SERMON XI.

SIMON THE CYRENIAN.

"And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross."MATTHEW xxvii. 32.

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Combining the accounts of the several historians, we now know that when our Lord was given up by Pilate to the will of his enemies, the soldiers, as was the ordinary practice in regard of those sentenced to crucifixion, laid upon Him the cross whereon He was to die. After He had carried it a certain distance, the soldiers, for one reason or another, took it from Him, and placed it on a Cyrenian whom they happened to meet; and this Simon bore it to Calvary. We have no certain information as to who Simon was, whether or not a disciple of Christ. He is mentioned by St. Mark as "the father of Alexander and Rufus :" but though this would seem to indicate that he and his family were well known at the time, it does not help us to determine particulars. The probability would seem to be, that he was at least disposed to favor Christ, and that this his disposition was matter of notorietynothing is more likely than that it was on account of his attachment to Jesus, and for the sake therefore of exposing him to public ridicule, that the soldiers compelled him to carry the cross.

This fact is also recorded, and almost | plete a narrative, or unite its scattered in the same terms, by St. Mark and St. Luke; and we may think that three evangelists would scarcely have all inserted it in their narratives, had it not deserved more attention than it seems ordinarily to receive. The circumstance is not noticed by St. John, whose object was rather to supply deficiencies in former gospels, than to repeat their statements. But St. John enables us better to understand the laying the cross upon Simon for we could not determine from the three first evangelists whether or not it had been first laid upon Christ. This is an important point, as you will afterwards see: we could gather little or nothing from the fact that Simon was made to carry the cross, if we were not sure that it was first carried by Christ. But this is not affirmed either by St. Matthew, St. Mark, or St. Luke. These evangelists merely mention that the soldiers, as they led away Jesus to crucify Him, met with Simon the Cyrenian, and compelled him to be the cross-bearer but whatever we might have conjectured, or whatever we might have concluded from the usual practice of the Romans, we could not have been confident from this, that Christ had borne his cross till it was thus laid upon another. But St. John, omitting all notice of Simon, expressly says of our Lord, "He, bearing his cross, went forth into a place, called the place of a skull." This is a beautiful instance of the nicety with which the fourth evangelist may be said to have observed what was wanting in the other three: he fills up, so to speak, a crevice, or puts in a link, so as to com

But allowing the probability that he was known to favor the cause of Christ, we have no means of ascertaining whether he were a Jew or a Gentile: for ecclesiastical history furnishes nothing respecting him beyond what is furnished by the evangelists. In the book indeed of the Acts of the Apostles, where the prophets and teachers in the Church of Antioch are enumerated, we have mention of "Simeon that was called

Niger;" and many have imagined that | One would have expected that, with this might be "Simon the Cyrenian "the surname Niger, or black, being thought to accord with the birthplace; for Cyrene was a city and province of Libya in Africa. If this identity were determined, there would be no doubt as to Simon's having been a Jew: but it is merely the resemblance in name which has led to the supposition; and even this resemblance is insufficient to support any theory; for the same Evangelist speaks of Simon the Cyrenian, and of Simeon, called Niger. We must therefore be content to remain ignorant in regard of the individual who bore the cross of Christ; and we may find that this ignorance will not interfere with the lessons to be drawn from the occurrence. The occurrence itself, as we have already intimated, is one which may be easily overlooked, but which perhaps only requires to be carefully considered in order to the being found full of interest and instruction. Let us then join ourselves to the multitude who are thronging round Jesus, as, with slow and fainting steps, He toils towards Calvary. There is a moment's pause: an individual is met, coming out of the country the attendant soldiers seize him, and compel him to bear the cross which the Redeemer had hitherto carried. This is the incident which we are to ponder: we will go no further with the infuriated crowd; but, sitting down, will examine what truths and lessons may be derived from what has just been observed, namely, that "as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name him they compelled to bear his cross."

prophecies in their hands which they themselves applied to the Christ, they would have taken pains to prevent, so far as possible, their apparent fulfilment in Jesus of Nazareth. And yet, as if judicially blinded, they themselves brought about the fulfilment, and that, too, in cases where prevention seemed quite in their power. Did they not know what Zechariah had predicted in reference to the price at which Christ would be sold? and yet they sold Jesus for the very sum; a thought only being wanting, and one piece of money might have been added or taken off, and thus a noted prophecy have failed of accomplishment in Him whom they crucified. Thus again, how easy it would have been-and for men who were seeking to disprove the pretensions of Jesus, how natural-to take care that vinegar and gall should not be given Him on the cross, and that the soldiers should not part his garments amongst them, nor cast lots upon his vesture. There would have been no difficulty, in these and other similar respects, in hindering the fulfilment of prophecy: and the wonder is, that men, familiar with prophecy, accustomed to apply it to the Messiah, and eager at the same time to prove that Jesus was not the Messiah, should have either effected or permitted the fulfilment, thus completing the evidence, which they had full power, as it seemed, to weaken or mutilate.

