Along the way they found a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross of Jesus. Sermons
I. THE CROSS ITSELF WAS A REPROACH, 1. It was a symbol of shame. (1) As a tree was the means of introducing the curse into the world, so hath God ordained that a tree should be the means of its removal. Hence from the earliest time, whoever was hanged upon a tree was accounted accursed of God (cf. Genesis 3:12-19; Deuteronomy 20:22, 23; Joshua 8:29; Joshua 10:26, 27). Those curse bearers were types of Christ (see Galatians 3:13). (2) Crucifixion amongst the heathen is traced back to the age of Semiramis. It was chiefly inflicted on slaves; on free persons only when convicted of the most heinous crimes. Hence Paul's emphatic "even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:8). (3) It was a part of the reproach of a criminal that he had to carry his own cross to the place of execution. Plutarch says, "Every kind of wickedness produces its own peculiar torment, just as malefactors when brought forth to execution carry their own crosses." So Jesus carried his cross until he sank under it (see John 19:17), overcome by exhaustion through his agony in the garden followed by his sufferings in the Praetorium. He carried it as Isaac carried the wood upon which he was to be offered up. (4) So shameful a thing was the cross, that no Jew or Roman citizen could be induced to carry one. Hence Simon the Cyrenian was impressed to bear the cross of Jesus. Probably he was pointed out as a disciple of Jesus (cf. Mark 15:21; Romans 16:13). He became thereby the honoured representative of the suffering followers of Christ in every age (cf. Matthew 16:24; Hebrews 13:13). 2. It was an instrument of shame. (1) There was a cruel torture inflicted upon the victim before he came to his crucifixion. Jesus was accordingly delivered by Pilate to be scourged, preparatory to his being crucified. The soldiers to the scourging added cruel mockings. (2) At the place of execution he was stripped of his garments. "The poorest man dies with some clothing on, Jesus with none; and his garments fall not to his friends, but to the soldiers who crucified him" (Harmer). David said in the spirit of prophecy of Christ, for it was never true of himself, "They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture" (Psalm 22:18). (3) Then came the actual crucifixion. The stretching of the victim upon the wood. The transfixing. The concussion through the striking the foot of the cross into the hole dug for its reception, by which the bones became dislocated (see Psalm 22:14). The lingering torture, the vitals being avoided. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." II. REPROACH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH IT. 1. In the place of the crucifixion. (1) "A place called Golgotha, that is to say, The place of a skull." It had its name from being the place of common execution. Christ being crucified there gives expressiveness to the prediction of Isaiah, "numbered with the transgressors." (2) The ghastly place was an emblem of the devastated state of the Church that crucified Christ. So of every Church member who crucifies him afresh. But to the repentant sinner it is the end of death and beginning of life. "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate (Hebrews 13:12). (3) "Golgotha" (גלגלת) resembles "Gilgal," with the Syriac addition (אּתא). The latter place was named by Joshua to commemorate the temporal redemption of Israel from the reproach of Egypt. In the former place Jesus freed his people by a spiritual redemption from the reproach of sin (see Joshua 5:9). 2. In the inscription on the cross. (1) "His accusation written" (ver. 37). It was common to affix a label to the cross, giving a statement of the crime for which the person suffered. (2) But the accusation of Jesus alleged no crime. It was really an accusation of the priests. They condemned Jesus for blasphemy, but had him crucified for treason. It impeached them as murderers. (3) The accusation of Jesus asserted a glorious truth. The truth was emphasized by being three times written, viz. in three languages. Pilate could not be induced to alter what he had written (see John 19:21). Like Balaam, he blessed when he was entreated to curse (see Numbers 24:10). (4) When we look at the cross as the emblem of suffering, we see over the head of the Sufferer the promise of triumph and the hope of glory. Sanctified suffering evermore brings forth this fruit. 3. In the characters crucified along with him. (1) "Two robbers, one on the right hand, and one on the left." Placing the Lord between the robbers was intended to stigmatize him with peculiar infamy, as if he were the greater criminal of the three. (2) Herein note a further fulfilment of the words of Isaiah, "He was numbered with the transgressors." He was so numbered that we may be numbered with his saints. III. REPROACH WAS CAST UPON HIM. 1. By those that passed by. (1) "They railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself." Here is a shameful misconstruction of his words. Cruelty has its refuge in falsehood. "Save." They mock at the name of Jesus, equivalent to" Saviour." (2) "If thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross." Had he not by many miracles proved himself the Son of God? He would not save himself by coming down from the cross, his gracious purpose being to sacrifice himself in order to save sinners. The sign he had given them was not his coming down from the cross, but his coming up from the grave. (3) Why have they not the patience of the "three days" to which they referred, and they might see the raising of the temple of his body? (4) The wagging of the head was the expression of a malicious triumph. Little did they consider that this very gesture was the fulfilment of a prophecy to their dishonour (see Psalm 22:7). 