Amen. Well, good morning. Open your Bibles with me, beloved, to the gospel of Mark. Our love and thanks to Cam and Diana for leading us in worship this morning, for using the gifts that they've been given to serve the body. Each one of you has been gifted, haven't you? You've been placed at Harrison Hills just like Esther for such a time as this. We're here for a reason. We're here to receive and we're here to give. You know, we often think of the three T's when we ponder and when we pray about what the Lord would have us do, how he would have us serve and have us give. We all have our time, our talent, and our treasure. We all have a measure of all three as they are needed in the body. As the Lord continues to grow Harrison Hills, there is a job for you. You have a calling here. You have an ability that God has placed in you for the service of His body. There are no appendages in the church. There are no useless parts that are there for no reason. Beloved God is not wasteful. He saves us for a reason, and He puts us to work. Time, talent, treasure. Every one of us has been given all three in some measure. You may be abundant in one and scarce on two. Perhaps you have but little treasure, but you have talent or perhaps time to give. Perhaps you have more treasure and more talent, but less time. Whatever your mixture, if God saved you, he saved you with a purpose. He saved you to deploy you, and in that he is glorified. So find your T's, Harrison Hills, and plug into your church body, because we labor until he comes. Amen? Amen. Well, last week we concluded our time in the Praetorium, didn't we? Having concluded the six show trials of Jesus, with Jesus having been led away inside, verse 16, we discussed at some length where exactly that location might have been, some of the competing theories of the palace and the Praetorium, and more importantly, why we care about that, why it matters. Of course, that brought us to the beginning of the Via Dolorosa, the way of suffering, the steps that Jesus, in tradition, took on the way to Golgotha, as we have begun that journey ourselves in the text. And there we arrived at the Hadrian Plaza, underneath the Church of the Condemnation in the old city of Jerusalem. And walking under the Ecce Homo arch, of course that's Latin for Pilate's declaration, behold the man, Before the screaming crowd, that plaza underneath drew our gaze to the flagstones that were used to build that plaza, some 100 years after Jesus' crucifixion. The famous game that we saw etched into the stones, called Basilius. the game of kings. And it was this very game played by the Roman soldiers that set the context for the incredible mockery and scorn heaped upon Jesus, being dressed up as a king, being spat upon and beaten with a reed. Of course, it was during the game of Basilius, the game of kings, where the purple robe, which was normally a scarlet robe of a Roman soldier, likely old, that had been faded by usage and sun, turning it that purple hue. was put on Christ to mock him as the king of the Jews. And it was in this game that the crown of thorns, meant to mock the golden-leafed crown of Caesar, was fashioned and pushed down onto Jesus' head, beat with reeds into Jesus' head. We pause there to marvel at the incredible act of census plenior there by the Romans, didn't we? In using the thorns, their act meaning containing a greater, higher, fuller meaning than they could have ever imagined. That these Roman soldiers in fashioning a crown of thorns have unwittingly highlighted, they've pointed to, they've lifted up the symbol of God's curse upon man because of sin, the thorn. What was the symbol of God's curse upon humanity in Genesis 3? What was it? It was the thorn. What would infest the land for Adam to work upon? Thorns. And by sovereign planning and heavenly decree, God's curse upon humanity, embodied and symbolized in the thorn of the ground, is now being placed upon the Son of God. God's curse upon us, the thorn, is now being placed on Jesus. Oh, Roman soldier, If you only knew the declaration to all of heaven and all of hell that you have proclaimed by driving the very symbol of our sin, the thorn into the head of our savior. While it's easy to become engrossed or enamored or really sidetracked with the physical atrocities of the passion narrative of the scourging of the crown of thorns, even of the crucifixion itself. We took note that that is not the focus of the writers of scripture. In fact, most of what we know about a Roman scourging or a Roman crucifixion is from historical references. It's not from scripture. We noticed in Mark when describing the scourging of Jesus, Mark simply says, and having scourged him. In crucifixion, Mark simply says, when they crucified him. Right, it's as minimalist as one can get, because that's not the focus. The focus has been on the treatment of Christ. It's been on the mocking and the jeering and the hatred and the scorn and the disdain that is felt for Christ, because that's the heart of the matter. The physical aspects are just outflows of what is happening in the heart. From the garden at his arrest, we