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

Luke 23:13-43 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Pilate summoned to himself the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, ¹⁴ and he said to them, “You brought this man to me on the ground that he is inciting the people to revolt; and behold, after examining Him before you, I have found no basis at all in the case of this man for the charges which you are bringing against Him. ¹⁵ No, nor has Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. ¹⁶ Therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ¹⁷ Now he was obligated to release to them at the feast one prisoner.

¹⁸ But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!” ¹⁹ (He was one who had been thrown into prison for a revolt that took place in the city, and for murder.) ²⁰ But Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, ²¹ but they kept on crying out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” ²² And he said to them a third time, “Why, what has this man done wrong? I have found in His case no grounds for a sentence of death; therefore I will punish Him and release Him.” ²³ But they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. ²⁴ And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. ²⁵ And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.

²⁶ And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and grieving for Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

³³ And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

In today’s text it says: …they were insistent, with loud voices, demanding that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. And so Pilate decided to have their demand carried out. And he released the man for whom they were asking, who had been thrown into prison for a revolt and murder; but he handed Jesus over to their will.  It was once hard to imagine that anyone  would choose a murderer over an innocent man. Now though in our society, we frequently see that murderers are released and innocent people are murdered. We see that justice is often affected by the loud cries of a mob and that mobs are manipulated and controlled by a minority with an agenda. Who would our society choose, Jesus or Barabbas?

The text says: And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.  Jesus had been beaten, flogged with a cat-o-nine-tails type whip. His flesh and muscle had been ripped from His body. He didn’t have the physical strength in His human body to bear the weight of the cross.  The text says: And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.  Jesus alone though, was the only one who could bear the weight of the sins of all mankind. While Simon bore the weight of the cross for a short time in Jesus place, Jesus bore the weight of our sins for eternity. In John 19:30 Jesus said: “It is finished!” No one else has to die for their sins.

The text continues: And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, watching. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our crimes; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”  We need to learn true forgiveness as it was demonstrated by Jesus on the cross. Too often we think that we only can or only should forgive those who are sorry. What we call forgiveness is often really our pointing out to others how they hurt or offended us. We don’t need others to say they’re sorry to forgive them. We don’t need to confront them with what they have done. True forgiveness is first between us and God. Like Jesus we need to say: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

The three crosses sum up the gospel message. One man died in His sin.  One man died for the sins of the world. One man was redeemed from sin. The thief on the cross also demonstrates a great hope that we can have for those we love who did not follow Christ in their lives. God is faithful to continue to reveal Christ to everyone, even to their final hour. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Today and every day, I choose Christ over Barabbas. Thank You for bearing the weight of my sin on the cross. I was not given the privilege of Simon to bear the weight of the cross for You, but by Your strength, I will be faithful to carry its message to the world, that they will see and know the depth of Your great love. Amen.