I invite you to turn tonight to Matthew chapter 27 and I would like to reread what we've already read in our scripture reading concerning Simon of Cyrene. Matthew chapter 27 verse 32. Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his Jesus cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, place of a skull, they gave him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when he had tasted it, he would not drink. Then they crucified him. Very simply, very clearly, the gospel writers just tell us they crucified him. The picture on the front of your bulletin shows what that meant. Long spikes being driven by a mallet into the wrists and into the feet, one atop the other, into a rough-hewn piece of wood. They crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots, and sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Let's pray. Father, I ask that in these moments you will help us indeed to behold the Lamb, that we would position ourselves beneath the cross of Jesus, And while the Roman soldiers and others may have been sitting there watching him to see what his status was or when he would die or if he would die, I pray that we would sit seeing that here was the sin bearer bearing our sins and the judgment and the hell that we deserved. I pray that you will minister to our hearts as we need that when we leave tonight we could say with the Apostle Paul, God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Open our eyes to understand your word. By your spirit we ask in Jesus' wonderful name, amen. Tonight is part three of our series, Jesus' Assistance to the Cross. And this one is a special character that Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention. The Synoptic Gospels all tell us of this very important character, Simon of Cyrene. I've called him bearer of shame, He's known for what he did, or more accurately, was made to do, bear the cross of Jesus. Otherwise unknown, details emerge in the three gospels to show Simon of Cyrene as a major actor in assisting Jesus to the cross. So let's work our way through some biographical details here of Simon. Notice first of all in this verse, his location, his location. And by that, I mean this. Do you see in verse 32, it says, now as they came out, let's not hurry past that. came out of where? Well, back up. Verse 27, then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, the governor's palace, it may have been Herod's mansion, and gathered the whole garrison, the cohort around him. A garrison was a tenth of a legion. It could have been 600 soldiers. or some number less than that, but it's apparently not two or three soldiers. There were a bunch of them there, which adds to the criminality of what they did. Verse 28, they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. Probably a soldier's garment of red or scarlet was placed on Jesus after they took his clothes off him. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head. There were various plants that could yield thorns. Probably the thorn was an inch or two, maybe longer. And they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, total mockery. And they bowed the knee before him and mocked him saying, hail, King of the Jews. Now I want you to notice they put this crown of thorns on his head. Your scalp is very tender. Have you ever bent down under your cabinet and you raised your head up and oh does that hurt and maybe it starts to bleed because it's so tender. Well Jesus had already been through a horrific thing in verse 26. Pilate scourged Jesus The Jews had a limit of 40 lashes. The Romans didn't have a limit. And sometimes from this flogging, people died. Because even organs would be exposed. The back would be turned to ribbons of flesh. Jesus has gone through this. And now this crown of thorns, this emotional abuse. Give him a reed. pretend you're a king, they bow the knee before him, hail king of the Jews. In verse 30, they spat on him, and they took the reed and struck him on the head. So now these thorns are being driven into his tender scalp. And then when they had mocked him, they took the robe off him, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, it's out of the city. because it was a shameful thing to be in the city, to be executed in the city. Jesus was cruelly mistreated in the governor's palace, in the praetorium, and now he was led out to be crucified. So he's being led out of the city gates because Golgotha was outside the city gates. He was led off to be crucified. And it was here, outside the gates, that he was joined by Simon. So that's what we mean by his location. I want you to hold a finger here and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. This is an amazing correlation. Hebrews chapter 13, and notice verse 12. Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered, see these words, outside the gate. That's the outside in Matthew 27. outside the city gates. And the writer to the Hebrews says, therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp. There it is again. Notice this, bearing his reproach. Don't be afraid to follow Jesus, to take up his cross, even though it will bring reproach to you. Jesus went outside the city, outside the gate, and bore reproach. And so followers of Jesus, take up the reproach, go outside the gate, no matter what. Don't be afraid to be called a Christian. Don't be afraid to suffer for the name of Jesus. So Simon of Cyrene joined Jesus outside the gate, outside the city. But now back to Matthew 27, 32. Notice his home. He's called a man of Cyrene. Cyrene was a place in North Africa, modern day Libya. And so he was from North Africa, I found out that there was a Jewish colony here, so there are three possibilities that I see from this. It's possible that he was a Jew, that he was Jewish, living in a Jewish colony formerly in North Africa. Another possibility is that he was an African, and his skin color was dark. Another possibility is the African of an Arabic descent and a brown tone. It doesn't tell us his color because that doesn't matter. What matters is what he did. He was from North Africa and notice this, his family. Look at Mark chapter 15. Mark gives us a special little note here that's very intriguing. And I don't want to read too much into it, but I don't want to neglect it either. Mark 15 and verse 21. Notice this. Now they compelled a certain man, Simon Assyrian, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Oh, he