Sermon Tone Analysis

THE CHARACTER OF OUR STORY

Luke 23:26 — And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

Matt.

27:32 — And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

Mark 15:21 — And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

In order to understand why there’s even a need for our character this morning we have to understand what’s taken place in the last 24 hours.

Jesus and His disciples, after having celebrated the feast of the passover, had made their way out to the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus would pray that if it be the will of the Father that this cup would pass from Him.

After praying, we see the officers of high priests court come to take Jesus for Judas had betrayed Him to them for 30 pieces of silver.

They take Jesus to Caiaphas house where scribes and elders were assembled to try our Lord and Savior.

For a length of time they tried our Lord, one witness after another falsely accusing Him but in the end their stories held no ounce of truth and were found without merit.

Finally, Caiaphas fed up with his failed attempt, addresses Jesus on his own and says, “I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God!”

To which Jesus replies, “thou has said: nevertheless I say unto you, hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

This infuriated Caiaphas thus leading him to charge Jesus with a charge of blasphemy at which time the others decided it was a crime guilty of death!

From this point, they would beat our Lord by punching Him in the face, then they spat in His face and began to slap Him and mock Him by saying, “prophesy unto us who is he that smote thee.”

When morning came, they bound Jesus and carried Him to Pontius Pilate, the governor, to have him sentenced to death.

After questioning Jesus himself, Pilate says, “I find no fault in this man” but the high priests wouldn’t let it go.

Then Jesus was sent to Herod to be questioned but he also found no fault in Jesus.

After this, He was brought back to Pilate at which time Pilate thought to set Him free but the high priest, scribes and elders would not have it.

They had rather had a murderer released instead of the man who was sent to save their souls and so they basically put Pilate in a bad position at which time he basically says, “I wash my hands of this situation.

Do with Him what you wish.”

He orders Jesus to be scourged and their desire to see Jesus put to death carried out by crucifixion.

Our Lord was then flogged and mocked by having a robe placed upon Him and a crown of thorns placed upon His head and a reed placed in His right hand.

It’s after this, that they begin to lead Him away from Pilate’s hall to the hill called Golgotha and we are introduced to our character today.

But before we get to him, you need to understand the process of flogging because it along with the gruesome night of beating before is the why behind the need for our character.

It has been said that it was common practice that before a person condemned to die by crucifixion was crucified they were to suffer some form of punishment so as to shorten then length of time they would hang on the cross before dying.

In the case of our Lord, that punishment was that of flogging.

Chuck Swindoll writes, “A flagrum was a whip with long, leather tails, often with small weights or bits of sheep bone braided into the straps in order to inflict maximum damage.

After the lictor completed his cruel task, the executioner stripped his prisoner naked, and the prisoner was then forced to carry the implement of their own demise to the place of execution.

They hung a titulus around the neck of the condemned, a crude sign bearing the prisoner’s name and a list of their crimes.

The execution detail would attach the sign to the cross above their head to let everyone know why they had been condemned.”

This process of scourging or flogging would bruise the deep tissue of the muscles and the bits of bone in the ends of whip would rip and tear the skin thus causing extreme pain, anguish and the loss of blood.

It often times caused severe disfigurement and because of the trauma that was inflicted was sometimes referred to as the “half-death.”

It was this endured infliction that brings us to the character of our story today.

After the beatings the night before from the elders and the scribes, the lack of rest, the lack of food and drink, the total exhaustion of our Lord along with the now extreme loss of blood and bruising from the flogging, our Lord was then asked to carry His own cross to the place of crucifixion.

It was customary that the criminal would carry what’s known as the patibulum or the cross beam section of the cross to their place of crucifixion.

The stipes or vertical section would already be in place and then, once the victim reached the place of crucifixion they would be attached to the cross beam and then hung upon the vertical section for final placement.

This patibulum or cross beam section could weigh upwards of 100 lbs, so imagine in your mind for a just moment, our Lord having endured the desecration and degradation of His body over the last 12-18 hrs, He now has to try and carry this beam on His shoulder some 650 yards from Pilate’s hall to the hill of Golgotha.

An upward stride the entire way, beaten, battered and literally torn, our Lord has reached the limits of His physical body.

In my personal opinion, the only thing that even kept Him alive to make it to Golgotha was the sheer determination on His part to finish what He had started so that He could die for His creation and save the very beings that were about to crucify Him!

Something that stood out to me this week was the fact that when Pilate said he was washing his hands of the blood that was about to be shed, the crowd shouted… “let His blood be upon us and our children!”

Little did they know, that it was His blood that would be shed to save them and children and become the offering for sin that would bring about eternal life!