recall that it was not the prospect of a horrible death. It wasn't the thought of unimaginable pain that drove our Savior to his knees, sweating blood. It was drinking the cup of God's wrath that weighed our Savior. It was being one who had never known sin, having the sin of those who God would save placed upon him. Having lived and dwelt in perfect Trinitarian unity with the Father since before the created element of time, having never known separation. The price of our redemption required he be forsaken by his Father. It is that weight and separation that causes his knees to buckle, even in the garden. Be reminded that what Jesus would endure physically was not unique in any way. Thousands would endure the Roman scourge. Thousands would go upon the Roman cross. That is not the thrust of scripture. And finally, last week we concluded, truly with a crowd that would not be satisfied, right? Even with a very clever scheme by Pilate to trot out a bloodied and humiliated looking Christ, hoping that that would give them, quite literally, their pound of flesh that they wanted. The appearance of Jesus to them, though, didn't accomplish that. It appeared to only serve as chum in the water, right, to inflame their calls even louder for Jesus' crucifixion. And of course, none of this made any sense from the outside looking in. What has turned and enraged this crowd so? The religious leaders, we understand that. They've wanted Jesus killed for some time, but why the crowd? So he took great lengths to explain that as it speaks to matters of the heart, as it speaks to the anger that comes when a Jesus of someone's own design comes crashing down. That Jesus was not the military messiah sent to deliver them from Rome that they had envisioned him to be. They had formed and fashioned a Jesus that had failed their expectations. And false gods will always do that. They'll always let you down. That's all they can do. And anger is the response to that. I had an image of Jesus. I had an image of God. And circumstances, life, or even this book I'm holding in my hand are crumbling that idol that I've made. And so it did. Jesus' kingdom was not of this world. I'm not here to save you from the Romans. Well, that's not my Jesus. Crucify him. Crucify him. And so after one sham trial after another, after one illegality and miscarriage of justice after another, sentence has been passed. Or better yet, passed off with Pilate. Punting, didn't he? Washing his hands of it to salvage his conscience, to please his wife, to stop a riot, to save his own hide. but all is on divine timetable. The timetable that we will see even in our text today, gloriously. Well today as we leave the palace, as we leave the praetorium, we're going to encounter a man. A man named Simon of Cyrene. Now before we take a incredible look into someone who's really seemingly just a footnote in the narrative of the passion, Let us be reminded. Beloved, many actors will come and go in the story of our Lord. Many will be brought into orbit, but all, like Simon of Cyrene, are moons on divine rotation. They are there for one reason. They hold one purpose, to reflect the sun. While Simon may be the actor in our title, a moon in the divine orbit, Christ is the star of our text today. Christ is the sun, the radiance of beauty that gives light and life to our continents and our souls. The title of our message may be Simon, but the star of the show is Jesus. And as we rotate around him, dazzling light hits such magnificent people that God would use to establish his church and to flip a world on its head. So today we meet just such a man. What an incredible story before us. So let us look to our text this morning. Short, only one verse. Mark 15 verse 21. Mark 15 verse 21. And they pressed into service a passerby, coming from the countryside, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, this morning as we, Lord, encounter another moon set in divine orbit around you, Lord, that catch the reflection of the sun, that have been tasked for your glory, tasked in the growing of your church. Lord, that we might see it today. Lord, many needs have come through the door this morning. Lord, some are seeking after you, some have no knowledge of you. Holy Spirit, you know the state of each one. And we ask, Lord, that you would put their heart on notice. Lord, that you intend to do business with them today. