lent, our sermon series is called: “Faces at the Cross.” Lent is a season of reflection, repentance, and renewal, so in this series we will plumb the lives of people with Christ at the cross to learn lessons their lives teach us. Today, the face at the cross is that of Simon of Cyrene. Let us pray.

Who was Simon of Cyrene?

Like some in the Bible (e.g., possibly Mary Magdalen), he’s identified by his home city. Cyrene was the capital of the Roman province of Cyrenaica in northern Africa (in present-day Libya). In Jesus’ day, there was a Jewish community there. In fact, by the first century, Cyrene had been home to Jews for at least three centuries. I provide this Jewish background of the city because scholars speculate that Simon was Jewish.

Simon of Cyrene only appears three times in the entire New Testament: in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. (He’s not mentioned in the Gospel of John.) In each of those first three Gospels, he’s the person who carries Jesus’ cross to Golgotha, where Jesus is crucified.

In today’s text, we read that Simon “was coming from the country.” That could mean that he lived or worked somewhere outside the city of Jerusalem. It’s also possible that he was in Palestine for Passover. That would mean he’d traveled from Cyrene (a journey of several weeks in the first century). In that !2 case, he may have been “coming from the country” because that’s where he was staying due to the lack of accommodations in Jerusalem during Passover.

Those first three Gospels agree that Simon was forced to carry Christ’s cross. He didn’t volunteer to carry it. (First-century readers would’ve known that “cross” meant the crossbeam. The other, vertical beam would’ve already been implanted in the ground. So, the painting on the front cover of the bulletin has that right.)

How was Simon forced to carry the cross? And what was that like? In “The Face of Simon of Cyrene,” the Christian poet J. Barrie Shepherd imagines answers to questions like these. Listen to this excerpt written from Simon’s perspective that fateful day:

How I got involved in this I’ll never know. I was on my way into the city, trying to finish up my business there and get on the way back home before the Sabbath, when I heard a commotion in the streets. Next thing I knew I was in the middle of a mob leading, dragging three poor souls out of the city to their deaths by crucifixion.

Just as I was trying to work my way toward the edges of the crowd, a rough hand grasped me by the shoulder, span me around, and I saw I was in the hold of one of the Roman legionaries from the fort. He led me to the officer in charge, saying:

Here’s a fine strong fellow, from the country !3

by the look of him. Maybe he’s from Galilee and a follower of the Jew-King here. He’ll do to carry the cross.

And, before I could protest, they had shoved me under an enormous wooden cross that had been lying in the road and prodded me into lifting it, bearing it down the street.

Well, it doesn’t do to argue too much with these Roman soldiers. For one thing, they don’t speak our language, most of them, and for another, they are apt to turn on you and fling you in their cells to cool off overnight. Besides, if they really thought I was a follower of one of these unfortunates, then who’s to say where I might end up if I’m not careful?

I like the picture Shepherd paints of Simon in his poem. It doesn’t, however, answer another critical question: Why was Simon forced to carry Jesus’ cross? The scholarly consensus is that Jesus was so weak from his flogging prior to this that Roman soldiers feared Jesus would die before got to Golgotha. If that were to happen, then Pilate’s sentence of crucifixion wouldn’t be carried out. (This explanation is bolstered by the surprise reported in some Gospels at how swiftly Jesus died once he was crucified.)

Today’s text begs other questions such as: Did anything happen as Simon was carrying Jesus’ cross? And what happened after Simon carried Jesus’ cross to Golgotha? What did he think of Jesus? Did he think Jesus was just another criminal executed that day? Did !4

Simon stay and watch the crucifixion? Or did he split as soon as he carried that crossbeam to Golgotha?

Listen again to what Shepherd envisions happened (from another excerpt from that same poem):

As we walked, or rather stumbled, through the streets, he met my eye, from time to time, and I felt drawn to him. He was obviously sorry I had to bear his burden, but more than that, it seemed as if he had some kind of secret word, or gift, to share with me, something he wanted to say.

It was then I noticed he was mouthing something, trying to get words across to me above the din… and, failing though he was, bellowed these words over the clamor of the street:

God loves you.

…I felt suddenly sure of who I was and what I was doing. I felt that, of all the places in the world, there was no place I would rather be than here, compelled to bear this awful weight. I felt as if my life, maybe, had moved across all of its years toward this moment and these eyes, toward these words that simply said:

God loves you. !5

So I’m standing here, all thought of business long forgot, waiting for another glimpse of those eyes, another moving of those lips, another chance to hear that news that shook me to the core, still shakes me now as I recall it, and heals me deep in places where I never dreamt I needed to be healed.

…Can I find a way to shape my days around that simple message he is dying to make live in me just now?

…God loves you.

Shepherd imagines Simon deeply affected by his encounter with the Lord. He’s a changed man. From a person forced to carry Christ’s cross to a person willing to take up his cross and follow Christ. And, based on some Biblical evidence, it’s plausible that Simon did indeed become a follower of Christ.

What about us? How will we take up our crosses and follow Christ, especially in this holy season of Lent?

Maybe we’ll make space to listen, truly listen to the Lord, using the devotional guides we’ve provided or reading some Scripture each day.

Maybe we won’t give up chocolate for Lent but will instead sacrifice for others—in big ways or in small ways.

Maybe we’ll take up our crosses by letting go of that grudge, forgiving, working to reconcile. !6

Maybe we’ll pray for that child or person we think is a bad apple or who drives us crazy or who we don’t like.

Maybe…

How will you take up your cross and follow Christ, particularly in Lent?

Or in the words of Shepherd’s poem: Can we find a way to shape our days around that simple message that Jesus is dying to make live in us now? God loves you.

Amen and amen.