2. By the heads of the nation. (1) "In like manner also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders said, He saved others; can he not save himself?" A Saviour who saves not, but sacrifices himself to be the victim for salvation to others, they cannot understand. (2) "He is the King of Israel." Here is irony founded on the inscription which they could not induce Pilate to alter. "Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on him." Sceptics are ever ready to prescribe to God what miracles he must work in order to gain their confidence, as though that confidence also were an infinite benefit to him. When Christ gave them the more astonishing evidence of his Messiahship by rising from the dead, they did not believe. His completing his work and not coming down from the cross is the reason why we believe. (3) "He trusteth in God; let him deliver him now if he desireth him: for he said, I am the Son of God." In this railing they unwittingly fulfil a remarkable prophecy of the Messiah (see Psalm 22:8). The fulfilment of the predictions concerning the sufferings of Messiah by the enemies of Jesus establishes his claims. 3. By the impenitent malefactor. (1) "And the robbers also," or one of them "that were crucified with him, cast upon him the same reproach." The plural is sometimes put for the singular as, "They are dead," meaning only Herod (Matthew 2:20); and, "When the disciples saw it they had indignation," meaning only Judas (Matthew 26:8; John 12:4). (2) The arguments used by the railers are the stock arguments of infidels. Libertines like the Jews are offended at the paradoxes of a High Priest who designs to destroy the temple; at a Saviour who saves not himself; at the Son of God submitting to be crucified. But in these very paradoxes the believer finds the sources of the joys of salvation. - J.A.M.
Him they compelled to bear His cross. I. We may derive from this narrative A CONFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH. It was in accordance with the customs of the country; the correspondence is minute. Not compassion towards Christ that His cross was carried.II. An affecting ILLUSTRATION OF OUR SAVIOUR'S LOVE. 1. The preliminary sufferings were marked by severity. 2. The preliminary sufferings were marked by ignominy. III. We may see AN INCITEMENT TO CHRISTIAN OBEDIENCE. 1. TO self-denial 2. To observance of the public ordinances of religion. (R. Brodie, M. A.) I. It is interesting to remark THAT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF ANCIENT PROPHECY SEEMS OFTEN TO HAVE HUNG UPON A THREAD, so that the least thing, a thought, a word, might have sufficed to prevent its occurrence. The marvel is that the enemies of Christ were not more on the alert than to allow things to be done which they could see were evidences of His Messiahship. How easy for them to have taken care that vinegar and gall should not be given Him on the cross. It is a striking proof of the certainty with which God can reckon on every working of the human mind. Isaac was a type of Christ; he carried the wood on which he was to be sacrificed. This type was fulfilled when our Lord was led forth carrying His cross. This was the better Isaac, bearing the wood for the burnt-offering. Yet how near was the prophecy to being defeated! It was only for a part of the way that Christ carried the cross.II. WHAT INDUCED THE FIERCE AND BRUTAL SOLDIERS TO GRANT THE REDEEMER THIS LITTLE INDULGENCE, and relieve Him for a time of the burden of the cross. They probably feared, from the exhausted condition of our Lord, that death would ensue before He reached Calvary. This an incidental notice which shows us how great were the endurances of the Mediator. This incident shows us that Christ was as sensitive to bodily pain as we are. III. THE INCIDENT SYMBOLICAL. "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me." He teaches His disciples that they must bear the same cross as Himself. St. Paul says: — "I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh," etc. There is no greater mistake than to represent it as an easy thing to attain eternal life; the bearing the cross is the indispensable condition of wearing the crown. Many a cross is of our own manufacture, the consequence of our sin; these are not the cross which was laid upon Simon, and which had first been on Christ. "They are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" — so we read of the apostles. The offence of the cross has not ceased. The followers of Christ gain nothing by those compromises which may be made in hopes of conciliating the world. You will make it all the heavier by avoiding it when it lies in the clear path of duty. But take comfort: the cross was carried by Christ before it was carried by Simon. And is this all that was typically represented by the laying of the cross on Simon the Cyrenian? Indeed we