“A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.”
Mark 15:21 (NIV)
Sometimes it seems like our plans get hijacked by random events which are outside of our control. That’s how Simon, the Cyrene felt. As a Jewish husband and father, he had big plans to travel to Jerusalem with his family to enjoy the Passover holiday. He was from a city in North Africa, which today is located in the country of Libya. While Simon was in Jerusalem, he saw crowds of people lining the streets to see a procession of a condemned criminal carrying his cross.
While watching the scene as a bystander, Simon was suddenly pulled from the crowd, and compelled by Roman soldiers to carry the criminal’s cross. He didn’t even know who Jesus was at the time and probably pleaded with the soldiers, saying that he had nothing to do with him.
All his plans for a pleasant vacation fell apart as he was forced to carry a heavy cross and walk beside a condemned criminal he didn’t even know.
Roman law required that sentenced criminals carry their own crosses, but Jesus was weak, having lost a lot of blood from the beatings, so that He could barely walk, much less carry a cross. When Simon was pulled from that crowd, it looked like he was randomly selected, but nothing is random with God.
In the time it took for Simon to carry the cross up the hill of Golgotha, he actually had a closer view of Jesus’ suffering, than anyone else had. He saw every bloody wound that covered His body from head to toe. In those physically close moments, Simon locked eyes with Jesus, not knowing anything about Him or the charges brought against Him. Yet, he knew he was not looking at the face of a criminal. What first seemed like being at the wrong place, at the wrong time, became a life changing walk with his Messiah and Savior.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all wrote about Simon, the Cyrene, in their gospels years later, describing him as the father of Alexander and Rufus, which indicates that they came to know him and his family. Scripture leaves hints that Simon and his family later became part of the early Christian church in Rome. The apostle Paul also wrote about Simon’s son Rufus, as being “chosen in the Lord”, along with his mother, as faithful servants of God.
(Romans 16:13)
What seemed like a random act of misfortune, ruining Simon’s Passover plans, had a special and divine purpose afterall. He brought his family to Jerusalem at the most popular time of the year, to find their Passover lamb, and instead, they found their Savior, the Passover Lamb of God. Although, no more is mentioned in scripture about Simon, it’s obvious that his close walk with Jesus, changed his life and his family’s lives forever.
We may have days like Simon’s, when some unpleasant and random event, later turns out to be a new path that God was leading us to all along. No profound words were spoken to Simon, and he witnessed no miracles. He simply walked beside Jesus, but looking in His eyes, his life took a whole new direction.
We can learn through Simon, the Cyrene, that when it seems like a random event or person has ruined our plans, there might be a better plan that God is leading us to.
All we need to do is keep walking beside Jesus in His resurrection power. As we take quiet moments to gaze into His eyes, His presence lightens our burdens and empowers us to go with the flow of unexpected and random events. God always has our best interests in mind, bringing us to the right place at the right time, opening up new paths for us to follow.
Lord, we choose to keep walking beside you, and to trust that nothing is random, and you are guiding our lives every single day. We know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Amen
