He Did What He Could

I will write each day about some aspect of Holy week, according to the Scriptural references that record Jesus’ last days on earth.   I will not interpret Jesus’s thoughts and action but will instead take the point of view of an observer to these singular events, puzzling, wondering and discovering insights that may illuminate our own walk through Holy Week.

Today’s scripture is Mark 15:1-47.   This passage describes the entire day of Good Friday. Below is an excerpt from this account: 

Mark 15:21 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.

Recorded in all four Gospels are many verses with excruciating detail describing the dramatic and painful story of Jesus’ last hours.  Prosecutors, persecutors, bullies and bystanders shape the story as they torment and heckle and mock and maim. Believers waited for their chance to minister to Jesus’ body- Joseph of Arimathea, the Marys and disciples and followers. There was another person in this story, however. In a single line of scripture, we meet Simon the Cyrene.

Simon enters the story as if by accident. He was passing through Jerusalem one afternoon after a stay in the countryside (Some say he was a gardener). He turned down a familiar street and was suddenly forced into a macabre parade. It seems likely that he was surprised and confused, and the jeering crowds probably added to his fear. He had no choice but to stoop and shoulder a burden for a weak and tormented man. He plodded slowly towards Golgotha; his body bent with the weight. Was he angry, mystified and resentful?  Why was he the one to carry this load? Why hadn’t he turned down a different street?   What would happen if he stumbled and fell?   Would he somehow be forced onto this cross himself?

I wonder, was there a moment when Simon looked up and saw the poor bleeding man who was walking before him? Did understanding and compassion gradually begin to replace anger and fear?  Logic, faith, and a dash of hope steer me towards the belief that Simon was changed by his encounter that day, that he saw something in Jesus’ injured, weak body besides suffering.  Perhaps Simon stayed until the bitter end, witnessing Jesus’ death, plunged into sudden darkness, shaken by a frightening earthquake.  Maybe he lingered a few days to hear the fantastic news that Jesus was resurrected.  Maybe he quickly returned home and only later did the full implication of Simon’s own part in the story compel him to wonder about Jesus’ life as well as his death.

Does Simon’s unlikely, probably unwilling help make his service to Jesus any less valuable?  I hope not.  There are so many times when I was asked to fulfill a responsibility and did so with less than a willing heart.  Opportunities to serve may be joyous.  They may also be hard, inconvenient, even frightening. I can feel weak and inadequate and wish that someone else would lean into a responsibility that is being asked of me. This, I reason, is a job that anyone could do; it doesn’t have to be me. Then, I remember Simon, and that one line of scripture.  On that singular day, he did a singular thing:  he carried a heavy physical burden for the One whose miraculous life carried us all towards God. Did he stumble or give up?  There is no indication that he did.  Was he physically strong enough to do this job?  Somehow, he found the strength.  Each slow step gave a shred of comfort in a comfortless time and place.

We will never know just how Simon’s life was changed by his part in Jesus’ final walk.  Some Biblical traditions place Simon the Cyrene as one who spread the gospel in Egypt.  Some say he joined with the apostle Thaddeus. Some say he is never mentioned again in Christian tradition. I give him credit for what we know he did do: he carried the Cross. What he was initially forced to do, I pray, became a willing burden, even a blessing.  Perhaps he carried the Cross for the rest of his life.  We do not know all that his future held, but on that day, he did what he could.

That is a fitting way to move towards the closing hours of Good Friday, and the final days of Lent: to look ahead towards the face and form of Jesus; to keep on walking along with him; to shoulder a burden; to see that burden transform into a blessing. Nothing that I have done or will do will ever rate a single line of scripture.  I pray, however, that like Simon of Cyrene, I will  move forward, doing what I can.

The cross of Golgotha that was carried by Simone of Cyrene was not beautiful that Good Friday.  Over the cross has become a precious symbol of Love and Sacrifice. This simple cross has an arrow pointing to three sparkling purple jewels, a symbol of the Holy Trinity. 

O God, there is always something new to learn even from a story we have read hundreds of times.  Thank you for Simon’s story. Thank you for the reminder that while some are called to lives of extreme service, many of us are called to do what we can. Give us the courage to respond with Love and Grace. Amen.