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Well, one thinks of the nation of Libya. Libya. I'm going to guess that images of a desolate wasteland come to mind, right? Maybe thoughts of endless desert and seas of brown sand as far as the eye can see. And for the most part, that's true. But there's one small exception. Close to the coast, up against the expansive blue of the Mediterranean Sea, is the modern-day town of Shahat, a town that we might better know as Cyrene, the stunning ancient Greek city of Libya. Now far from being a brown desolation, sirene is green, and one might even call it lush. A picture of sirene is not what one would picture of this African nation. It's special, so special it's quite fitting that it's home to a special man, home to a moon that's been brought into the orbit of the sun. And we're going to be spectators, we're going to be experiencers of that bright reflection this morning. So with that, let us look to our verse, verse 21, as we begin, verse 21. And they pressed into service a passerby. Now pause there for a moment as we set our scene. Understand at this moment, Jesus, as the condemned, has been laden with what is known as a patabulum. Now this was the horizontal crossbeam of the Roman cross. These usually weighed upwards of 100 pounds. The vertical part of the cross that would have already been set, that's already standing in a hole in Golgotha. It stayed there, it rarely left. So the condemned would be forced to carry the Patabulum to the place of their execution. Now remember at this point, Jesus has not eaten. He has not slept. He's not only spiritually and emotionally, mentally at a place that we could not comprehend, even being fully God, yes, but fully man as well, meaning there is no relief. He suffered the loss of a terrific amount of blood from the scourging, and of course, the head wounds from the crown of thorns. And we know, we have many people in the medical profession in this congregation, that what loss of blood does to you? That it saps your strength, that it causes dizziness. All of these things the God-man Jesus is subject to. If we trace the steps of Jesus from the palace to Golgotha, well, the streets would have been positively lined with people. We remember this, right? This is Passover, Jerusalem. The city swelled to almost three million people. So the streets would have been positively lined. Some were yelling, some were crying, some were just there for the show. But one element that we know were following Jesus was a group of women. Now these were not women of scripture like we know, like Mary, et cetera. These were professional mourners. But likely these were women who knew Jesus very well. Perhaps they even had a thought that he might be Messiah. But they're not believers. That's not how Jesus addresses them. They're not following Jesus on the road as Messiah. They're following Jesus out of pity and sympathy. It's really an incredible exchange, and Mark doesn't give it to us, but it's one that we cannot miss, and it likely inserts right here, right before Jesus cannot continue with the beam on his back. Luke records this exchange with these women in the 23rd chapter. There's no need to turn there. I'll read it for us. And following him was a large crowd of the people. and of women who were mourning and lamenting him. But Jesus turning to them said, daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills, cover us. For if they do these things when the tree is green, What will happen when it is dry? Boy, what a treasure trove there. We won't hit that all, but first, what presence of mind does Jesus have to speak in such a way? With such clarity and perfection under such physical duress? We cannot imagine the state that Jesus is in with every aspect of really what it means to have physical humanity positively crumbling down right now. His body is breaking down. But he uses this opportunity to give one last final warning and final sermon. Incredible. You're crying for me. Don't. Cry for yourselves. And here Jesus speaks with, remember, the telescope of prophecy, right? Who can remember back to our, to That long series that we did, right? That fulfillment that we see so often with both the near and the far fulfillment, right? Saying these days are coming when they will say, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed. And they will say to the mountains, fall on us and the hills cover us. Now turning that telescope in, our near fulfillment there is, of course, the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 66 to 70, right? It would all burn. Jesus is quoting Hosea's judgment given to the apostate northern kingdom of Israel. And you turn that telescope out, where else do we see that exact same language? Yet again, in Revelation 6. When the sixth seal judgment is broken during the tribulation and the people will cry the same thing, then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the day of their wrath has come and who is able to stand. So not only is Israel going to be judged with everything being raised to the ground and only about 35 years time, these ladies would be alive for that. But this was a preview for what lies in wait for the entire world. Don't cry for me. Look again how Jesus ends basically his last sermon at there in Luke. For if they do these things when the tree is green, What will happen when it is dry? Well, who's the green tree? He is, right? If the Romans will do this to Jesus, the Messiah, if you will do this to Jesus, the Messiah, what do you think they're gonna do with a dead and barren Israel? It's a pronouncement of doom to them. Well, Jesus was a preacher right to the last breath. Don't doubt it. So forgive the quick detour to Luke there, but we just could not miss that exchange with the women. Now back to our text, as we said, most people would have been, they would