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When the Savior is Substituted
Matthew 27:27-37
How many times have you read of a sporting team that was saved by a player that came off the bench to save the day?
Any coach will tell you that one of the keys to having a successful team is to have a strong bench.
We have to have people that are able to take the place of the starters when they are injured, tired or ineffective.
Sometimes, though, the substitution is not by choice, but by force.
That was the case of the man we read about this morning, Simon of Cyrene.
He substituted for Jesus on the road to his crucifixion.
As far as we know, Simon was an innocent man.
A man from North Africa, but a Jew that had chosen to not live in Israel.
For Simon this Passover may have been the culmination of a life long dream.
He may have always imagined what it would be like to be in Jerusalem for this festival one time.
He may have saved his money for years to make the trip.
Think about the excitement that had to fill him to have the opportunity to make the trek to Jerusalem.
He had to be overjoyed.
But his joy turned to fear this morning.
He may have felt the touch of the tip of a Roman spear on his shoulder as he was forced to pick up Christ’s cross and carry it for him.
A cross that was too much to bear for Jesus after he had been beaten to within an inch of his life.
That day, even though he probably didn’t realize what he was doing, Simon was the substitute for the Savior.
He was at the cross when the Savior that he had substituted for died for him and all of us.
What happens when you substitute for the Savior?
Have you ever thought about the fact that we are Christ’s substitutes?
When you substitute for the Savior, the plan may come quite unexpectedly.
It may come with virtually no warning.
The last thing that Simon of Cyrene had planned to do that day was carrying the cross of a convicted person.
One account mentions that he came in from the country.
He may have just arrived in Jerusalem and had not had any idea what was going on when he saw the crowd and worked his way close to see what was happening.
He saw a man carrying his cross to the place of execution.
We never get a lot of advance warning about how we can substitute for the Savior.
During the Civil War when Clara Barton, the “Angel of the Battle Field,” who founded the Red Cross, was ministering to a soldier, he told her that she was like Christ to him.
To that soldier at that time, she substituted for the Savior.
And that particular act may have come with little, if any, warning.
When we substitute for the Savior it may change your plans.
We have no idea what Simon’s plans were.
We really do not know why he had come to Jerusalem or what he hoped to do while he was there.
But we know that his plans were changed.
His life was changed too.
Quite suddenly you might be stopped in the middle of what you are doing and your life routine to stand up for Christ.
That one act of witness could change the whole direction of your life as well as someone else’s life.
When you substitute for the Savior, you need to be prepared in advance.
If you do not know when or under what circumstances you will be called on to substitute for the Savior, you will need to be prepared in advance.
Opportunities come suddenly and unexpectedly, if you are not ready to serve, you will not have time to get ready.
Preparation always has to be made in advance.
Jesus gave his followers some parables about preparation that point this out to us.
Think about the parable of the 10 virgins, where 5 were prepared and the other 5 weren’t, that shows us that we need to be prepared.
How does God prepare us for service?
We don’t always know.
He prepares us in small ways that we may not even be aware of.
God moves in our lives in mysterious ways.
The Spirit may be moving in your life even this morning without you being aware of it.
Later, though, we may look back and realize that God was using an experience to prepare us for his service in a way that we were unable to see at the time.
When you substitute for the Savior, you become a participant and not just a spectator.
We sometimes come to an event as a spectator but leave as a participant.
That is what happened to Simon.
He came to Jerusalem and the crucifixion scene as a spectator.
He was just standing around watching what was going on, minding his own business.
He left as a participant in the event that has changed the world forever.
In reality we cannot just look at the world and not become an active participant in it.
One philosopher said that he had a “balcony view of life.”
He proposed that we need to look at life like someone in the balcony, always being a spectator and never a participant.
Suddenly Simon was changed from spectator to participant.
God calls us to be participants.
As we look at the needs of the world, we realize that we need to be participating in the witnessing of Christ to the world and in helping meet the needs of people around us.
There are so many things and so many ways that people today have needs.
Some are hungry, some are thirsty, some are hurting, some are lost, some have financial needs, and some have other needs.
Whatever the needs of the people are, one thing is certain, the needs are here right now.
It is up to us to respond to those needs.
We can all help the Savior by allowing him to use us as his substitute when the need arises and our time to serve comes.
Today we are called, just like Simon, to carry Christ’s cross.
We will not carry it physically but spiritually.
We need to carry the cross to the world around us.
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