When you get close to God, it will change your life forever....

Wednesday's night message at church was awesome!  We looked at the life of Simon.  No not Simon Peter, but Simon of Cyrene.  The man who carried the cross of Jesus.

At first glance, you would think that this mention of Simon was all there was, but as we looked at scripture we found out more about this man who was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus and the impact it had on his family's life.

Mark 15:20-21, "And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.  And they compel one Simon, of Cyrene, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross."

A few things to note that I didn not know or think of:

1.  They soldiers were not allowed to crucify Roman citizens.
2.  They had to crucify outside the city.
3.  Jews were not allowed to touch the cross because they would be defiled and would not be able to celebrate the anual passover.
4.  Cyrene is in Northern Africa coast, some 900 to 1000 miles away.

Jews from all over made this journey to Jerusalem for the passover.  The streets were crowded and the Jews wanted Jesus crucified before the passover.  Jesus struggled to carry the cross so the soldiers looked for someone to carry it for him.

So why did they pick this man of Cyrene to carry the cross?

When they saw Simon of Cyrene, they compeled him to carry the cross.  Why?  They couldn't ask a Jew too.  The Roman's honored the Jewish beliefs.  So they saw a man coming from Africa with a different color of skin.  They took one glance at the man and assumed he was not a Jew or converted Jew.  So they compeled this man to carry the cross.  Simon had come from a long way.  A month long journey.  He did not know anything about this man Jesus, but yet this event changed his life forever.

Did you know that compel means to be pressed into service of the King.  Boy was he!  Except this time he was pressed into service for the Lord!

But why was Simon even coming to Jerusalem?  It was mentioned Wednesday night that he could have been a converted Jew coming to celebrate the passover.  I believe the book of Josephus mentions that some of the Jews migrated to the area of Cyrene years before.  So maybe he came to celebrate and the Romans not knowing he was a converted Jew, compeled him to carry this cross.  Imagine coming all the way from Cyrene to celebrate the passover and you wind up defiled by Jewish law because you touched the cross....

Does the story end there?  I originally thought so, but was proven there is more about this man.

Look in Acts 11:19-20. "Now they who were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, travled as far as Phoenica, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.  And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrenen, who, when they were come to Antioch, spoke unto the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Acts 13:1, "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Symeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod, the tetrarch, and Saul (Paul)."

Symeion of Cyrene, was Simon who carried the cross.  He got close to Jesus and it changed his life, never to be the same.  He was a missionary now.  Telling the Gentiles about Jesus.

Remember Simon's two sons were mentioned?  Where did they end up?

Romans 16:13, "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

Paul wrote the book of Romans and in Romans 16 he is saluting those whom he is close with.  Verse 13 shows that he considers Rufus' mother like his own.  Coinsidence?  No.  They had a family history together. 

What about Alexander, Simon's other son?

A little research on the internet shows that an ossury was found near Jerusalem that had the inscription of Alexander, son of Simon. Read/click on  the following document: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:8DZROnH3qcQJ:israelpalestineguide.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/alexander-son-of-simon-ossuary-illustrated-2010-edit.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjoQ5C8MLAOdZw7TZgvyneOzEqoprcGbUPB1kJ8K6-QKGoyld_aIv_n7mC3k_zhRfuZbf2NVZpnBu6FCfZ_pRNbo38gpTfPn2znvtLCHUCYno-9FG4QQoY_PE-n6a9J0CoOBKZo&sig=AHIEtbR8DHCkPhLjFj7AlMr9M1j1FZkr7A&pli=1

Amazing that science is catching up with the Bible.