Bible Talk with Sister Deb. 3 of 5 series Road to the Cross: Carrying the Cross: Simon of Cyrene's Untold Story

Simon of Cyrene's perspective reveals the brutal reality of Christ's crucifixion that's often overlooked in our sanitized front-view images of the cross. Walking behind Jesus to Calvary, Simon witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of scourging on Christ's body—an experience that helps us understand the depth of Jesus' sacrifice.

• The crucifixion viewed from behind offers a powerful new perspective on Christ's suffering
• Simon of Cyrene was "in the right place at exactly the right time" by divine appointment
• Simon traveled 1,500 miles for Passover but ended up carrying Jesus' cross instead
• We've become numb to crosses in our culture, seeing them as decorations rather than instruments of torture
• Jesus' command to "take up your cross and follow me" was literally fulfilled by Simon first
• Our crosses today represent trials and persecutions we face for living as Christ's disciples
• Each believer has their own unique cross to bear—not the same as another's
• Self-denial is the pathway to experiencing Christ's holiness
• The Christian life isn't easy but leads to eternal rewards

If you haven't committed your life to Christ, consider the sacrifice He made for you. For those already following Jesus, continue carrying your cross faithfully, knowing the eternal reward will be worth every temporary struggle.

Chapters

• 0:28 Introduction to Bible Talk
• 1:18 Recap of Road to Cross Series
• 3:49 Simon of Cyrene's Encounter with Jesus
• 10:42 The Significance of the Cross Today
• 15:30 Taking Up Your Own Cross Daily
• 21:26 Call to Follow Christ and Closing Prayer
• 27:35 Closing Announcements

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:28

Welcome. Welcome. You're listening to bible talk with sister deb osborne. Hey, you can listen to bible talk on wic 88.1, christian radio station every sunday at 5 pm.

Speaker 2: 0:40

You can also listen to bible talk and much more on the 421 podcast streaming on apple spotify. Whatever platform you're choosing, if you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at osborne debrak at gmailcom. That's O-S-B-O-R-E-N-E-B-E-B-R-A-K at gmailcom. That's one word. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal. You can support it through PayPal. That's PayPal slash H-O-R-421,. Or you go through our website at H-O-R-421showbuzzsproutcom. Now I give you your host, sister Deb.

Speaker 1: 1:20

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. So awesome to be back here to spread the Word of God, so I just want to recap just a few minutes. As you know, we are in a series of the Road to the Cross, and part one, of course, was, you know, talking about Jesus being arrested in the garden, and then part two was the actual trials that he went through.

Speaker 1: 1:51

You know the three trials for sure that he went through. And now part three, I kind of step off just a tad. I just step off just a little tad. I'm still about to crucifixion and stuff.

Speaker 1: 2:07

But today I wanted to talk about a man His name was Simon, from Cyrene, and I was thinking here a while back, and what I'm going to say here today hopefully will make you think a little bit more in depth of the crucifixion of Jesus. So think about this. So do you realize that nearly all of the pictures that we see of Jesus in the crucifixion most of the time are viewed from the front? I think I've seen one or two, maybe from the side, but all of them are from the front. I think I've seen one or two maybe from the side, but all of them are from the front.

Speaker 1: 2:50

Now, have you ever stopped to think about what we might see if we were to go around and look at the back of the cross, the back of Calvary? I don't believe it would be a pretty sight. Now we're told in the Word of God that Jesus was sentenced to be both scourged scourged I think I'm saying that right and crucified. And of course we know scourging is in Roman law is the 39 lashes, and it was such a violent beating that it had to have been such a violent beating that that Jesus' back would have been ripped to shreds. You know, flesh torn away and everything, and I know this is not something that people probably wants to hear, but you know what people it's reality, it happened, it happened to him, and so I want to talk about that just a little bit more.

