This is an excerpt from my book “40 Moments From Christ’s Final Days.” Click here to get it from Amazon using my affiliate link.
Find this moment in: Mt. 27:32, Mk. 15:21, Lk 23:36
Sometimes, clarifying something in the Bible has deep and meaningful consequences that forever change our understanding of God. Sometimes, that clarity just makes us glad that it’s no longer confusing. Understanding the mysterious Simon of Cyrene may not blow anyone’s mind, but his inclusion gives us even more confidence about the truth of the Bible.
First, it’s important to set the scene. Jesus had been punched, beaten with a staff, forced to wear a crown of thorns, and flogged with a stone-tipped whip. The whip alone likely shredded His flesh, and the rest of His body would have been sore and weak. After all of that, Romans made the condemned carry the horizontal section of the cross, which weighed about 40 pounds. In this horrifying moment, it’s not hard to imagine that a human body, with the muscles of the back raw, shredded, and exposed, would struggle to carry such a heavy burden while the crowd likely continued to beat him.
And they pressed into service a passer-by coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry His cross. (Mark 15:21)
Cyrene was in northern Africa, probably about a month’s journey from Jerusalem at the time. Acts 2:8-10 implies that Greek wasn’t their natural language, and their culture was likely very different from those in Jerusalem. Throughout the last few centuries, Jews had been moved into various parts of Africa, including Cyrene, and had likely adopted many of their customs.
From the language of Mark 15:21 and Luke 23:26, Simon was likely on his way to Jerusalem when he came upon this scene. Soldiers may have singled him out for looking like a foreigner, for asking what was happening, or because the Roman guards, by the sovereignty of God, picked a random person to help Jesus as He started struggling with the crossbeam of the cross He was about to die on.
In this passage, that’s all we know about Simon. However, He may have other connections as well. The Mark passage tells the original audience that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. Mark wouldn’t identify Simon by his children unless Mark’s original audience understood the connection to two living men at that time. To that end, this may be the same Rufus whose mother took such good care of the apostle Paul.
Greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. (Romans 16:13)
In 1941, archeologists also uncovered some burial containers near Jerusalem. Etched onto one of these were the words “Alexander, Son of Simon.”[1] Though both were common names, it’s likely that this is the same Simon who carried the cross for Jesus.
The evidence for Simon, his sons, and his wife may not mean much today. However, consider what this meant at the time it was written. When Mark wrote this, he used specific names of men other people knew. He added credibility to the truth of the events that transpired and opened himself up to be proven wrong by allowing people to go question any named individuals.
By identifying specific people, and especially giving reference points by naming Simon’s sons, we see that the gospels have the normal marks of historical writing. Writers include specific names and places without hidden agendas. Opponents had more than enough evidence to let them dispute the existence of Jesus and the events around His life. People at the time may have doubted who Jesus was, but there was no question that Jesus Christ existed, did the things He did, said the things He said, and died on that brutal day exactly the way the gospel writers recorded it.
Stop and think: Details can make or break the truth of a story. While we can’t interview Simon or his sons today, people in that day could have. How would you explain how a simple detail like Simon of Cyrene gives further evidence to the truth of the Bible?
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[1] Powers, T. (n.d.). A ‘Simon of Cyrene’ in Jerusalem. Israel Palestine Guide. Retrieved January 14, 2023, from https://israelpalestineguide.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/alexander-son-of-simon-ossuary-illustrated-2010-edit.pdf
