People At The Cross | Ep13

What is Meditating On The Word?

Join Wayne Burger each week as he explores various topics and scriptures and challenges listeners to meditate on God's Word more deeply.

The crucifixion of Jesus was a public event carried out in a public place. Even though it was a gruesome way to die, many people were at the cross. Some were there as part of their job, others were there as passerbys, and others were there because they had a connection to Jesus.

As we think about the people who were at the cross, we can find numerous lessons and maybe even some personally identifying with some of those people. And so in this lesson and the next, I want to think about people at the cross. When we think about people at the cross, we may first think of Simon of Cyrene.

When the mock trial was over, early on that morning, they put the cross on Jesus and the soldiers left the Praetorium with him bearing his own cross. As they were carrying out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear his cross, Matthew 27:32. Luke also adds these details.

They seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus, Luke 23:26. The common thought today is that they had to get someone to carry Christ's cross because he fell under the weight of it. It would have been heavy, and Jesus should have been weakened because of the sad condition of being scourged, being up all night.

But nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus fell because of the weight and had to have someone else to carry his cross. Because the Jews were under the authority of the Roman Empire, soldiers had the right to demand anyone to carry the soldiers burdened for a mile to be found in Matthew 5:41. For whatever reason, the soldiers could have invoked this law with Simon of Cyrene.

We just don't know why Simon was commanded to carry the cross of Christ. Mark gives most interesting information about this event. He wrote that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.

That's Mark 15:21. Why would he say that? When one writes or speaks and mentions the names of someone without giving the reason for mentioning them, it is because the people to whom he is writing or speaking knows the connection. Mark didn't give any explanation.

He just simply said that Simon of Cyrene had two sons, Alexander and Rufus. It is agreed by most scholars that Mark wrote his gospel to the Romans. Interestingly, when Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, he said, greet Rufus, a choice man in the Lord, also his mother in mind.

That's Romans 16:13. Was this the Rufus to which Mark referred? Rufus became a Christian. And his mother had such an influence in Paul's life that he said she was just like a mother to him.

Does that mean that Simon became a Christian? It might. Think about that for a moment. Simon was from Cyrene, a city of North Africa, hundreds of miles from Jerusalem.

At just the moment Simon entered Jerusalem from that faraway city, he was called upon to carry the cross of Christ. Simon was probably coming to Jerusalem because it was the Passover period of time. And just by the providence of God, he carried the cross of Christ.

Maybe that made such a big impact on him that he became a follower of Christ. Is your connection with Christ due to some providential event that God put in your life? It may be. As we think about people at the cross, the text also talks about a large crowd of people.

After Luke wrote about Simon carrying the cross, he also said, and following him was a large crowd of the people, Luke 23:27. That's not surprising because during the Passover time, the population of Jerusalem swelled to about two or three million people. The crowd probably had no idea what was happening.

They probably didn't realize that this man, Jesus, was going to be crucified so that they could be restored to fellowship with God. That scene describes today's event so vividly. Millions of people today are rushing around through life, not realizing that Jesus died for them.

Are you one of those people? Do you really realize that Jesus died for you? That's an important point. A third group that's mentioned are women who were mourning. In contrast to the people who were rushing back, Luke noted a great contrast when he wrote women who were mourning and lamenting him.

Christ, again, Luke 23:27. These were some who had already made a connection with Jesus. They were grieving when they saw what was happening to Jesus.

Isn't it remarkable that even though Jesus was in such terrible shape because of the beating, he took notice of those who were mourning. That's the kind of God we serve. A compassionate one who is concerned for the welfare of others.

Jesus not only noticed that concern, he responded to them. He tells them that as bad as it is that day, it was going to be worse in the future. He probably had reference to the sorrow and heartache that was going to befall people when Jesus, excuse me, when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Are you a person who weeps and mourns because of the death Jesus died? We ought to shed tears over that fact. We have been the benefactor of the death of Christ. And we stop and think about the pain, the agony, the suffering, that mangled body.

It ought to cause us to mourn and weep. These women had such a connection with Jesus that they were mourning and weeping as he was walking along with that cross. At that time at the cross, there were also two criminals.

Among Christian people, the person who is most remembered for being at the cross is the one called the thief on the cross. But there was another one, and both were hurling insults at Jesus, Matthew 27:44. There is so much to be said about the thief who saved that I'll address that in a future lesson.

But to make a brief point, both robbers were in the presence of Jesus, and both could have been saved just as the thief on the cross was saved. The sad fact is that only one chose to believe in Jesus, and he was saved. Again, what an accurate picture of thousands of people today.

Many are hearing the gospel, but only a few are willing to submit to the commands of Christ and be saved. No doubt, as soon as the other thief's soul entered torment, he regretted the decision he had made. We could look at Luke 16:19-31, with the rich man in Lazarus.

