ALIVE: Chapter 180, Simon

Once the decision was finally confirmed by Pilate, no matter how he tried to avoid making it,  the satisfied priests and elders didn’t delay to send their innocent victim to His death, lest Pilate get another attack of conscience. Lest the sunset would prevent them from carrying out the murder and they would just as quickly lose their (false) victory.   

After all the beatings, something His body never before experienced, Jesus was exhausted. Even as a child, Joseph never had a reason to spank this Son. Bruised and bleeding Jesus could hardly walk. Feeling the hatred of His enemies in His body, He was more determined than ever to get this over with. Jesus had never before felt so powerless.

The true criminals, His accusers, His assailants, merciless as they were, tried to force Him to carry the heavy cross up the hill. How absurd, what further evidence did anyone need of how divorced these evil men were from reality. “Untie His hands so He can carry this thing!” barked a sergeant. When the soldier dragged the heavy cross to Him, having one ready, he loaded it onto His back. Jesus tried to walk, but immediately His knees collapsed and He fell to the dusty ground with the Cross weighing heavily across His body. The soldier quickly lifted it off, and set it on the ground, realizing that he didn’t want to supersede the crucifixion.

Seeing that and his need to beat the setting sun, the chief priest shouted to one of the passersby, “Hey you! Stop! Carry this Man’s cross for Him! Now! Here! Come here now. Yes you!”

That man was Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, who happened to be walking on the busy city street. Father and sons stopped. They had just come from Cyrene to Jerusalem for Passover and didn’t expect to get mixed up with this public spectacle. Simon looked over at the poor beaten Man who he didn’t know. Simon wondered what He did to deserve such treatment? His boys just looked on in wonder. Out of compassion, Simon went over to Jesus struggling to get back up, and said, “Here Son, let me help you up.” After helping to pull Jesus back up on his feet, and sure that He could stand, Simon went over to the cross to lift it. All eyes were on Simon who knew he had no choice but to follow the command of the chief priest.

The cross was heavy, very heavy. But Simon was a strong man. He lifted the heavy cross and with the help of others, balanced it on his own back.

“Okay, good. Now start walking! This way up that hill.” directed the satisfied soldier.

Simon and the cross slowly made their way up the hill with great difficulty as strong as he was. His boys followed in tow, with heavily guarded Jesus trailing behind. While carrying that heavy cross, Simon wondered how they thought this beaten man could ever carry it. He wondered again what He did to deserve such harsh punishment. Simon had to stop to catch his breath. His heart was pounding and he needed to slow it down. The entourage stopped with him. When he stopped it suddenly hit him! What he was doing.This young man was about to be crucified on this heavy cross. “What I am enduring by carrying this cross, is as nothing compared to what He will endure when I have arrived!” Simon started to weep inside. He was overwhelmed by the thought. He had to continue walking because the people expected him to. But he didn’t want to arrive. He didn’t want this young bloody and bruised man to suffer any more than he had, no matter what awful thing He may have done to deserve it.

Every step was taken in anguish.

Walking behind Simon, Jesus picked up his thoughts.

“Peace, My brother.” thought Jesus in His holy heart. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. Peace My brother, we are walking together into a new world, where this event, that you share with Me, will be honored more than the sun in the sky; mankind will be renewed. A moment of darkness for an eternity of light. Thank you for lending Me your strength.”

Simon didn’t hear those words as he trudged on with his heavy load, but he gradually felt calmer and miraculously the weight lightened. Was it because he got used to it? He didn’t know. But he simply felt better which didn’t make sense. Nothing changed. He trudged on.

Jesus and the guards walked behind Simon and the Cross. A great multitude of the people, friendly, hostile, and merely curious joined as the parade of passion passed houses and rocks up the mountainside to a place fittingly known as Place of the Skull or Golgotha where crucifixions were performed. Men, women, and children, were already there waiting. Some crying for crucified loved ones, others waiting for the arrival of Jesus, the rabbi and miracle worker.

