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Luke

Luke 
Day 
Day 319

Luke 23:26-31; Mark 15:21-22; Matthew 27:32-33; John 19:17-18 "AND HE, BEARING HIS CROSS..." John 19:17"

Day 319 – Luke 23

Text: Luke 23:26-31; Mark 15:21-22; Matthew 27:32-33; John 19:17-18

“AND HE, BEARING HIS CROSS…” John 19:17

Rome was a power to be reckoned with, in its zenith of power. The emperor ruled the world with an iron fist! It quelled rebellion mercilessly. Anyone who dared to defy Rome soon found out just how remorseless its power was.

Flagellation was one of the cruel tortures applied to the condemned! They were both humiliated and flogged within an inch of their life! Jesus was scourged under Roman law and mocked as well.

Another cruel way in which Rome flexed its muscles was the invention of the crucifixion. Prisoners were nailed to a cross in public execution! It was a slow and lingering death. Sometimes, prisoners took days to die!

To add a twist of ugly humour, prisoners were forced to carry their own instrument of death. Jesus, already weakened because of severe torture, both physical and mental, was forced to carry His own cross to the place of execution.

“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called
the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha…”
John 19:17

SIMON OF CYRENE FORCED TO CARRY THE CROSS FOR JESUS

Along the way, Jesus must have collapsed, for the Romans pressed a passer-by to carry the cross for Jesus! All the Synoptic Gospels noted this.

“Now as they led Him away, they laid 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.”
Luke 23:26

“Now, as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene,
Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.”
Matthew 27:32

“Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian,
the father of Alexander and Rufus,
as he was coming out of the country and passing by,
to bear His cross.”
Mark 15:21

Cyrene was a city in North Africa. Apparently, this man was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He was in the streets of Rome that fateful day, when he found himself pressed into service. He was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus.

In Paul’s epistle to the Romans, he mentioned one Rufus. Many Bible scholars are inclined to believed that this person was the same Rufus mentioned in Mark’s Gospel. This would be another fact that fills the heart with deep amazement. Through this casual and coincidental encounter, Rufus the son of Simon of Cyrene would come to faith in Jesus and be honoured by the Apostle Paul in his epistle.

“Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, and mine.”
Romans 16:13

Rufus must have been quite well known in Rome for Paul to greet him in this manner. His mother must have somehow cared for Paul too, and thus Paul wrote appreciatively of Rufus’ mother as if she was his own mother too (Cf. Mark 3:35 where Jesus spoke about the spiritual and true family).

STILL CARING FOR OTHERS

As the Romans led Jesus and two other prisoners to Golgotha, a huge crowd gathered in the streets to watch.

“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, wombs that never bore,
And breasts which never nursed!”
Then they will begin 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?’ “
Luke 23:27-31

Jesus was too worn out to carry His own cross to Golgotha! Nevertheless, as He trudged along the way to the place of His crucifixion, He saw many women weeping for Him. It is easy to understand just why they wept.

It was a cruel sight to see Jesus being led away to be crucified! The women did not weep for the other men who were also being led to their execution! But Jesus was different from the other two! He was innocent! The crowds knew this. They had heard Jesus teach. They had seen Him heal people! They knew that Jesus was good! They now watched helplessly as the Romans led Jesus to be crucified.

Then Jesus stopped, and mustering great strength spoke to the women folk. Once again, Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem. Their spiritual leaders in collaboration with the Romans had done a great injustice! They had as it were cut down wood still green, for burning. Nobody cuts down green branches for burning! If they could perform such a cruel act on a Person like Jesus, what would they do to others – dry branches?

One day, the vindictive wrath of the Romans would fall on Jerusalem. That fateful day would be so bad that they would have shed bitter tears for themselves! Jesus foreseeing the destruction of Jerusalem caused Him to express concern for them. Is it not amazing that Jesus should show such love and care? “But we see Jesus…”