We meet Simon of Cyrene who traveled to Jerusalem from Africa. Simon is an outsider who is unwittingly entangled in the drama that surrounds us. The torturers of Christ’s scourging were too efficient and zealous in their work. If someone isn’t made to help our convict, the spectacle will end right here! Simon is pressed into service. He meets God and walks with him on a trail of sorrow. I often walk in life engrossed in my own affairs. Only in becoming detached from my selfishness can I see the burdens of others and encounter Jesus in disguise.

As they were going out, they met a Cyrenian named Simon; this man they pressed into service to carry his cross. Matthew 27:32

“Now rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church.” Colossians 1:24

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