We all can need a Simon!
Jesus set a model for mankind in the bearing of much pain.
There is a green hill far away that our Lord and King forcibly climbed. Upon this steep incline He could no longer carry His cross, weakened beyond explanation His pains rose beyond any human ability an already tortured man might bear.
As the soldiers led Him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26)
Jesus 'gave His cross away' to an unwilling Simon of Cyrene.
Jesus could no more carry His cross up that slope than the vicious crowds would silence their roar - crucify Him.
The man recruited to help our collapsing Jesus was likely a dark-skinned man, and strong to bear the load the Son of God was unable to.
We all need a Simon or two in our lives at various intervals.
The weight of Jesus' cross is unknown, but scholarly 'guesstimates' suggest 130kgs.
This cross lay across Simon's shoulders to assist the Messiah's work He could no longer do. (Don't ever doubt the truth that Jesus was fully human.)
The weight of the cross was lifted from Jesus, but the weight of mankind's sins were not.
Imagine a moment when Simon realised he alone now carried the crushing weight of the bloodied cross.
Imagine if Simon cried out 'I can't do this anymore, it is too hard'?
Imagine that Jesus raised His hanging head, straightened His back and gazed across to His assistant with those same tender and kind eyes (not angry eyes) He had already blessed the masses with. No words would Simon need.
When their gazes met Simon saw Jesus still carried an infinitely heavier cross - the sins of the world, including his own. No longer would Simon speak out.
Simon was strengthened by whom he saw, and no longer considered his own very transitory pain.
Yes - part of this SoulSnack is fiction, but the benefit of gazing into Jesus' eyes isn't.
Jesus, in the deepest pain a human ever lived, would have reached out to His unknown assistant.
Today Jesus carries no physical pain. How much more is He now available to you, and moreso if you are already carrying a cross for Him?
Permit Jesus to be your Simon.
BUT - please note:
unlike Simon, Jesus is willing to carry your cross too.
Today's Soul Snippet:
'The jawbone of an ass was a killer in Samson's time. It still is.' ~ Morris Gilber
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