have been gathered at the gate that's leading out of the city. That's where the bulk of people would collect to see something like this. The ways were very narrow inside the city gates, right? With Jesus having the long cross beam, you've got soldiers flanking them as well that did not leave a lot of room. So it's likely at the gate leading out to Golgotha that our scene with Simon occurs. Now remember, these crucifixions were done just outside the city gate walls, right? So that all who were passing on the road could witness the warning. And it was likely here that a unlikely pilgrim from Cyrene would be thrust into the greatest story ever told. There are many things we don't know about Simon. Being from Africa, we don't know if he was dark-skinned as a native of Libya, or if he was part of a very large, settled Jewish population of Cyrene, making him more lighter-skinned. We're not sure. We don't know much about his past. But thankfully, we do know something about his future. So looking back to our text now, Jesus having been led out to be crucified, he cannot bear the weight of the horizontal beam. It's 100 pounds, it's awkward, it's heavy, you have massive blood loss and dizziness. At this point, the Roman soldiers have one job to do, right? And when you have a job to do, you just want to get it done, right? That's as simple as it was. So grabbing someone from the crowd was not some sort of act of charity or act of compassion from the Romans, right? Oh, this poor guy, let's help him out, right? This was a process to keep things moving. And understand that Simon, he really had no choice in the matter. In this day and age, you did what a Roman soldier told you to do. This wasn't an ask. This was a command. Now, our LSB translation tells us that Simon was pressed into service. Other translations say Simon was compelled. Some say forced. The meaning is the same. This was not voluntary. But that's not what draws our gaze as believers looking at this scene. You know, to the outside, this would look quite random, right? This man was simply grabbed and forced. But scripture shows us that there are no accidents. There's no coincidence when it comes to God and the plans he has for his children. There's no game of chance in timing or placement. Question. Could God have supernaturally sustained and strengthened Jesus for the task ahead? Or better yet, could he have allowed Jesus to have even been weaker than he was? Of course. He could have done that either way and not violated any aspect of Jesus' humanity, but he didn't. But yet Jesus' physical weakness, it must be and it will be accounted for in the sovereignty of God. See, we understand that if Jesus stays at this pace, being so weakened, we possibly have a time issue here, don't we? What do we mean by that? We have a time issue. Saints, if Jesus moves slower, that means he's going to be crucified later, meaning he will die later. Beloved, are we on a divine timetable? Yes, we are, down to the minute. It is set, it is done, it is decreed. Jesus will die, he will give up the ghost at 3 p.m. on 14 Nisan. Full stop. And some of you will recall some time back ago, we walked through the entire math and calendar of Daniel's prophecy of the 77s, didn't we? And we demonstrated the glorious planning of God down to the day. All over Jerusalem, the Passover lambs will be slain at that moment, 3 p.m., 14 Nisan. And many say the sounds of lambs being slaughtered would actually have been audible at that moment, as thousands of lambs were slain. We are on God's timetable, the divine timetable. Beloved, we serve a God who plans, not a God who reacts. That's a truth we may stand upon. And nowhere is that more evident than in every minute and every minute detail of Jesus' road that would lead to Calvary. So the time must and will be perfect. Jesus' weakness has slowed him, but God has accounted for that. A moon will be brought into the orbit of the sun. His name is Simon of Cyrene. Simon is going to begin his walk with Christ as an agent of time, literally taking up his cross, unwittingly keeping us on the divine timetable in the wake of Jesus' failing body. So where has Simon come from? Looking back to our text, coming from the countryside. Now this is a great detail from Mark, right? Because it helps us grasp what looks like the spontaneity of this, right? Simon was, meaning Simon was detached from this whole scene. He had no expectation of this. He wasn't part of the Jerusalem scene. He had no history with Jesus. He had no connection. He's coming from the countryside. That's what Mark means to tell us. He's journeyed to Jerusalem for Passover. Now remember, we have a huge Jewish population in Cyrene. In fact, we know that this group even had their own synagogue in Jerusalem. We even know the name of it from Acts 6. Remember when here certain Jews are arguing with Stephen in Acts 6 verse 9, listen. