A Little Help Here?

Very little is said of Simon of Cyrene in the bible. In fact, he is only mentioned in 3 of the 4 gospels. What is mentioned of him consists of only a few lines. Simon is the man pulled from the crowds by the Romans and forced to help Jesus carry his cross. As a child, and as an adult, this always struck me as odd—Jesus was God and knew He needed to die on the cross for our salvation, but why did He need help getting there? The more I think about this the more I think that Simon of Cyrene was placed there not so much for Jesus but for us. It is an example to us that no matter how heavy the cross or burden, God will send us help.

I also think it is a reminder to us to lend a hand to others we see struggling with their crosses. Pope Francis said that our lives as Christians aren’t fulfilled until we accept the cross of others. In fact, those are often the heaviest crosses. The cross Jesus carried was for our sins, not His. The cross Simon carried was Jesus', not his. Even when we shoulder these burdens, we'll still fall--just as Jesus did two more times on his road to the cross, even with Simon's help. However, God will continue to give us the strength to keep going. 

The picture below is from http://sheridanlutheran.org/2014/04/simon-of-cyrene/. The painting visualizes how I imagine God assisting us. Like Simon, He supports us, arm in arm, until the end of whatever difficult road we are travelling.