was a father. So here his family he had two sons Alexander and Rufus and it says as he was coming out of the country and passing by so some had thought well he was coming into the city to observe the Passover if he were Jewish that's a possibility Did he have a property, and he's coming in from his farm, out of the country, out of his field? I think that's a possibility. We don't know some of these things for sure. This we know for sure, he was the father of Alexander and Rufus, but why didn't Mark tell us that? Why do we need to know that? Well, Mark's gospel was written with the Romans in mind. with a Roman audience. So it's possible that the Christians in Rome knew about Alexander and Rufus, that maybe they were part of their congregation or their church. And so we see this connection. Look at Romans chapter 16 and verse 13. And here Paul is greeting all of these saints in Rome, in the church at Rome. And look at a name that comes up here. Romans chapter 16 and verse 13, greet Rufus. Now, there could have been more than one Rufus in the New Testament, more than one Alexander. But notice what Paul says about this Rufus from Rome. great Rufus chosen in the Lord and his mother and mine. This mother apparently if this is the Rufus then this would be the wife of Simon of Cyrene. So he was the father of two sons, Alexander and Rufus. He was the husband of the mother of Rufus and Paul's special mother. It was a spiritual mother, I take it. And Rufus is known here as chosen in the Lord. Now I wouldn't die. for this interpretation that this is the same Rufus as in Mark chapter 15, but I sure like it. It's sure appealing that this Simon had these sons, Alexander and Rufus, we know that much, and perhaps they were special as part of the church of Rome as was the mother of Alexander and Rufus. It makes me wonder about Simon's spiritual condition. We're not told that he believed in Jesus. It looks like his sons did, or at least this Rufus in Rome apparently did. Paul greets him. Was he a believer? We'll have to wait to get to heaven to see. Simon of Cyrene, did he embrace Jesus as Messiah? Let's go on and see. Mark 15 21 notice it says that he was coming out of the country and passing by. Notice it says in the beginning of verse 21 they compelled, they compelled to do what? To bear his cross. Now go back to Matthew chapter 27 and verse 32. Matthew 27 32 And we find this again. As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled. The same word is used in Matthew and Mark, and it means to compel one to go a journey, to bear a burden, or to perform any other service. Simon was pressed into service by the Roman soldiers. He had the cross placed on him, as we will see in the Gospel of Luke. He really had no choice. He was a bearer of this shame, going to the place of crucifixion. He had no choice. Notice Luke 23, and Luke adds a little different color, a little different detail here. Luke 23 and verse 26, Now as they led him away, they laid hold, they took hold of a certain man, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. So they took hold of him and put the cross on him and said, in essence, you will carry this to Golgotha. Follow that man, Jesus. So here is his compulsion. Put yourself into his footsteps. It was not uncommon that they would tie this beam to the victim across their shoulders for them to carry. And this, whether they tied it or not, they put it on Simon and he is compelled, forced to carry this. You can imagine the entourage. In fact, you see some of it here with those that were sympathetic to Jesus. But there were soldiers around, I'm sure, with their spears. But notice verse 27 of Luke. And a great multitude of the people followed him, and women who also mourned and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. But weep for yourselves and for your children, for indeed the days are coming in which they will say, blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, the breasts which never nursed, Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others, criminals, led with him to be put to death." Imagine this procession. Jesus, Simon of Cyrene, bearing the cross, peace. these women supporting Jesus mourning and crying and then the thieves following and they're bearing their crosses and it says in verse 33 when they had come to the place called Calvary there they crucified him and the criminals one on the right hand and the other on the left. So here is Simon in this procession compelled to carry the cross for Jesus. I want you to think with me in verse 26 where it says, on him they laid the cross, his burden. It is thought that the cross piece that would be attached to the upright pole that was in the ground to form the T like this or the cross like this that this was the part that the victim would carry to the place. This is the burden that Simon was compelled to carry, that it could weigh 30 to 40 pounds. Remember what had happened to Jesus? The beating? Imagine the condition he's in. This was a shameful thing, crucifixion. this procession was shameful this is what happened to criminals as Luke tells us here to others criminals Jesus 100 percent innocent he's in this shameful procession but my friends let's not forget it was my shame your shame that put him there And Simon was compelled to fulfill the duty of shame. He assisted Jesus in fulfilling his duty of shame. He did what a criminal would do. He shared in the shame of Jesus as an unjustly condemned criminal. Luke adds two very important words, and this is number six of Simon, his position. Notice in verse 26 the last two words, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. After Jesus. Jesus precedes him painfully the whipping that he endured could have reached from his neck down to his legs and for a time the cross was laid on him that rough would on that mutilated back how could he even walk a step Jesus precedes painfully and Simon follows behind. Here's the victim. Here's the one that will be crucified. This is the one simply assisting him to get to the place of crucifixion. But I want you to think with me the picture that Simon provided here in the plan of God. Look at Matthew chapter 16. I'm gonna read three similar verses. Follow them with me. Matthew 16 in verse 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. After me, a word very similar to the one that Luke uses. If you want to come after me, deny yourself, take up