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen, including both Cyrenians, there they are, and Alexandrians, and some from Cilicia and Asia rose up and were arguing with Stephen. So this is a very large, very well-established group of Jews. Why do you care about that? Well, that tells us something of Simon's knowledge. It tells us something of his education, that he's no Gentile, which means that his mind and his eyes are looking for Messiah. So not only has he been thrust by the sovereign hand of God into a starring role of God's plan from the foundation of the world to save a people unto himself, but Simon, will be an inheritor of that salvation. Let's dig further into who this man is, who his family is, and watch the incredible planning of God. Back to our text, next part of the verse reads, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Now those who have been with us this three and a half years that we've been in Mark now, you should have perked up right there. We just saw something very unusual and very uncharacteristic of Mark. Remember, Mark doesn't usually give specific details, does he? He writes very short, very clipped, very abrupt, and he definitely does not give names. Go through Mark, starting at the first chapter. Unless it is Jesus, John the Baptist, an actual disciple, or a major player, Mark does not use names. Mark 1, Simon's mother-in-law is sick, no name given. A leper cleansed by Jesus, no name given. Jesus heals a paralytic, chapter 2, no name. Man with a withered hand healed, no name. Chapter 3, even with Jesus' own flesh and blood, when his mothers and brothers come to fetch him, no name, he doesn't give. Chapter 5, the demoniac of the Gadarene, no name. The woman healed of the issue of blood, no name. The Gentile woman with the great faith whose daughter was healed, remember her, no name. Deaf and mute, man in chapter seven, again, the rich young ruler, anonymous, on and on, all the way through Mark. But here, what happens? Not only do we have a name from Mark, but hang on, we have family names as well, children's names. That should cause every one of us to come to a screeching halt in Mark. This guy, his family, something is happening here. They are major players. Let's dig in here and see. Now let me say at the outset that tradition, early church fathers, outside writings, they do speak of Simon of Cyrene. Tell of what he did, how he died, et cetera. And all those writings can be helpful. But I'm not going to use those as primary sources from the pulpit. We use scripture. What can we know from scripture alone? Now if one wants to speculate and use non-canonical sources to kind of fill in some blanks afterwards, that's very interesting and fun, I recommend it. But we don't want to plant our feet on such foundations. Scripture alone, sola scriptura. So Mark is using names. Simon of Cyrene, who is the father of Alexander and Rufus. Does he feel the need to explain who they are? No. Why? Because Mark's original audience already know who they are. It's kind of like around Christmas time, right? When family comes into town. Perhaps younger members maybe have their parents in town to visit, right? You say, oh, this is John and Mary. Now, I don't know who John or Mary is. I've never met them. But then you tell me, oh, they're the parents of Brian and Susie. Ah. Brian and Susie I know very well. No introduction needed. Mark makes no introductions because none are needed. Those reading Mark's gospel know who Alexander and Rufus are. So first, how do we know that? From scripture. And secondly, what does it mean? Why do we care? What does that mean for my life and walk with Christ when I walk out that front door? I'm so glad you asked. You guys ask the greatest questions. Follow the trail given to us in this beautifully woven tapestry of scripture, written by the same author through 40 different hands. Beloved, who wrote the gospel of Mark? John Mark, correct? an early believer. He was a helper with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. John Mark spent a good deal of time in Rome, both with Paul and most notably with Peter. Remember that Mark's gospel really is a compilation of about five sermons that Peter delivered in Rome. That's the source. Peter is the source for John Mark. So who is Mark's gospel recorded and written for? The church in Rome. It was written to the Romans. So if Mark writes names, Alexander and Rufus, and gives no introduction, what does that mean? The church in Rome knows these men. No introduction needed. These guys are well known. Well hang on, can we prove that? Do we know Mark's gospel written in Rome to the Romans, intimating that the Psalms of Simon of Cyrene are well known? Can we prove it? Absolutely. What other book, what other letter might we have in our New Testament that was written to the Romans, to the Church of Rome? How about the Book of Romans? Oh, what might we find there? So turn with me very quickly. Grab your Bibles, beloved. Turn with me in your Bibles very quickly to the book of Romans. Let's hear those pages fluttering. I could read it for you, but I want you to lay your own eyes upon the text. Turn with me to Romans chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. Looking to verse 13. Romans 16 verse 13, what do we read? Paul writes, greet Rufus. A choice man in the Lord, also his mother and