Speaker 1: 3:49

But you see, friends, Jesus died in just three hours on the cross, and I would say that because of that awful impact, of that beating from the Roman soldiers, I would say that our Lord and Savior was probably literally just beaten to death. So you know, I just want you to think this. If there's ever, ever, any doubt in your mind whatsoever, or if you really want to know how much Jesus loves you and how much he loves me, if you really want to know what Jesus was forced to go through for your salvation and mine, all you have to do is walk around to the back of the cross, Walk around to the back of Calvary, and I say that because of what it had to have looked like. You know Now, the beating that Jesus took, he received, was so bad that he was unable to carry his cross you know, it was a customary, of course, back then for all the condemned prisoners to carry their own cross to the place of execution.

Speaker 1: 5:06

Now, jesus couldn't, I don't believe. I believe he was so weak. And so this is where a man called Simon of Cyrene enters the story, or more or less, he was dragged into the story. Now the Bible tells us that Simon was a passerby who was coming in from the country. We know a little bit about Simon. What we do know really more is Cyrene was an African city on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the region of what is now called Libya, and it was also known that at that point in time in Cyrene there was a very large Jewish community there. So if you can assume, maybe, that Simon of Cyrene was probably a Jewish pilgrim, maybe traveling to Jerusalem to participate in the celebration of Passover this was Passover week, and so I read on talking about Simon, I read somewhere that it said that his journey that he made to Jerusalem that week was 1500 miles, and so you can picture Simon entering the city and he entered and he encountered a possession, and he encountered a possession, procession of death, walking out of the city. They're walking these three men to their deaths. And all of a sudden, before he could probably even think, a Roman soldier grabbed him and forced him to carry the cross of one of the condemned men, Jesus Christ. Of one of the condemned man, jesus Christ. Now, I can't imagine what a shocking, devastating experience, to a certain point, that that would have been for Simon. And also because he was probably coming to participate and engage in the ceremonies of Passover, because they forced him to handle this cross, this instrument of death that meant that he would be ritually unclean and he wouldn't be able to even engage in it. And so he walked 1,500 miles to experience this spiritual experience, if you will. But he was made to carry the cross of Jesus Christ all the way out to Calvary. Wow, now he doesn't even get to participate in what he actually came to Jerusalem for. But look at this this is what I really want you to look at and hear this In Luke's version, in Luke 23, that after the soldiers grabbed Simon, they made him carry the cross behind Jesus.

Speaker 1: 8:03

You hear that? Understand what I'm saying. Behind Jesus, that means that all the way to Calvary, simon would have been looking at Jesus' back. Simon would have seen all of those marks and the blood and the flesh. Simon had to see that.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Now, I don't believe it was an accident that Simon was at that spot at that time. If he would have entered, maybe, the city five minutes earlier or five minutes later, he would have probably even missed the whole procession. But if Simon maybe had turned left, or turned right, or turned right and not left, however, when he was entering the city, he would have probably never even seen Jesus. But see people, that's not what happened. That's not the way it was written, because we know the great master himself, god was setting the stage, this was his play, this was his act, he wrote it and he was setting the stage. You see, I believe that Simon of Cyrene was supposed to be exactly where he was, at that spot and at that time, so he could help the Son of God. I believe that I don't believe it was an accident, I don't believe it was just something that happened.

Speaker 1: 9:29

Simon of Cyrene encountered Jesus Christ at that spot, right where God intended him to, when Simon carried the cross of Jesus Christ, I would say more than likely it changed his life. And I believe that when Simon of Cyrene saw Jesus' back and what had happened on the way to Calvary what had happened in Jesus' steps to Calvary. But from being in the garden and all the way up to now, I believe he understood what Jesus was doing for him and for you, and for me and for all of God's children. You see, friends, 2,000 years ago Jesus died on a hill called Calvary so that you and I could live. He was beaten, nailed to a cross, spit on, so all of you and me might live on now and forever. And if you doubt that any at all, again put yourself in Simon's place and take a good look at what he saw walking behind our Lord and Savior that day. I'm going to go on about the cross a little bit.