your cross, and start following. When my wife served in Suriname as a summer missionary, she learned The little chorus, I have decided to follow Jesus in the native tongue, Taki Taki. Miwani waka ne baka. Jesus. I want to walk in back of Jesus. That's it. I want to follow after Jesus. Miwani waka ne Jesus baka. Behind Jesus. That's discipleship. Notice this verse, Mark 8, 34. And when he had called the people to him with his disciples also, he said to them, whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. And Luke chapter nine, verse 23, Luke 9, 23. Then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Jesus three times in the Gospels presses discipleship, following after Him. This is no easy believism. Do you want to go to heaven? Believe in Jesus? Sure, I want to. Yes, I'm in and I'll live however I want. It's not that. You want to follow Jesus? Believe in Him and take up your cross and walk behind Him. May God help us. What a lesson Simon gave us. He followed after Jesus. May God help us all to be those who will walk in back of Jesus, no matter what others do, and even when they're walking the other way. His position after Jesus. And one more. Go to John chapter 19. John doesn't mention him. He gives a little information here, though, in chapter 19, in verse 17, and this complements what we see in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and this is intriguing. And this I have called Simon's importance, his importance. John 19, verse 17, and he bearing his cross. Well, wait a minute, I thought Simon bore his cross. John tells us that Jesus bore his cross. And he bearing his cross went out, do you see that? Went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. The Hebrew, the Aramaic, Galgatha, refers to a skull. The Latin, Calvary, refers to a skull. It may have been because the mountainside, and there is a place called Gordon's Calvary, and we don't know for sure if that's where Jesus was crucified, but it looks like a skull. You know how the indentions of the eyes and the nose and the mouth, it looks like a skull when you see the picture there, but scholars debate, was it there or another place? But whatever it was, this place was called Skull, Calvary, Golgotha. But it says here that Jesus was bearing his cross. So is there a contradiction between Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John? No, there's not. I think here's how it's resolved. Jesus began to carry his cross. A New Testament scholar, D.A. Carson, suggests that it was to the city gates. He was going to outside the gates, but he only made it to the city gates. And it was there then the Romans said to Simon, you take the cross. I think that's a good explanation. Jesus bore it, and then Simon took it the rest of the way. Jesus was so weakened, he was not able to continue. Listen, I, in the last few months, I know a little bit about weakness. I don't know anything about this. You've known weakness before. You can get dehydrated. Maybe you had a loss of blood at some time and your body is weak. Can you imagine the weakness that Jesus had with that beating, with the dehydration of his whole body. How did he take a step? How did he have that beam on him for six inches? But he bore it for some length and then Simon took the rest of the way. That's why I just say his importance. He carried the cross to Golgotha. He assisted Jesus' movement to the hill of death, the skull, where he, Jesus, would give his life as a sacrifice for our sins, where Jesus would satisfy the justice of God, and where Jesus would demonstrate the grace and mercy and love of God. Yes, Simon, a powerful assistant of Jesus to the cross. We see here his location outside the city gates, his home, Cyrene, his family, Alexandrine Rufus, and perhaps a very special lady in the book of Romans. His compulsion, he was pressed into service. His burden, he bore the cross and his position. Oh, what a lesson after Jesus and his importance. So how can we apply this to our lives on this Good Friday evening? First of all, do you see what Jesus did for you? Simon assisted Jesus to the hill of Calvary. But understand this, he did not assist Jesus in bearing our sins. No one can do that. Through the centuries, people have tried. They've tried by their good works to assist Jesus. It's not enough you died on the cross. I need to work my way and then maybe that plus the cross will get me to heaven. No, a thousand times no. It's all what Jesus did. He bore our sins. He bore the burden. He bore it all. Have you believed in him? Have you trusted Jesus as the one who died in your place? I deserved to be forced to bear that cross, to be nailed to it, and to die on it. That's what I deserved. That's what you deserved. Jesus took our place. We have to trust in him as the one who died in our place. If you haven't trusted him, do so tonight. Lord Jesus, I know I've sinned, but I believe you died in my place. I'm asking you to save me. I'm trusting you and only you. And one other application. Jesus made demands for following him. The cross was an instrument of death. We died to self. to be Jesus' disciples. Have I died to myself? Have I gone to Romans 12, 1 and 2 and say, Lord, here I am, a living sacrifice? If not, believing friend, there's no better time than Good Friday. Lord, it's not me, it's you. Here I am, take me, use me for your honor and glory. I want to follow after Jesus, right behind him. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Our Father, in our best efforts to understand your word, and even to relive some of the moments of Jesus' suffering, we will never fully understand. And thank you that you haven't called us to fully understand, but you've called us to believe. Oh God, I pray for anyone who may hear this who's not yet believed that they would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. That they would be able to say the cross before them, the world behind them, that they will follow Jesus. That they would be able to say, I trust in Christ alone, I turn from sin and trust in Christ. Oh Father, as believers, I pray that we would crucify self. As the Apostle Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Oh, may we live for you, our Savior, and follow close behind you. Do a work in our hearts, dear Father, as we gather around your table and partake of these elements, encourage and bless us to glory in the cross. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.