The Transforming Power of the Cross and the Resurrection Have you ever planned something special to do—something that you have really been looking forward to for a very long time—it could be a special trip or vacation—or maybe even something as simple as sitting down and reading a good book you’ve been waiting to read or watching a movie on DVD that you have been wanting to see. But, just when you get into doing it—something interrupts you. You have started out on your dream vacation—but the car has a flat tire. You are reading that book or watching the movie—and the phone rings. And you think, “Wow, why does this always happen to me?” I have to believe that that is the way that Simon must have felt on the day that Jesus was crucified. And I am not referring to Simon Peter, Jesus’ disciple. No, this is a different Simon—one who doesn’t receive quite as much attention in the Gospels. But this Simon has a story that bears telling, because in many ways he reflects the wonder and transforming power of the Cross and of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in a manner that is compelling for all of us. His story teaches us that sometimes an interruption is exactly what we may need. You see, from all indications, Simon had planned one of those special things that he has longed to do all of his life. He had scrimped and saved his money for a trip from his home town in Cyrene in order to go to the Holy City of Jerusalem. It was a long voyage to Jerusalem because Cyrene was located in North Africa in what is now the City of Tripoli, the capital of modern-day Libya.1 Since the time of the Greek rule in Palestine, there had been a large Jewish community in Cyrene and they all relished the opportunity to finally get to Jerusalem to take part in the Passover celebration. And that’s why Simon was going—he was either an ethnic Jew living in Cyrene or a recent convert to Judaism. Either way, apparently his dedication to the faith motivated him to make this special trip. So he boarded a sailing ship headed east across the Mediterranean Sea and landed in a port on the Palestinian coast, and then walked inland all the way to Jerusalem. But when he got there, he was surprised by what he saw. There was this huge crowd of people outside the city gate and there seemed to be some kind of procession going on that was being orchestrated by Roman soldiers. They seemed to be conducting three criminals up a hill for their execution. So as Simon came near to this, he naturally wanted to know what was going on. Simon may have asked, “What in the world is happening here! Why aren’t the people inside the City, surrounding the Temple in celebration of Passover? I have traveled many miles for this celebration—not just to see some criminals executed!” As Simon watched the lead criminal approaching, followed by two thieves, he would have likely seen a sign being carried behind each of them. Sometimes the Roman would do this and write upon the signs the crimes that the criminals had 1 committed in an effort to further shame them. The signs connected with the two criminals who were bringing up the rear probably stated nothing more than the word “Thief.” But, Simon could not make any sense of the sign that related to the Man out front—the one that was approaching him now and was only a few feet away—because that sign read in three languages—Hebrew, Greek and Latin: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”2 Simon must have found that very puzzling. The “King of the Jews”?—wait a minute, Simon thought, “The only King of the Jews is the Messiah.” Any good Jew knew that the Messiah would have the “government upon his shoulders.” After all, that is exactly what Isaiah prophesied when he said: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (NIV) So, how could this “criminal” be the Messiah—the only thing upon His shoulder was the wooden beam of a cross? Although Simon was apparently a devout Jew and remembered part of Isaiah’s prophecy, somehow he had forgotten something else that Isaiah said about the Messiah: 4 “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 12 He willingly gave his life and shared the fate of evil men. He took the place of many sinners and prayed that they might be forgiven.” Isaiah 53:4-5 (ESV) 12 (TEV) Turning to a man in the crowd standing beside him, Simon may have asked why was this Man called “King of the Jews”? But the man didn’t pay Simon any attention. He was too busy was shouting in an angry voice, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” So Simon would have likely turned the other way, and may have seen a woman there who was weeping. So he asked her the same question and all that she could get out through her sobs and her tears is: “His name is Jesus of Nazareth, and He is our Savior.” Now Simon was even more confused, for how could this criminal, this Jesus, be anyone’s savior, not to mention the Messiah? After all, it was quite evident that He was about to be executed. No sooner than the thought crossed Simon’s mind, did something unexpected happen—something that would bring on that unwanted interruption of Simon’s well-planned Passover trip. Up to this point, Jesus had been moving along slowly, painfully—but under His own power. Until now, Jesus had been able to bear the weight of the Cross. But, just as Jesus got outside the city gates and started to pass in front of Simon, He collapsed and fell to the ground—the heavy wooden cross-beam pounding Him as He hit the pavement. And Jesus just laid there at Simon’s feet. Now for the first time, Simon could see more clearly the mangled flesh on His back from the beating He took from Roman whips. He could see Jesus’ battered and bloody face from the fists of the soldiers who had struck Him repeatedly. And 2 Simon could see a very odd, crude crown that this Jesus was wearing—it wasn’t the kind of crown he would have associated with a King. It was one made of thorns that had been pressed harshly upon Jesus’ brow, causing even more trickles of blood to run down His face. And then that unexpected thing happened. Simon felt something on his shoulder—the tap of a sword. And that tap of the sword had a well-known meaning in the Roman world. If a Roman soldier did such a thing, it meant that you had been commandeered into the service of Rome. In other words, the soldier was making it clear that Simon was being commanded to take up Jesus’ cross and carry it the rest of the way up that steep hill that the locals called the “Skull”, due to its gruesome shape.3 Now just to be clear, the soldier wasn’t doing this out of compassion for Jesus. Rather, the soldiers who were escorting Jesus wanted to make sure that Jesus survived His walk up that hill. And the reason they wanted Him to survive was to be certain that Jesus could be crucified and tortured to the fullest extent possible—right up to the time that one of them would thrust a spear into His side as Jesus hung on the Cross. And so it was that Simon of Cyrene was now compelled by Roman law to carry the Cross of Christ the remainder of the way to Calvary. And that is exactly what Simon did. He didn’t want to do it. Until he met Jesus, Simon was headed into the city. That’s where he wanted to go—begin that Passover celebration in the Holy City as he had long dreamed about—he was carrying out his own plans for his life. The last thing that he had planned to do was to head away from the city and up a hill to assist in the execution of a criminal. But Jesus has a way of re-routing the plans of those who come to Him. Jesus has a way of turning people’s direction completely around—and such was the case with Simon. But, Simon still had quite a bit more to experience before he would take on the direction that Jesus had in store for him. It is hard to imagine that Simon and Jesus did not have at least some interaction as they climbed Calvary together—if not by words, then by perception. If Simon looked into the eyes of Jesus as he took up His Cross, he didn’t see the eyes of a guilty man. He did not see the eyes of an angry man. He did not see the eyes of a defeated man.