Now it is very interesting to remark how the accomplishment of ancient prophecy seems often to have hung upon a thread, so that the least thing, a thought or a word, might have sufficed to prevent its occurrence. There are many predictions in reference to Christ, which could only be fulfilled by his enemies, and of which we might have expected that these enemies, anxious to disprove his claims, would have been too shrewd to help the accomplishment. The marvel is, that these enemies were not more on the alert; that they should have done, or allowed things which, on a moment's consideration, they might have seen to be evidences that Jesus as Messiah.

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It is a striking proof of the thorough certainty with which God can reckon on every working of the human mind, that He should thus have put it into the power of the bitter enemies of Jesus to arrest the fulfilment of prophecies. He could so shape predictions that a single thought, and that the thought most likely to arise, would be enough to prevent their being accomplished in his Son and yet be as sure that every tittle would come accurately to pass, as if He had ordered it by a decree as abiding as Himself. It is not that God interfered, by any direct influence, to make men act as He had foretold that they wouldfor this would be to suppose Him partaker in their wickedness, accomplishing as well as predicting. He left the enemies of Christ to themselves, quite at liberty to take their own course but his prescience assured Him what that

course would be; and, acting simply on his foreknowledge, He could place a prophecy within a hair-breadth, as we think, of being defeated, whilst its fulfilment was as certain as though it had occurred.

that he must soon pierce the heart of his son, would only make him more tender and affectionate till the fatal moment came. We take it therefore as expressly ordered by God, that the wood of the burnt-offering should be laid upon Isaac: it was a part of the type: and, taking the type as a prophecy, we might justly speak of a flaw in the fulfilment, were there nothing that answered to it in the oblation of Christ. And to those who knew nothing of the exact mode in which Christ was to suffer, this might have seemed one of the obscurest portions of the type: how the sacrifice could carry the wood on which he was to die, was a question that could hardly be answered, until it was known that the death would be the death of the cross.

And we consider that we have in the narrative now under review an instance of prophecy thus accomplished, when it seemed within an ace of being unfulfilled. There is no more illustrious type of the Redeemer, presented in sacrifice to God, than Isaac, whom, at the Divine command, his father Abraham prepared to offer on Moriah. We have every reason for supposing that, in and through this typical oblation, God instructed the patriarch in the great truth of human redemption; so that it was as he stood by the altar, and lifted up his knife to slay his son, that Abraham discerned the shinings of Christ's day, and rejoiced in the knowledge of a propitiation for sin. And whatever the measure in which Abraham was instructed as to the figurative meaning of the offering up of Isaac, there can be no doubt with our-way that Christ carried the cross. selves that herein was accurately portrayed the sacrifice of Christ-the sacrifice presented, in the fulness of time, on the very spot where Abraham was directed to immolate his son.

But the type was thoroughly fulfilled in this singular particular, when our Lord was led forth, carrying his cross. This was, to the letter, Isaac, bearing the wood for the burnt-offering. Yet how near was the prophecy to the being defeated! It was only for a part of the

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soldiers then took it from Him, and placed it on another. And they might at the first have seized on some bystander and given him the burden. It could not have been indispensable that Christ But it is among the most significant, should bear it Himself: for, on such perhaps, and certainly the most affect- supposition, they would hardly have ing, parts of the typical transaction, that transferred the load. And if any of Isaac was made to carry the wood on the Pharisees or scribes, remembering which he was to be presented in sacri- the typical history of Isaac, and deterfice to God. We read that " Abraham mining that it should not foreshadow took the wood of the burnt-offering, and that of Jesus, had suggested to the sollaid it upon Isaac his son." Are we to diery, perhaps with affected compassion, think that this was done without expli- that it might be as well to lay the cross cit direction from God? It is hardly on another, it is probable enough that credible. Abraham, full of tenderness they would have acted on the suggestowards Isaac, his whole soul yearning tion, and done that at first which they over the son of his love, and agonized were ready to do after a little delay. by the command which he was hasten- So near may the type have been to the ing to obey, would not have laid the being unfulfilled; so little may have been heavy burden on the lad, unless in con- wanting to prevent the accomplishment formity with an injunction from God. of a sigual prediction. But God, who Of Abraham we are told, that he "took could speak through his servant Zechathe fire in his hand, and a knife." So riah of thirty pieces of silver as the that the patriarch had nothing but what price of the Messiah, and be confident was light to carry: the only burdensome that a prophecy, which He made it easy thing-and it must have been burden- to defeat, would be fulfilled to the very some, if there were wood enough for letter, could command also the wood to such a burnt-offering as Abraham ex-be bound upon Isaac, and know that, pected-was bound upon the child; in- notwithstanding the palpable character credible, we may say, had the father been of the type, the cross would be bound left to himself: for the consciousness upon Christ.

