Jesus bled to lead the way
When our son Zac fell critically ill, it was a dark and painful journey for Cameron and me. What made it feel so unfair is that this happened due to no fault of our own. We didn’t cause it, and we couldn’t stop it.
I once told Cameron, “If I had a terrible job, I could quit. If I was in a bad relationship, I could break up, but this is the first time in my life I feel completely stuck.” The situation was forced upon us.
When Jesus was handed over to the soldiers to be crucified, He was made to carry His own cross (John 19:16-17). We don’t know if the soldiers took pity on Him or if Jesus was physically unable to do it due to exhaustion and the fact that his back had been flogged bare, but a man called Simon from Cyrene was forced to carry the cross for Him (Luke 23:26).
Simon carrying the cross behind Jesus was the perfect picture of discipleship. Jesus said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” – Luke 9:23
The cross is the ultimate sign of suffering, and we, too, are called to carry ours–to walk through life’s difficult situations, keeping Jesus ahead of us as our model and our leader as we shoulder our cross.
We don’t know if Simon was honoured to do this for Jesus or ashamed to be forced to walk in this line of publicly humiliated criminals. Either way, he didn’t have a choice.
And sometimes, friend, we don’t either. Carrying our cross isn’t always a choice when we are faced with suffering that is unavoidable and inescapable.
Jesus set us an example of how to endure suffering.
“let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame” – Hebrews 12:1-2
friend, do you feel your cross is too heavy to carry? Close your eyes for a moment and imagine yourself in Simon’s shoes. You can feel the weight of your burden on your shoulders… but then–look up and fix your eyes on Jesus, who is leading the way for you and has taken all the beatings, humiliations and floggings on your behalf.
