It’s Palm Sunday, and I’ll mention it because I’m supposed to.

But it’s hard to get excited about it because I think it’s quite likely that some of the crowds of the Triumphal Entry…

And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21.9 – 11, ESV)

…were among this crowd:

Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” (Matthew 27.20 – 23, ESV)

For sure, many, if not most, in the Palm Sunday crowd were erroneously expecting Jesus to lead a charge to overthrow the Romans. The disciples were still expecting that in Acts 1!

So let’s get right back to the Stations of the Cross:

Station 8: Jesus is Helped by Simon of Cyrene to Carry the Cross

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. (Mark 15.21, ESV)

Simon of Cyrene is mentioned also in Matthew and Luke, but this is all we know. His name doesn’t come up again. BUT, Rufus does:

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. (Romans 16.13, ESV)

It seems likely that Simon became a believer, else how would the gospel writers know his name? And Mark and Paul both mention Rufus, his son. What a story! Here’s Simon, in town, no doubt, for the Passover celebration, gets an up-front participatory seat for the true Passover lamb (more about this after Easter).

At this point in his journey, Jesus, the all-powerful son of God, needs help, and the Romans pull in the first guy they see. In the movie, Ben-Hur, to whom Jesus had shown kindness earlier, is in Jerusalem and tries to help Jesus, but he can’t get close enough because of the crowds. Apparently, none of his disciples are close enough either and most may not even be in the area. So Jesus is helped by a stranger, forced to do it, rather than a friend.

Certainly, Simon and his sons would never have a problem understanding Jesus’ words, recorded later by the gospel writers:

And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9.23, ESV)