thing like pity, as they saw the Redeemer tottering beneath the weight. It may have been that they feared, that, if they now goaded on the innocent sufferer, death would ensue before they reached the place of execution, and rob them of their victim. Or it may have been that those who were eager to crucify the Savior were impatient of delay; his feeble steps were too slow for their malice; and they urged the removal of the cross, that they might accelerate the time of his being fastened to it with the nails.

And this is the first reflection which we have to make, as we see that Simon the Cyrenian is constrained to carry the cross after Christ. Had we met the procession when a little further advanced, we might have said, This suffering man, who is led forth to death, cannot possibly be Messiah, the antitype to Isaac; for he does not bear the wood on which He is to die. But now we have beheld the transfer of the cross: we know that it was not laid upon Simon, until it had been carried by Christ, until, that is, the type had been fulfilled, and Isaac had reappeared in a greater But in any case, it must have been than himself. And it is the transfer of the exhausted condition of our Lord the cross which makes so remarkable the fulfilment of the type. Had Christ borne the cross to the end, we might have thought it a matter of course that the type should be fulfilled, regarding the fulfilment as assured by the known customs of a Roman execution. But the fulfilment is here in jeopardy; it it lasted only a portion of the time; it might therefore have not occurred at all: caprice on the part of the soldiers, or design upon that of the scribes, might have entirely prevented it. And I seem to have before me a beautiful evidence how the fore knowledge of God can assure Him of the minutest particulars, of every turn of human thought, of every motion of the human will, when I find that Jesus did indeed come forth bearing his cross, and therefore accomplishing an illustrious prediction, but that shortly afterwards, in the course, for aught I know, of a very few minutes, the soldiers laid hold on one Simon, a Cyrenian, and compelled him to carry the cross after Christ.

But what induced the fierce and brutal soldiers to grant the Redeemer this little indulgence, and relieve Him for a time from the burden of the cross? We have already supposed that Simon the Cyrenian was laid hold of, on account of his being known to favor Christ's cause, and partly, therefore, with the design of exposing him to ridicule. But it is not to be imagined that this was the only, nor even the chief, reason. Had not the condition of Christ been such as to suggest, in some sense, the necessity of relieving Him of the load, we can hardly think that the cross would have been removed. It may have been that even the soldiers were moved to some

which gave occasion to the removal of the cross: it was transferred to Simon, because, to all appearance, Christ was unable to bear it to Calvary. And this is just that incidental notice which supplies the place of lengthened narrative, and lets us in, as it were, to the greatness of the Mediator's endurances. You cannot fail to be struck, when you read the accounts of the crucifixion, with the utter absence of those expressions of pain, or assertions of suffering, which abound in mere human histories of some tragic occurrence. If you except that most thrilling exclamation, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" there is nothing whatsoever uttered by the suffering Redeemer, from which you can conclude that He suffered at all. And even this exclamation indicated mental, rather than bodily anguish: the deep and piteous cry was wrung from Christ, not by the tortures of crucifixion, but by the hiding, the eclipse, of the countenance of his Father. Indeed, it is also recorded by St. John, that Jesus, as He hung on the cross, exclaimed, "I thirst;" and this may be taken as an expression of corporeal suffering. But it is very observable, that the Evangelist distinctly states that Jesus said this, in order “that the Scripture might be fulfilled," for the sake of effecting the accomplishment of the prediction, "And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." It seems implied by St. John, that Christ would have said nothing as to his thirst, had He not remembered a prophecy which was yet unaccomplished, so that the exclamation is hardly to be given in proof of the greatness of bodily anguish.

And it might not be very difficult to arrange something like a plausible theo