So, here’s Jesus making His way from Pilate’s hall to the hill called Golgotha.

One writer stated that...

“When someone was condemned to death in that day, the procession was led by a Roman centurion and a herald went ahead of the death procession, proclaiming the name of the prisoner, his father, his offense, and the names of the witnesses on whose testimony he was condemned.

The crime was written on a white, wooden board which was carried by the herald.

Anyone who could prove the innocence of the prisoner was asked to step forward.

This is one reason why the longest route possible was taken to the place of execution.

Even on the day of the execution, efforts were made to acquit the person.

If the person was to be crucified, he would carry the beam to which he would be nailed.

Following the condemned prisoner would be four soldiers.

This was the quota for each person who would be crucified.

Behind the soldiers would be the people that demanded the execution.

In the case of Jesus, it would be the members of the Sanhedrin.”

— Mattoon Treasures

Now, in order to understand the story before us you have to keep in mind that this is the time of the passover celebration.

Hundred’s of thousands, if not millions, of Jews would flock to Jerusalem for this time of celebration and therefore the streets were undoubtedly crowded with people everywhere.

And here’s Jesus and this large procession making their way to Calvary.

A soldier and a herald in front of Him.

Potentially four soldiers behind Him ushering Him through the city and towards the place that He would soon be crucified.

All of a sudden, Jesus collapses under the weight of His cross.

It has finally become to much to bear.

His body cannot bear another step under its weight.

His physical strength has now depleted and if He’s going to make this final trek it’s going to have to be through the help of another.

It was Roman law that at any point and time a Roman soldier could compel a citizen to help them in whatever matter they may need.

Jesus eluded to this when He said in...

Matthew 5:41 — And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

If a Roman soldier asked you to carry his load for a mile, Jesus said to go with him two and now this statute was to be put into action and little did he know it, but a man most unsuspecting was about to experience this statement first hand.

With Jesus unable to continue under the weight of the cross, one of the Roman soldiers looked amongst the crowd and chose out the character of our story today…Simon the Cyrene.

Now, there’s very little we can know about this man but there’s enough here that I believe God led me here for a reason.

First off, it’s ironic that the sovereignty of God chose a man by the name of Simon to help bear His cross.

Simon Peter had told Jesus he would die for him but in His most desperate moment, Simon Peter could not be found!

God in His infinite wisdom and power though, chose Him out another rock to follow His Son’s lead!

Secondly, we’re told Simon is a Cyrenian.

The city of Cyrene was located in Northeast Africa in what today is the country of Libya.

It was roughly an 800 mile journey from Cyrene to Jerusalem.

It is said that the city had a large Jewish population and seeing as it was every Jew’s dream to try and make it to Jerusalem for passover, this is why our friend Simon had made the trip.

So, get it in your mind now, the streets are packed with people everywhere!

I mean stuffed like a can of sardines and here’s this procession of Christ making it’s way to Calvary and all of a sudden, the procession stops and everyone around is looking at the events taking place and out of nowhere, this Roman soldier lays the flat edge of his spear upon Simon’s shoulder, which was the custom when a soldier chose you to do something.

“Help this man!

Pick up His cross and follow Him!” is the command!

Can you imagine the thoughts racing through Simon’s mind?

We will allow this question to lead us to our next point which is THE CROSS HE WAS COMPELLED TO CARRY.

THE CROSS HE WAS COMPELLED TO CARRY

I want us to think for a few moments about the thoughts that went rushing through Simon’s mind.

No doubt it probably started out as a thought of shame.

Here is Simon and the Bible in multiple gospels says “he’s coming out of the country.”

Now, we don’t know if he’s just getting into town or what but chances are, he has no idea what’s going on until he runs upon the scene before us.

He was probably super excited to visit the temple court and see the wonders of the city but all was halted as he makes his way upon this procession of Jesus.

You see, crucifixion was reserved for the most hardened of criminals and so to be a Jew and to be asked to bear a cross, undoubtedly brought a feeling of shame and reproach upon Simon even though it wasn’t technically his cross to bear.

He was probably startled at the request.

“Why me!

Of all these people packed in this street, why me!”

Then there was probably the thought of association.

Chances are, up unto this point, Simon did not know Jesus personally and the thought that the passers by would associate him with Jesus, possibly as one of His followers, weighed on him heavily.

“What will they think of me being associated with this man.

Will I be looked on differently?

Will my friends still talk to me?

Will they still allow me into the synagogue when I get back to Cyrene?”

As he picked up the cross of Christ, thought after thought went rushing through his mind!

And for the first few hundred yards, the only thing he probably thought of was himself and how this would effect him.