way of the cross: station #5

This is station #5

Simon forced to carry Jesus' cross

Jesus is terribly weak now. The violence against his body has taken a tremendous toll. He has fallen and his cross beam is too heavy for him. The soldiers who escort the prisoners to Golgotha, a hill some distance from the city, grab a man from the crowd and force him to take Jesus’ cross. He didn’t volunteer. He was just passing through and stopped to check out what the excitement was all about. But now we know his name. We know his son’s names too, and where he’s from.

“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.” Mt 27:31-32

Why is it that 2000 years later we know this man’s name, where he lived, and what his son’s names were? He was just passing by...probably a ‘rubber-necker’ if you think about it. We don’t know if he knew who Jesus was, or if he had any feelings toward the man before being forced to carry the condemned man’s cross. Yet we know his name.

Can you imagine being there for this part of Jesus’ story? We can safely assume Simon did not want to be involved. But he became part of the story. He just stumbled into Jesus’ story. What do you think happened between Simon and Jesus as he helped Jesus carry the heavy timber up that hill? What do you imagine Simon experienced during and after the event that he is an intimate part of Jesus' story and the history of Christianity as a whole?

Watch the video clip above.

Then pray:
This is for me. I feel anguish and gratitude as I see your body so broken. I express a desire to help you. Seeing you in this way I let my heart go out to you. I want to store this image in my heart for when I feel I can’t go on. I recognize that you really do understand my inability to carry my burdens alone.

Art:

1) Bosch Heironymous, oil

2) Unknown

3) (above) edited video from the movie The Passion (Mel Gibson, Dir)