Simon Commanded to Carry The Cross

Mark 15:16–23
» View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway)

A term medics often use at the scene of an accident is “rubbernecker.” This is the people who drive by the scene, straining to see the action without any intention of helping out. They are just curious, but without any compulsion or compassion. They are just like the … More

Compulsion

Jesus was led into the courtyard of the Governors’ official residence. They called together a “band” of Roman soldiers which were one tenth of a legion and that usually consisted of about six hundred men (v. 16). They put a purple robe on Jesus and made a crown out of thorns that would create a festering wound and jammed it on His head (v. 17). Then they proceeded to hit Him and spit on Him (vv. 18-19). After all of this they took the robe off Him and put His own clothes back on Him (v. 20).

Evidently they wanted Jesus to carry His own cross to the place of execution but He was so weak from what He had gone through that He was unable to carry it. So they made Simon, a Cyrenian, carry it (v. 21). His sons, Alexander and Rufus are mentioned here probably because they become well known later in the early church (Rom. 16:13). As a Cyrenian, he was from north Africa. Possibly he was a black man. Simon was there because of compulsion. He was pressed into service. No doubt he had come from that far off land for the Passover. Possibly he had scraped and saved for many years in order to come. No doubt this had been the ambition of a lifetime to eat one Passover in Jerusalem. Then this happened to him. At the moment Simon may have bitterly resented it. He may have hated the Romans, and hated this criminal whose cross he was being forced to carry.

Application

Do I go to church out of compulsion to know the Lord better or to impress others? It is very easy to do things because others are watching rather than a deep desire to get to know the Lord?

Mark 15:16-23 (English Standard Version)

Warning: MagpieRSS: Failed to parse RSS file. (Space required at line 39, column 24) in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/magpie6-1/rss_fetch.inc on line 230

Warning: array_slice() expects parameter 1 to be array, null given in /var/www/html/familytimes/includes/rss/esvLookup.php on line 15

View this passage in NIV (Bible Gateway) »