seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Luke 23:26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus was beaten so badly; He couldn't pull the cross up the hill. The soldiers grabbed a replacement to pull the cross. I didn't see anything in here about Jesus thanking Simon the Cyrene for the help. I'm pretty sure Jesus was doing all He could do just to stay upright and avoiding another lashing of that stone and bone laden lash. Simon was from modern day Libya. He apparently traveled to Jerusalem for Passover and got sucked into the crowd. Jesus told those women to pray for themselves. God let Jesus come to earth to make things better, like they were in the Garden back in the days of Adam and Eve. The humans rejected Jesus. Almost all of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Teachers of the law and the Elders rejected Jesus. They picked at Him and waited for Him to make a mistake they could tag Him with. There were a couple of people at the Temple who saw the light, but not many. There were not enough to do any good. The Pharisees were always looking for a way to catch Jesus away from the crowd, they didn't worry about being charged by anyone inside the Temple for their horrid treatment of the Son of God. They were not afraid of what the church would do... they owned the church. They were worried about what the people would do. Good thing no one tweeted!
Jesus said "If they treat Me like this now, what's going to happen 100 years from now, when everyone here has passed and the memory of this day fades" [wildly paraphrased verse 31].
Look at verse 35. The Jewish Nation was looking for a king who would run the Romans out of Jerusalem. Jesus, according to the social media of the day, was supposed to be that king. Jesus didn't work with violence. If the humans wanted Him gone, He was happy to comply, but the beating and the chastising were the human part of the miracle. The real miracle was that Jesus didn't call down legions to get Him out of going to the tomb. The real miracle was that Jesus kept His eye on the Mission.
And finally, I can get to the criminals who exemplified the human condition so well. One was nasty, the other was repentant. It's just that simple. Only one of those criminals would avoid Hell. Only one would be Judged and pass on to Heaven. We choose. Come on.... Believe!
Almost 2000 years ago, three crosses were raised. One was for a King, one was for a criminal, and one was for repentant follower.
Come on..... Believe!