mine. Rufus. Marcus said, hey, I'm telling you about Simon of Cyrene in my gospel here who carried the cross of Jesus. And he's the father of Alexander and Rufus. And all the Romans would go, oh, I know Rufus. But what does that mean for them and for us? Why would they care about that? Why do you care about that? A man. came from the countryside, journeyed from Africa for Passover, heard of something going on, a big to-do, went to the gate where people are gathering, and there comes an image, a man bloodied and beaten. But there's something about him. He gets close to sea. The next thing you know, he's either grabbed by the robe or he's commanded by a Roman soldier. He's compelled, he's pressed, he's forced. into carrying this man's cross the rest of the way. Did their eyes meet? I'm inclined to think they did, and I'll tell you why. Jesus not only knew who Simon was, not only because he's God, he knows, but Simon, we know now, was an elect child of God that Jesus was going to the cross to save. Simon had an encounter with the Lord that day. He literally took up his cross and followed behind him. Now we don't know the exact conversion story of Simon, but we do know this. Acts 11 20, but there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch. and began to speaking to the Greeks also, proclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. And again in Acts 13 one, we have evangelists, we see preachers are exploding out of Cyrene. Strong churches in Cyrene. Beloved churches are started. Fires are kindled and set ablaze by people who have met Jesus. These strong churches would have been birthed by the Jewish population of Cyrene. That's usually the flow of it. I wonder if we know any Jews from Cyrene that had an encounter with the living Lord. Oh, we do. Simon went back after having encountered the living Lord, having gazed upon the Lord. Consider, beloved, Simon brought Jesus' crossbeam all the way up Golgotha. Do you think he just left? Do you think he just left? Would you? No way. No way. There is no doubt that he stood there with all the others. And he watched and he listened. And there, very near the foot of the cross, as God has already prepared Simon's heart for salvation, to give him eyes to see and ears to hear, there he watches. As Jesus cries out with his last breath, and the earth shook, and darkness was over everything, and rocks were split, and tombs were opened, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two, where even the soldier that was standing there proclaimed, surely this was the Son of God, Simon. Simon of Cyrene, he was changed, and we know this. And not only do we know of Simon, But let your hearts be encouraged, parents. When God saves a man or woman, it delights him to rip through whole families. I'm gonna save your wife too, Simon. I'm gonna save your children, Simon, yes, Alexander and Rufus. They're gonna be so captivated with their savior, so prominent in the growth and the health of the church, that Paul the apostle himself is gonna call your son Rufus a choice man in the Lord. And your wife, the mother of Rufus, among the thousands of people that Paul would have known and ministered to in his life. Imagine making honorable mention in his epistle to the Romans. What sort of lady do you think she was? Tell me these weren't incredible people. Simon had no idea that his life was gonna change that day. See how many people saw Jesus that day? Many even saw him hanging on the cross. Very few, if any, were radically born again. Few had an experience like Cornelius in Acts 10, where God saved the whole family. How was it? When Jesus breathes his last, Simon of Cyrene, watching the incredible natural phenomenon that's happening all around him, did he run back? to his wife and his children, Alexander and Rufus. They would have been with him. Did he run back to them and say, have I got something to tell you? And the rest is history. Simon would go back to Cyrene with his family, to his countrymen. Have I got something to tell you? The church there inexplicably would explode. Back his children go to Rome to serve the church there. Choice men to serve the Lord. And now even in the planning and sovereignty of God, 2,000 years later in Lanesville, Indiana, we can behold the explosion of the church, the legacy and faithfulness of a family, of a family whose dad had met the living Lord. Having watched the Lord work in so many families throughout the years, I have to say it often does start with the dad. Our keen of eye this morning will notice we have a few words of our verse left that we haven't yet peered into, and for good reason. It's because they really need to stand on their own. Look with me to the last words of our text. to carry his cross. Now additionally, Luke's gospel, Luke 23, he adds the detail that Simon followed behind Peter. Now our word here for carry is aero, aero. Some of you will remember our journey through the eighth chapter of Mark, that was some time ago now, But Jesus, prior to taking his final turn south toward Jerusalem, he first, remember he took that trip with his disciples to the north, up to Caesarea