The rich man, when he awakened in the Hadian realm, he was in torment. He had ignored the poor man all those years, but as soon as he got to the Heydian realm, where he was in torment, he now regrets the life he had lived. And he even wants to save his brothers from coming to that place.

My point is this. Those today who do not accept the salvation offer that Jesus makes, will one day wake up in that place of torment and regret the fact that they ignored the message of Christ. They ignored the love of Christ.

They ignored the suffering of Christ and chose to live their own life as they wanted to live it. But as soon as they pass from this life into the next, they understand the seriousness of their mistake they've made. So the question is, are you one who has been taught the gospel, but for some reason you have rejected Christ's great invitation? Jesus said, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. I'm meek and low in heart. You should find rest for yourselves.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light. That is the great invitation of Jesus. And all of us have burdens.

Jesus is the only one who can take those burdens and who can ease that. He said, take my yoke upon you. He's picturing a double yoke, as we would have in biblical times, where two animals would be yoked together.

Well, in the spiritual sense, Jesus is in one side of the yoke, and he asks and invites us to join him in the other side of that yoke. The question is, have you accepted that? Are you in the yoke with Jesus or have you rejected it? Let me urge you to accept that great invitation of Jesus. Revelation 3 says he stands at the door and knocks.

He wants to come. He wants you to come. Quite often, we see a painting of Jesus knocking on the door.

If you'll notice, in that picture, there's no door handle. You see, Jesus cannot open it, that door. You have to open it.

It opens from the inside, and with our hearts, we can open it, the door to Jesus, and we can accept him, we can be obedient to him, and have the salvation that he offered. Here was one of the two criminals who had that opportunity, but who turned it down. May you not turn it down any longer.

The last person we're going to look at in this lesson are the soldiers at the cross. Roman soldiers usually worked in groups of four. There seems to have been four assigned to crucify Jesus.

To them, this was just another day at the office. They drove the nails through his hands and feet, lifted up the cross, and let it fall into the hole in the ground. Then they sat at the foot of the cross to watch him die.

As a reward, the Bible says, they took his outer garment and made four parts. A part to every soldier, and also the tunic. Now, the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.

So they said to one another, let us not tarry it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the scripture, John 19, 23 and 24. The man on the cross meant nothing to them.

All they were thinking about was the gain of another garment. Seeing him suffer and die did not touch their emotions. Seeing men die was a common occurrence to them.

Unfortunately, for many people today, their only connection with Jesus is, what physical blessing is it for me? They take all the physical goods that they can from the church and from Christians, without ever expressing appreciation and without the generosity of Christians leading them to Christ. In this world, everyone is a taker or a giver. The question is, what are you? Here were men who were at the foot of the cross, where they had opportunity to listen to Jesus, to be obedient to him and to find salvation just as that criminal did.

But they were only concerned about the material blessings that they could receive from the work that they had done in crucifying that man. As we summarize this little thought with regard to people at the cross, let me remind you again as we stop and think about it. Were you like Simon of Cyrene? Maybe you were brought providentially to Christ.

Providentially means they're God working out his will behind the scenes, not through miraculous, but through working through nature. There are lots of people who have been brought to Christ because they providentially read a tract, or they providentially came to a service, or providentially something happened to enable them to be introduced to Jesus. Was that your case with you? Are you a Christian because of providence in your life? What about the large crowd of people? They were following a large crowd of people.

Are you like them? Are there millions of people in the world today? They're moving along, but they have no thought about Christ. They have no thought about death and what's beyond the death. You could fall into that group.

If so, you need to realize that life on this earth is not the end. That the real life begins when this life ends. We'd urge you to not just be one of the crowd who's moving along through life, but one of the crowd that's going to be moved to be obedient to the Lord.

It could be that you were part of the women like the women who were mourning. They were grieved because of what they saw. We need to be motivated to live for Jesus, to love Jesus, because we understand the death that he died, the pain that he went through, the blood that he shed, the mistreatment in every way.

We ought to be people who mourn that idea, and yet at the same time rejoice because we have had opportunities to be saved. And then, as we said also, there were two criminals crucified that day. One of them accepted what Jesus said.

He said, remember me when you come in your kingdom. And Jesus that day said, this day you'll be with me in paradise. Look forward sometime to the lesson on that thief.

But as we said, there were two criminals there. The other one were hurling insults, but did not repent, did not accept the invitation that Jesus would have given him. He did not accept that salvation.

Which are you? Have you accepted what Jesus offers, or are you still refusing? Or you could be, like the soldiers, just another day at the office. All you want from Christ and Christianity is what they can do for you. We urge you to evaluate your life and to identify which of the people at the cross most describes you.