3: simon carries Jesus' cross
Matthew 27:32
"As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross."
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Simon was apparently a visitor to Jerusalem from Cyrene in Eastern Libya, Northern Africa. He was possibly from the large Jewish community there.
He was among the crowd watching as Jesus was being led out to Calvary. It was traditional for convicted prisoners sentenced to crucifixion to carry their own cross to the place of execution. Jesus was weak and falling constantly because of tiredness torture and dehydration. when Jesus couldn't get back up a Roman soldier summoned Simon out of the crowd and ordered to carry the cross with Jesus. This couldn't have been easy as people were throwing things (such as rotten fruit) at Jesus and Simon would have struggled to carry the cross, help Jesus walk and fend off the constant barrage of thrown objects. |