Speaker 1: 10:43

Crosses are as much a part of our culture today. There's so much a part of our culture that I don't even think we're moved by them anymore. I mean, I've got one around my neck every day. I've got little bitty ones that I carry and most often we don't even notice a cross, and sometimes I think we've become numb of the cross. You know, we see them on churches everywhere we drive and look around. We see them on churches everywhere we drive and look around. We see them on churches. We see them on side of the roads, where people has been killed in accidents and stuff. I tell you, coming home from down 119 from Pineville, one time I seen more crosses on side of roads than I believe I ever. I'm like, wow, I'm scared to death to even drive this road. It was just a cross every other mile and so we. So there were so many crosses around. I think sometimes that we become numb to the cross.

Speaker 1: 11:41

Now, you know, does the cross move you?

Speaker 1: 11:45

The cross reveals the love of God for you and for all of us, like nothing else in this universe and all the universe.

Speaker 1: 11:54

The horror and the intensity of the cross scream out to us that God loves us.

Speaker 1: 12:00

You know, and you know I can't help but think.

Speaker 1: 12:04

You know, has seeing God in the flesh on the cross, dying in our place, does that move us? Does that move us to think about that? Do we all get choked up at the idea of the Lord of all creation going through that brutality of dying on that cross out of his love for us? You know, I think Simon right there, unwittingly became the first person to fulfill Jesus' words when Jesus said in Mark 8 and 34 to take up your cross and follow him. Now, the Bible doesn't tell us that Jesus fell or why it was necessary for somebody to carry Jesus' cross, but the gospel writers have described the horror and the hours of suffering that our Lord endured. I mean, just a few hours earlier his sweat had become as drops of blood in the garden. He had been beaten and whipped until his back was a pulpy mess. So it's no doubt in my mind that he was so weak that he had a lot of blood loss, so he had to have someone more than likely to help him carry the cross.

Speaker 1: 13:16

And the man that carried the cross, simon. Was he a man on holiday? Was he a sightseer? Was he a bystander, really not wanting to get involved? Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was he in the right place, exactly where God wanted him to be? And that's what I'm believing, and I'm sure it was a day that Simon would never forget. That day, simon took up Jesus Christ's cross and he followed him to the place where he dies.

Speaker 1: 13:49

So, friends, if we are going to bear the cross today, then we're going to have to bear it in a way that's so different than how Simon was compelled to bear it. It won't be a wooden cross, it won't be Christ's cross, it's going to be our cross. You see, his cross was unique because it was a redeeming cross and he suffered that cross that we might be exempt from it. Now our cross is going to be trials and tribulations that have come to us because of believing what Jesus said and living like he lived. That is going to be our cross and, my friends, we have to take that cross up and follow him. And if we're looking for the description of love because of that cross, don't look in a dictionary. You look at that cross of Calvary. And there was nothing that happened on the way to the cross that he did not plan. Every event had a purpose. Every step he took was already laid out. Plan. Every event had a purpose, every step he took was already laid out. And without the cross of Jesus Christ there would be no hope for any of us today.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Now, christ wasn't the first man to die on the cross. Thousands died before him and I'm sure others died after him. But he was the only one to die for the sins of the world, for man's sins, for your sins and my sins. He was the only man to take that cross and die on that cross for the sins of the world. Yeah, christ died on his cross for all of us. But the sad thing is he did die on the cross for all of us. He took up His cross and he died on that cross for all of us. And the sad thing is not everybody's going to be saved. You know why? Because everyone will not heed the saving message of that cross. Everyone's not going to believe that cross. Everybody is not going to believe that he took up the cross and died.