ought never to press a type too far: it is easy, by indulging the imagination, to injure or bring into discredit the whole of the figurative lesson. Yet there is one thing more which we would venture to advance, though we may not speak with the same confidence as when asserting that Christ taught by action, as He had before taught by word, that His disciples must suffer with Him, if they ever hope to reign. We have already mentioned our inability to ascertain any particulars respecting Simon, or even to determine whether he were a Jew or a Pagan. Many of the ancient fathers suppose him to have been a Pagan, and consider that, in being made to bear the cross after Christ, He typified the conversion of idolatrous nations which either have been or will be brought to a profession of faith in our Lord. And there are no such reasons against this opinion as can require its rejection, nor such even as can show that the weight of probability is on the opposite side. We must be therefore at liberty to entertain the opinion, and, at least, to point out the inferences which would follow on supposition of its truth. But once let it be considered that Simon was a Pagan, and our text becomes one of those bright, prophetic lines which shoot through centuries of gloom, giving promise of a morning, if they cannot scatter night. (H. Melvill, B. D.) Mr. Simeon, of Cambridge, conversing with Mr. Gurney, made the following remarks: — "Should you see a poor maniac knocking his head against a wall, and beating out his brains, you would not be angry with him, however he might taunt you. You would pity him from your very soul; you would direct all your energies to save him from destruction. So it will be with you: the world will mock and trample on you: a man shall come, and, as it were, slap you on the face. You rub your face and say, ' This is strange work; I like it not, sir.' Never mind, I say, this is your evidence; it turns to you for a testimony. "If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but now you are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Many years ago, when I was an object of much contempt and derision in this university, I strolled forth one day, buffeted and afflicted, with my little Testament in my hand. I prayed earnestly to my God, that He would comfort me with some cordial from His word, and that, on opening the Book I might find some text which should sustain me. The first text which caught my eye was this: ' They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; him they compelled to bear His cross.' You know Simon is the same name as Simeon. What a world of instruction was here — what a blessed hint for my encouragement! To have the cross laid upon me, that I might bear it after Jesus — what a privilege! It was enough. Now I could leap and sing for joy as one whom Jesus was honouring with a participation in His sufferings. My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs."People Barabbas, Eli, Elias, Elijah, Israelites, James, Jeremiah, Jeremias, Jeremy, Jesus, Joseph, Joses, Judas, Mary, Pilate, Simon, Zabdi, ZebedeePlaces Arimathea, Cyrene, Field of Blood, Galilee, Golgotha, Jerusalem, Place of the SkullTopics Bear, Carry, Compelled, Constrained, Cross, Cyrenaean, Cyrene, Cyre'ne, Cyrenian, Forced, Forth, Impressed, Met, Named, Pressed, Service, SimonOutline 1. Jesus is delivered bound to Pilate.3. Judas hangs himself. 19. Pilate, admonished of his wife, 20. and being urged by the multitude, washes his hands, and releases Barabbas. 27. Jesus is mocked and crowned with thorns; 33. crucified; 39. reviled; 50. dies, and is buried; 62. his tomb is sealed and watched. Dictionary of Bible Themes Matthew 27:32 2525 Christ, cross of Library The Blind Watchers at the Cross'And sitting down they watched Him there.' --MATT. xxvii. 36. Our thoughts are, rightly, so absorbed by the central Figure in this great chapter that we pass by almost unnoticed the groups round the cross. And yet there are large lessons to be learned from each of them. These rude soldiers, four in number, as we infer from John's Gospel, had no doubt joined with their comrades in the coarse mockery which preceded the sad procession to Calvary; and then they had to do the rough work of the executioners, … Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Veil Rent The Sentence which Condemned the Judges The Crucifixion 'See Thou to That!' Taunts Turning to Testimonies The Fourth Word Let Him Deliver Him Now The Rent Veil Lama Sabachthani? Our Lord's Solemn Enquiry The Eloi. Third Stage of Jewish Trial. Jesus Formally Condemned by the Sanhedrin and Led to Pilate. First Stage of the Roman Trial. Jesus Before Pilate for the First Time. Third Stage of the Roman Trial. Pilate Reluctantly Sentences Him to Crucifixion. Remorse and Suicide of Judas. The Crucifixion. The Morning of Good Friday. Crucified, Dead, and Buried. ' Jesus in the Tomb. The vicariousness of Prayer The Fifth Word from the Cross The Love of the Holy Spirit in Us. Lastly; they who Will Not, by the Arguments and Proofs Before Mentioned, Links Matthew 27:32 NIVMatthew 27:32 NLT Matthew 27:32 ESV Matthew 27:32 NASB Matthew 27:32 KJV Matthew 27:32 Bible Apps Matthew 27:32 Parallel Matthew 27:32 Biblia Paralela Matthew 27:32 Chinese Bible Matthew 27:32 French Bible Matthew 27:32 German Bible Matthew 27:32 Commentaries Bible Hub |
    |