As they led Jesus away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus.
Luke 23:26
In Luke’s description of the way of the cross, we don’t hear the lashing whips or hear the falls. Luke mentions a couple of people. One of them is Simon the Cyrenian. He is a model of discipleship. Jesus had said, “If you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow in my footsteps.”
Poor Simon was walking in from the fields, and, without even knowing why, he suddenly has a crossbeam placed across his back. He literally walks in the footsteps of Jesus.
This is the way discipleship often is. We may not know why we have been given a certain cross (just as Simon didn’t know why). All we can do is to carry the cross we have been given and walk in the footsteps of Jesus.
And trust.
Source: Paraphrased from the April 19, 2019 – Good Friday page in the Little Black Book , based on the writings of Bishop Ken Untener.
