“As they were going out, they met a man from
Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (which
means The Place of the Skull). There
they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he
refused to drink it. When they had
crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him
there. Above his head they placed the
written charge against him: THIS IS
JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers
were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left.” (Matthew
27:32-38)
Simon, the soldiers, and the two robbers were
just bit parts in the greatest drama of all time. They had no idea what was happening that
day. They must each have been wrapped up
in their own world and their own problems.
Simon was just an innocent bystander. Was he there as part of the crowd calling for
Jesus’ death? Was he a curious onlooker
wondering what all of the excitement was about?
Was he just someone passing by who got caught at the wrong place at the
wrong time? Who knows why he was there
or whether he left the scene after he’d done his duty without ever realizing
what he had been involved in. He
probably grumbled the whole way about the interruption to his plans. He was next to the King, carrying His load
for Him, and yet Simon may well have never known it.
The soldiers were just doing their jobs. It was a horrible job, executing criminals,
but it was their assigned duty. Some of
the difficulty was eased by the chance to gamble for the clothes of the executed. Mostly it was just a boring job, filled with
cries of agony. Little did they realize
that day that the cries they heard came from the Son of God.
Simon and the soldiers were so close to
Deity, but they probably never knew it.
I wonder how often we miss something God is doing around us because we
are so wrapped in our in own world and our own problems?
His, by Grace,
Steve
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