24 HOURS-Week 4: The Sons of Simon from Cyrene

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , , , | Posted On Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 5:50 PM


“A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. (Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.)” (Mark 15:21 NLT2)

Simon of Cyrene was almost definitely a Jew who had made a pilgrimage, maybe his first ever, to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Cyrene was located in what is today northern Libya in North Africa, so he had come a long ways, most likely on foot.

There has been conjecture over the years as to whether Simon was a black African, based on some possible allusions in Acts, but it’s fairly vague. The truth is, we really don’t know - he certainly could have been - but what’s even more intriguing is the comment in parentheses that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus.

Mark would not have included seemingly random information unless it conveyed something significant, so scholars have tried to figure out why he did this. We do know that Mark wrote his Gospel primarily for Gentiles – non-Jews – in the mid-60s AD, and it was very likely first intended for Christ followers in Rome.

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, probably written a decade earlier, is a very interesting note: “I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord’s service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son.” (Romans 16:3 TEV)

Is it a coincidence that one of the most revered members of the church at Rome was named Rufus, which also just happened to be the name of the one of the sons of Simon of Cyrene? Is it a coincidence that a document written a decade later, most likely to the Christians in Rome, specifically mentions an outstanding worker named Rufus?

Of course, we don’t really know, but many scholars believe these were the same individuals, and that somehow Simon’s experience carrying Jesus’ cross had had a big impact on him. Jesus had called upon his followers to take up their crosses and follow him – perhaps Simon had done that literally. Perhaps he later married another follower of Jesus, and they moved as missionaries to Rome, where their sons Rufus and Alexander were raised as Christ followers.

There is no absolute proof of this connection, but it certainly explains a great deal about why Mark would specifically mention Simon’s sons. It's something to think about, because it shows us that Jesus can use what seem to be random or even terrible experiences for his good purposes.