People of the Cross
Simon of Cyrene
During the first three Wednesdays of Lent, our Ministerial Association hosted services with the theme being: “People of the Cross.” If we would have had a service last evening, it would have focused on Simon of Cyrene. So I thought for this week’s midweek message we would keep that theme of our Lenten series in mind and share some thoughts about Simon of Cyrene.
Simon is referenced in all synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The most detail is from the gospel of Mark, which reads as follows:
Mark 15: 21 – “And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.”
That’s about all we have about Simon. It is interesting that Mark includes Simon’s sons, Alexander and Rufus. Tradition states that they became missionaries, and the inclusion of their names may suggest that they were of some standing in the early Christian church community at Rome. It has also been suggested that the Rufus mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13 is the very same Rufus, son of Simon. Some also link Simon himself with the “men of Cyrene” who preached the Gospel to the Greeks in Acts 11:20. But all this comes to us through the tradition of the early church and does not have any reference that would guarantee its accuracy in scripture.
Cyrene was a Jewish colony in North Africa. Simon was probably on his way to keep the Passover. This seems to be a very reasonable interpretation. And the fact that Mark writes for the church at Rome would connect the church’s “membership” with Simon and his two sons. That seems very reasonable as well.
So what can we get out of this text? It’s not much of a text to work with, is it? But it seems to me that Simon, who was where he should be in the Passover time of his Jewish community, finds that he is in the right place to be of some help and service to Jesus. We don’t know if he knew of Jesus until this point, but he was used regardless. Maybe, just maybe, if we put ourselves in the “right place,” and keep our ears and hearts open, we just might hear how we can help too, in being in service to our Lord. In Simon’s case, it seems that when he helped Jesus, and most probably witnessed the crucifixion, he was convinced, and that is how his sons heard and became Christians in the church at Rome. My point … doing something good for others just might be the best thing that we could have done for ourselves! Isn’t that the way it works.