Simon bore the weight of the cross. Jesus bore the weight of our sin

Matthew 27:32-61 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.

³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, ³⁴ they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink.

³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. ³⁶ And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. ³⁷ And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ At that time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him and saying, ⁴² “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ The robbers who had been crucified with Him were also insulting Him with the same words.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ⁴⁷ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” ⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. ⁴⁹ But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. ⁵¹ And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. ⁵⁴ Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. ⁵⁶ Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. ⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the entrance of the tomb and went away. ⁶¹ And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the grave.

Galatians 6:2 says:  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.    We are to love others, to support them, to stand with them in difficult times. We do that both by physically helping them and also by interceding, spiritually bearing those burdens. Today’s text begins saying:       As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a Skull, they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He was unwilling to drink. And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots. And sitting down, they began to keep watch over Him there. And above His head they put up the charge against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”     Jesus was God in flesh. His body was fully human. Before He was crucified He was beaten and flogged nearly to death. So battered and beaten was His physical body that He could not bear the weight of the cross Himself. They enlisted Simon of Cyrene. There is a lesson for followers of Christ in these few verses, particularly for those who are intercessors, bearing the burdens of others in prayer and for those with gifts of compassion and helps, who physically take on the burdens of others. Even Jesus was so weary that He needed the help of another to bear His burden. So naturally others will at times need us to share their burdens and we are called and commanded to do that. We need to remember though that Simon could only bear the weight of the cross to the place where Jesus was crucified. Jesus alone could do the work of the cross. On the cross Jesus bore the weight of all the sin of the world. Isaiah 53:5, speaking prophetically about Jesus on the cross, says:   But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.      Every need of every person was met through the cross of Christ. When He was on the cross Jesus said:   “It is finished!” (John 19:30)      When we bear the burdens of others, whether physically or spiritually, it is important to remember that, like Simon, we cannot do for them what they need. Everything they need is fulfilled in the cross of Christ, in the finished work. We need to carry the burdens of others there, to the cross. There at the Calvary, we need to lay down the burdens giving them over to Jesus, the only one who can meet their need, the one who has already finished the work. If we continue to carry the burden, we ourselves become weary to the point of death and we withhold the victory of the cross from them.  

Today’s text ends saying:  When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock         When Jesus was alive and ministering as a man, He said:  “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” (Matthew 8:20)     Even in death Jesus had nowhere of His own to lay His head. Jesus truly lived as an alien in this world, a temporary resident, whose true place was and is in the kingdom of heaven. It wasn’t important that Jesus have a grave of His own, because He wasn’t going to need it long. Everything on earth is temporary. We like Jesus need to focus on what is eternal. When Jesus called His disciples, He said:  “Follow Me.”  Jesus calls us as His disciples to follow Him. To live as He lived, not focused on what is temporary but rather on what is eternal. In Matthew 6:19-21 Jesus says:   “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”     Our time here is temporary and in the scheme of eternity it is a mere twinkling. As with Jesus, it is not important where we lay our head, either in life or in death. What is important is that we live like Christ, that we live a life which already knows the tomb is empty. We are called and empowered, through Christ to live and walk in the resurrection, already eternally victorious in all things.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for the finished work of the cross and for the empty grave. May I live my life walking in the power of the resurrection and may I be faithful to carry others burdens to Calvary, to the finished work of the cross, so they too can know the victory of the empty tomb, resurrection life.    Amen.