Speaker 1: 15:57

And I'm telling you, friends, if you want to be the man or the woman that God wants you to be today, if you want to be free from bondage, free from a demon or free from just focusing on your old self, if you want to be healed and made whole, if you want to bless others, then you have to take up your cross and follow Jesus. Jesus said if anyone serves me, he must follow me. Now where was Jesus going when he said all that? He was on his way to the cross, and I'm sure the disciples are thinking, wow, I'm glad we don't have to do that. But you know what Jesus said. We do have to do that. He said we have to take up our cross too. He took his, and a servant has to follow his master.

Speaker 1: 16:46

You know, we have to take up our cross and, friends, we have our job description played out in front of us right now, in the life of Simon of Cyrene, if you listen to it. We are to carry our crosses. We have to deny ourself and follow behind Jesus Christ. We have to follow him. He makes it ever so clear Every true disciple of Jesus Christ must take up his cross and follow him. You know, the Word of God tells us in Matthew 10, 38 and 39. He tells us that whoever does not take up his cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of him. That whoever findeth his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake shall find it.

Speaker 1: 17:37

People, we have to follow after Jesus Christ. We have to take up our cross and follow after Jesus Christ, just like the shepherds, like the sheep that's following the shepherds. We have to walk as he walked. We have to live our life as he lived. Now is it easy? No, friends.

Speaker 1: 17:56

All disciples and followers of Christ must deny themselves. It's the only way into Christ's holiness. It's the only way we can step into his holiness. That he offers is that we deny ourselves. It's a small gate, it's the narrow way and we must deny ourselves and walk that way. Not admire our own shadow or not looking behind to see what our shadow is doing, not seek your own thing. We have to deny ourselves completely for Christ and we have to take up our cross and follow Him. Yeah, the cross is rough, it's deadly, but it's effective. And, brothers and sisters, we need to crack open the word of God and we need to look and learn to carry our own cross.

Speaker 1: 18:51

You know, when you look at the cross, think the next time you see the cross on Jesus Christ on the cross in a picture. You know, when you look at that cross, think of God's love and forgiveness for you, think about Jesus' sacrifice, think about Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross. Think about what he saw that day the blood, the torn skin, probably ribs, bones. I mean he. You see, christ, doesn't call disciples to himself to make life easier, make it prosperous. You know, he calls us to make our life holy and to live and walk as he walks. You know, and our willingness to take our cross up and follow Jesus, jesus Christ, is the mark of the true disciple, you know, because Jesus took his cross. Of course Simon carried his cross, but Jesus took his cross. And people, there is a cross for everyone. There's a cross for you and there's a cross for me.

Speaker 1: 20:07

And taking up our cross and following Jesus, it's not an uneventful afternoon stroll, it's not something that we want to play with, it's not something that you just go out and take your dog for a walk. That is not what I'm talking about. It is a march into rejection, danger, even death. We have to take up our cross, because this is one of the features of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means to be a true disciple of God, and we are going to run into rough, curvy roads. We are going to be persecuted. Jesus told his disciples if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. John 15, 20.

Speaker 1: 20:58

You know, friends, we have to accept our crosses, and we have to accept our crosses gracefully and humbly and courageously. Accept the cross and trust Jesus, pick up our cross and follow Him. You know we're all asked to bear different crosses. Everybody's crosses aren't the same. You know there's other crosses, yours and mine, no one else's. Our crosses are not the same, but we have to pick it up and carry our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ every day to be a disciple of God. And when we do this, we will. He will be with us every step of the way, leading us. He didn't ask us to do it alone. You know he will make our cross bearable.

Speaker 1: 21:53

Nobody was there making his cross bearable. The only thing that made his cross bearable is he didn't have to carry it so far. Simon carried it for him and and see, he took up that cross for us and he can make our cross just as bearable, you know. But we have to take up our cross and follow him, just like Simon did. Simon took up Jesus' cross and he tells us in his word, over and over in his word, that we have to take up our cross and follow him every day. It's not going to be pretty, it's not going to be fun and games, but I'm telling you, the reward in the end is walking on them streets of gold. The reward in the end is hearing Jesus Christ and God say hey, come in. Well done my good and faithful servant. That is the reward. Walking on the streets of gold and living in heaven with Him. That is our reward and it's not something that's handed out lightly.