Philippi. You remember that was a hotbed up there of horrific temple worship, awful stuff. The Temple of Pan was there. It was basically the red light district of that area. It was a politically charged town. Everything you could imagine possibly that could assault your eyes was there in a place like Caesarea Philippi. And of course, it was not only here that Peter made his confession, right? His confession that would reverberate throughout time, declaring that you are the Christ, the son of the living God. But it was here, with Jesus having summoned the crowd and the disciples to himself, that he spoke. And he said to them, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up a hero, his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake in the gospels will save it. carry his cross, take up his cross, a hero. Same word. What about Luke's gospel? Luke nine. And he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and a hero, his cross daily and follow me. What about Matthew, Matthew 10, 38? And he who does not take a hero, his cross, and follow me is not worthy of me. Again, Matthew 16, 24, then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up a hero, his cross, and follow me. Beloved, these are familiar words to us, aren't they? Take up your cross and follow Christ. But we need to stop for a moment and grasp this. In every instance that we just read, the cross hadn't happened yet. That Jesus would have a man named Simon of Cyrene take up his cross, a hero, and follow behind Jesus had not happened yet. The Holy Spirit has left for us a treasure that we've unearthed. This phrasing of Jesus was not some sort of pre-existing idiom for that time, right? Remember in an idiom, that's like a, it's a group of words, it's a saying, it's a phrase that has a symbolic rather than a literal meaning that's very commonly used, right? So today we might say, well, speak of the devil, or once in a blue moon, or dime a dozen, or bite the bullet, right? All of these are idioms. You and I know what that means, but here? Take up your cross. Okay. The disciples understood crucifixion. They knew what that was, but it was awful. They would think that it was a very morbid thing to talk about. It certainly was not an idiom of the day. And now you want me to pick it up and follow you with it. Are you tracking with me here? That would have made no sense. These are common words to us with hindsight. To the disciples, oh, these were hard sayings. John would later declare these things his disciples did not understand at the first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him. No idea that there would actually be a man who would literally take up his cross and follow Jesus, who would represent bodily the physical and spiritual burden that we are real when we come to Christ. The words used are no accident, beloved. Months before a man and his family would even begin their journey from Africa to Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus had him in mind and he spoke with him in mind. Jesus not only knew of Simon, he created him. He knew the number of hairs on his head, formed and fashioned him for a purpose. that you're gonna leave Africa. You'll come to Jerusalem in circumstances beyond your control, and you'll be brought into the greatest story ever told. You're gonna encounter the Christ. You'll take up the cross, and you'll follow him. And having done that, Christ in you, the hope of glory, is gonna use you to birth his church. He's gonna save your family and countless others through your testimony. And 2,000 years later, in a small town in Indiana, we will bask in the incredible sovereignty and goodness of God in your life. Simon was a man who was compelled. Then he was converted. He was pressed, and soon he would find pardon. We know that he was forced. but we know now that he was forgiven. God has gifted Simon of Cyrene to us. We stand as the church, even this morning, on the shoulders of his testimony and his faithfulness. We stand on the shoulders of his sons, choice men to serve the Lord. Just look, Harrison Hills, at the planning of God. Even as we are called to take up the cross, to follow Christ, how could we ever fear when God has already been where we're going and has prepared it for our good? To encounter Christ is to wear the Padebulim. Whatever the cost, come what may, ask Simon, and he wouldn't change that day for anything. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the deep treasure that your word is to us. Lord, that we could mine for an eternity and not come to the bottom of the glories of your word. We thank you for encouraging us this morning through a little-known man who had no idea that he was stepping into the greatest story ever told. Lord, there may be some here this morning who are outside, O Lord, who are being drawn into the orbit of the sun, that they might be set free, that they may live a life that reflects the sun with great beauty. We pray that that would be so. We ask that you keep us in the beloved. We ask that you would keep us safe until we can meet again. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.