Strength For The Struggle

Context

Who

Simon of Cyrene

Jesus

Roman soldiers

What

Jesus being led to crucifixion (dead man walking) carrying his own cross;

Simon forced to carry the crossbeam;

soldiers leading jesus and picked simon out of the crowd

When

Week of the Feast of Passover (jews flocked to Jerusalem from all over to celebrate

Good Friday:

after the trial of Jesus, Pilate releases Barabbas, had jesus scourged, and delivered him to be crucified.

After soldier mocked him (clothed him him purple cloak, crown of thorns made and given; striking head with a reed, spitting on him, stripped the cloak and put own clothes on him.

As the soldiers led him out to crucify him

Where

Jerusalem

Via Dolorosa “the painful road”, “the sorrowful way”

A route in Jerusalem that Jesus walked from His trial under Pontius Pilate to His crucifixion.

Why

Jesus was too weak to carry his own cross, so the soldiers picked Simon from the crowd of onlookers and compelled him to carry the crossbeam

Initial thoughts

Proximity to Jesus

In the crowd,

at a distance,

just a bystander

minding his own business,

no real danger or commitment

no risk

compelled to carry, had to come closer, and carry the crossbeam

was called out to bear the same burden as Jesus.

are you available/in the right place to ease the burden of someone else that’s going through?

the closer he got to jesus, the more he suffered.

closer you get, the more you have to share in his suffering

to get to where he had to go, he had to follow jesus’ footsteps

being close to Christ can get you in trouble

illustration from Samuel DeWitt Proctor 1996 MKL Day speech.

"Martin Luther King Jr., the right person at the right place and at the right time. [...] That night when they [Montgomery Improvement Association] came together at the church, this is Rosa Parks, they were transformed. I mean, something had happened that was greater than the sum of its parts, you know, like Pentecost. [...] They said, 'Who will lead us?' And King told us about that many times over. One man said, 'I've got a brand-new mortgage, I can't do anything about this.' Another one said, 'My wife has just been appointed a new job, we'll be at the cottage, I can do it.' Everybody had an excuse. And they said, 'Mike [Martin Luther King Jr.], you're the youngest one in town, you don't have any enemies yet, you've got a Ph.D., they don't want a black Ph.D. in jail around here, and your dad and your mama can get you out of jail if they put you.' So King ended up calling up people all over the country, 'What should I do?' He hadn't planned on going to jail, he had planned on being a civil rights leader. [...] But that night when they met, he found out that his moment had come, the right man, and at the right place, and he had to respond."