A woman named Rachel was there waiting for His arrival. News about the crucifixion of Jesus had spread fast in the crowded city. Rachel had been in another massive crowd the day that the five thousand gathered to hear Jesus speak and were fed from a few loaves and fishes. The hostile ones who had shouted crucify Him were diluted by the curious, and the compassionate, and hundreds who admired and were in awe of this miracle worker who dared to call Himself the Son of Man, and the Son of God. “How could it be that such a fate would befall this compassionate teacher? Perhaps He was an imposter after all. Perhaps just a magician. Understandable. We make false judgements. “Poor sop.” thought Rachel, “But no, I can’t believe that. I ate the fish, I ate the bread. It filled my grumbling stomach. There was no way they could have brought such a large quantity of food with them.” thought Rachel as she walked behind Jesus, weak from the beatings. Rachel looked at Him and tears fell from her blue eyes.

Mary, His mother was there! When He arrived at the Golgotha, Jesus spotted her staring at Him and crying. Young John was at her side. His face was red and swollen with grief. Jesus scanned the crowd and saw no other disciples. That’s not to say they weren’t there somewhere, He just didn’t see them.

The man in charge ordered Simon to drop the cross where he commanded. Obediently, Simon laid the cross down beside a hole prepared to hold it up. He looked over at Jesus whose eyes were raised to His Father. The Father in His Holy Spirit looked back at Jesus and sent a calming, healing shot to help Him endure the injustice. The worst was yet to come to His body.

The worse was yet to come to His soul; Father and Son would part but for a moment, so Jesus could go to Hades. For this He came into the world. Jesus nodded to His Father, like the valiant hero He was, to go through the sword flaming and turning that guards the way to the tree of life east of the Garden of Eden. On that tree hangs the key to the locked iron gates  of Hades. Jesus was to take the key, go to Hades, open the gate and release the captives. That is everyone who because of Adam and Eve‘s lack of trust and disobedience separated mankind from God, and as a consequence died and eventually went to Hades. God was ready to restore humankind to the kind of relationship He had with Adam in the garden, if the person wanted it too. Freedom was key. To be made in the image and likeness of God meant to enjoy the property of freedom that God has. No coercion but love, which naturally yields trust which naturally yields obedience, and allows for the opposite.

The moment of separation from the Father, short as it would be, would be the most difficult moment in Jesus’s life. It was death. Real death. The God of Life would have to separate from Himself in order to die, and go to the place of the dead, to release the captives there. How could the physical pain and humiliation and injustice be worse than that moment of separation? Sin. Jesus bowed His bloody head in humility. The sense of mission helped Him endure the physical pain and the psychological pain. No one else could do this. Reuniting humanity with its Creator, God, reversing millennia of the curse of death, nothing was more important to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. No pain, no humiliation, no amount of injustice mattered more than accomplishing this mission. Without the possibility of reunion, was it any wonder that Jacob’s sons disappointed their God so often? Jesus was about to renew the image and likeness of God in mankind.

Then, Simon looked over at the mourners crying, not knowing who they were. Alexander and Rufus were standing close to their father, afraid and confused. Simon looked down at them, youth, hope, love. The contrast between the love Simon felt for his sons and the sorrow over the end of this young man’s life, whatever He did to deserve this end, bewildered Simon. He decided not to allow his sons to watch. “Come boys, let’s continue our journey to Passover. My job is done. Simon and his sons walked back down the hill away from cries and jeers. Away from the nailing, away from the lifting. The murmur of the crowd was loud and unnerving. He wanted to run, but knew that his sons wouldn’t be able to keep up so he endured his repulsion, his confusion, his own grief knowing that in time, those feelings would be supplanted by ordinary needs. Would he remember to process all that he had experienced today? When they reached the bottom of the hill and could no longer hear the crowd above, Simon said to his sons. “Boys let’s go to the temple to pray for that Man.”