Why Do We Know Simon's Name Who Carried the Cross of Jesus?

Jesus was weak from blood loss after He was flogged. He had carried the heavy cross beam of the cross as long as He could. When Jesus could go no farther, the Roman soldiers grabbed a man out of the crowd to carry it. His name was Simon, a foreigner in Jerusalem for Passover.

Recently, I’ve been writing about Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by Jesus. For the past few weeks those prophecies have been about His crucifixion. But I want to pause this week and return to Simon.    

I’ve often thought about Simon.  What did he think? What did he see? What did he feel?

I posted the following text about Simon previously. It is a fictionalized version of this event since I added details that are not in scripture. In doing so, my hope is that we can imagine ourselves on the street with Simon. God saw fit to tell us about this intersection of time that put Simon and Jesus on that street in Jerusalem.

We are told about Simon carrying the cross of Jesus in Matthew 27:32. Mark 15:21 tells us about it too and adds that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus—as if he knew them. Luke 23:26 also mentions Simon by name and adds that the man carried the cross behind Jesus. John 19:17 tells us that Jesus stared out carrying His own cross—but John does not tell us about Simon. (Perhaps John knew the other gospels described the event.)

Many people in the Bible are not named.  We aren’t told the name of the thief who believed in Jesus, or the names of the wise men who traveled to see baby Jesus, or Lot’s wife, and many others.

But we are told about Simon in three of the gospels. What can we learn from it?

For years Simon dreamed of being in Jerusalem for the Passover feast. He and his family were part of the Jewish population in Cyrene, a city more than 800 miles away. Cyrene had been a Greek city for hundreds of years. The Greek influence was everywhere he looked, especially in the massive temples to the idolatrous Greek gods Zeus and Apollo.

But Rome had taken over the city about one hundred years before Simon was born. In addition to Greek structures, the Roman influence could be seen in the gymnasium, roman theater, and baths.

All his life Simon had seen the temples built for idols in his home city. But he longed to see the temple of Jehovah, the one true God, with his own two eyes. The long trip would be difficult and costly. But at last, he would spend Passover in Jerusalem.

Simon and his two sons, Alexander and Rufus, booked passage on a ship that would sail across the Mediterranean Sea. Once they landed at Caesarea, they would walk the fifty miles across Israel to Jerusalem. Their travels took longer than expected. Though they would miss the Passover meal in Jerusalem, they would arrive the next morning.   

Simon and his sons entered Jerusalem on Friday morning. Simon felt the excitement of the city. The sound of sheep and doves echoed in the streets. The scent of food coming from various vendors drifted around every corner. Simon and his sons made their way to see the temple of God for the first time. It was magnificent. He wanted to remember every detail so he could tell the others back in Cyrene.

Crowds of Passover pilgrims filled the narrow streets and mingled with the people of Jerusalem. Simon heard everyone was talking about a man named Jesus who was from Nazareth, a small village in Galilee. As Simon took in the sights, it seemed everyone was discussing Jesus. Some said he was a blasphemer, but others insisted Jesus was the Messiah.

All of a sudden, Simon, Alexander and Rufus were caught up in the crowd as people surged down the street. They didn’t know where everyone was going, but wanted to find out. They stood on the side of a street, but the crowd was so thick he couldn’t see what was happening. Down the narrow street he heard people screaming insults, and others gasp and wail as if in mourning. From the murmuring crowd, Simon heard that the man called Jesus had been sentenced to die by crucifixion. Then he saw the Roman guards coming down the street pushing through the people leading two men who were carrying their own crosses.

Behind them Simon saw what was left of the man they called Jesus. He was beaten so badly that he almost didn’t look human. His face was bloody, swollen and disfigured. And a circle of thorns had been shoved down on the top of his head. The man struggled to stay on his feet and carry the heavy cross. Roman guards laughed and screamed at Jesus. Simon could see each step the man took was torture. As Jesus passed in front of Simon, he fell forward into the street. The crossbeam landed on his back with a thud. When the rough beam rolled off of him, Simon saw his back. He gasped when he realized all the flesh on Jesus’s back had been torn off by a whip. Simon saw his rib bones and what was left of the muscles between them. Simon couldn’t take his eyes from Jesus.

“You there, carry this cross,” ordered one of the guards. It was only after the guard yanked Simon into the street that he realized the Roman spoke to him.

Simon picked up the cross. The guards pulled Jesus back up on his feet and he slowly continued down the narrow street. Simon followed Jesus. He wondered what Jesus had done to deserve crucifixion.

He looked at the faces of the jeering crowds on the streets and back to the bloody back of Jesus. Soon Simon saw their destination, the hill ahead of them looked like a skull. When they arrived at the top, Simon dropped the cross. The guards pushed him out of the way. Ignoring him, they got busy with their job. It was just another day at work as the Roman guards nailed three men to wooden crosses and lifted them up to begin their slow, torturous deaths.  

Simon stood there watching. He should leave. But he couldn’t. Everything Simon had heard about Jesus that day swirled around his mind.

There was something different about Jesus.

From somewhere deep inside, Simon knew the truth. Jesus was the Messiah.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Jerusalem that day. And God chose Simon to carry the cross of Jesus.  

Authors note:

The Bible tells us that Simon, a man of Cyrene, was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus that day. The only other thing we know from the Word is that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus, Mark 15:21. We don’t know anything else for sure.

Since we are told about them by name, I like to think Simon, Alexander and Rufus all believed that Jesus was the Messiah, that they spread the good news in Cyrene, and were known by early believers like Mark.

When I read in Acts 13:1 that “Lucius of Cyrene” was part of the church in Antioch along with Paul, it makes me think that Simon brought back the gospel of Jesus to his home in Cyrene. This was before any of Paul’s missionary journeys-yet here is a believer from Cyrene in Antioch who is actively involved. And it is the gospel writer Mark that tells us that Simon who carried the cross of Jesus was the father of Alexander and Rufus. John Mark would have met Lucius of Cyrene (and perhaps Alexander and Rufus) when he was in Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. Mark (John Mark) accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey.

Cyrene, Simon’s home city, is located in Northeast Libya (about 100 miles from the Benghazi), near present day Shahhat, Libya. The ruins of Cyrene were found in the eighteenth century. Today Cyrene is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can see some of the ancient ruins on their website:  https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/190/

Carla Killough McClafferty