Speaker 1: 22:55

You, know, he paid a price for our sins. All he wants us to do is take up our cross and follow Him, and He'll help us. He'll help us. He'll help us through every single step that we make. And, like I said earlier, the next time you get to thinking about Jesus and him dying on the cross and what all he went through, think about what's at the back of that cross, think about the blood that he shed, think about the skin hanging off and probably seeing bone. And think about what Simon of Cyrene saw that day when he carried the cross of Jesus through the streets to Calvary.

Speaker 1: 23:35

You know they were wanting that cross to go through those streets because the Romans was handing out. You know they wanted that because it was a march, because they wanted people to see. This is what happens when you don't obey, when you get out of line and you don't do what we want you to do. This is what happens. See, they were trying to use him as an example and yeah, it was a very nasty deal, and the whole nine yards, you know, getting him out of the garden and the trials, the farce of a trial, and you know and what they done to him and the smite, the smiting him on his head and everything they done. But he done it gracefully and with courage, and he done it for us, man, he done it for you and he done it for me, he done it for all of us.

Speaker 1: 24:22

I'm telling you, friends, just remember. We need to take up our cross and follow Jesus every day. Take up our cross and follow him. We need to step up to the plate and be a Simon and tell the Lord here I'm carrying my cross and I'm going to follow in your footstep every single step of the way, and he will give you strength and he will give you courage and he will be with you, leading and guiding you every step. But you've got to give it to Him. You've got to give your life to Him. And if you haven't made that decision today, to give your life to Christ, you need to think about some of the stuff I'm saying here, because he gave His life on the cross. And if you have given your life to God and you are trying your best to walk and talk with the Lord, just keep taking up your cross, keep carrying that cross, and the reward one day, the reward, is going to be awesome. So, people, let's take up our cross and let's follow Jesus. That's all I have and I hope and pray that this has blessed somebody. I hope it goes to the ears that need to hear this and I hope you think about what I was saying about the other side and the back side of the cross that we don't get to see. We read it. We read it in his word. We don't get to see it and sometimes seeing it might be a little bit better, but think about it. I hope this has blessed you as much as it has blessed me to bring it to you.

Speaker 1: 25:58

Please join me next week for Bible Talk. It'll be part four. I'm going to say a prayer before we leave Our Father, god in heaven. I thank you, lord up above, that we got this message out here today and I thank you. I know there is somebody out there listening that needs to hear, that needs to hear this and all the stuff that they need to know about, the stuff that happened on the road to Calvary. They need to know what your son, jesus Christ, went through giving his life for us. They need to know that. They need to hear it.

Speaker 1: 26:30

And, lord, let these words go to the people that need to hear it. Let these people understand and open up their eyes and their hearts and realize, and open up their ears and listen to what the Spirit's saying. Take up their cross and follow you. Put it on their hearts and their minds and their souls and let them feel that Spirit tugging. Let them feel the Spirit of God showing them. You need to take up your cross. Lord. I thank you for everything. I thank you for each and every blessing that you bestowed upon all of us. We praise you, we honor you, we love you. Today, we ask you to forgive us for all of our sins. We ask you to help us, to go with us and lead us and guide us. We ask these and all things In Jesus' holy, sweet name. We pray, amen and amen. Thank you for listening. See you next week, hopefully, lord's willing, willing, on Bible Talk.

Speaker 2: 27:35

You've been listening to Bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at osbornedebrak at gmailcom. That's O-S-B-O-R-N-E-D-E-B-R-A-K at gmailcom Recorded at the 421 studio For contact information. Follow your studio needs. You can email at hor421ministries at gmailcom.

Speaker 1: 28:06

Phone number is 239-849-1502.