Fully God and fully man. Jesus’ mother Mary, and best friend, the apostle John, watched the entire scene unfold. Innocent but aware, Jesus obediently began His walk to the cross. John recorded:
“’Away with him,’ they yelled. ‘Away with Him! Crucify him!’
‘What? Crucify your king?’ Pilate asked.
‘We have no king but Caesar,’ the leading priests shouted back.
Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away”
(John 19:15-17a).
They took Mary’s Son. They took John’s best friend. Jesus willingly went, because He knew it was His Father’s will. He picked up the cross and walked on.
“Carrying the cross by Himself, he went to the place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha)” (John 19:17b).
Under the weight of the wooden cross, Jesus began to drag all of our sins with Him. It was hard. In our everyday lives, we often have a difficult time releasing the ultimate authority of our lives to the Lord, alone. We struggle to give Him control. It’s nearly impossible to trust Him in times of injustice, unfairness, and suffering. It’s hard.
Simon of Cyrene Carried the Cross for Jesus
“Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross” (Matthew 27:32).
Jesus was too weak to carry the cross another dust-shuffling step. Simon stepped in to carry it for Him. Fully man, Jesus understands weakness. Though fully God, Paul explained in his letter to the Philippians:
“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:6-11).
When we feel crushed under the weight of our cross, Jesus is there carrying it with us. He knows how we feel. We are never alone.
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