Matthew 27

³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

I grew up in a great church: Grace Baptist Church of Sumter, South Carolina. I have so many wonderful memories of that church. One that stands out is Melody Parker, the wife of our pastor Gary Parker, singing the old African American spiritual, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” I can see her now, standing off to the side of choir, and I can hear her even now. It made quite an impression on me.

Why? I do not quite know. Maybe because that spiritual was so different than the songs we normally sang. Or maybe it was her voice and the feeling she put into that song. But I remember that when she sang it, I stopped my looking around and really paid attention. She would sing:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when they nailed him to the cross?

(Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

Well, were you there when the stone was rolled away?
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?
(Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble) tremble
Were you there when the stone was rolled away?

The point of the spiritual—or so it seems to me—is that, in one sense, we were not there but, in a deeper and more meaningful sense, we were there. After all, Christ died for my sins, was crucified in my stead, and rose again for me…and for you…and for us all.

But it does raise the obvious question: Who was there? And when Matthew answers that question in Matthew 27:32–44 the image is decidedly negative and hostile. And yet, there is more happening in this scene that is readily apparent.

At the cross we find a cast of characters either compelled or indifferent or hostile.

Matthew’s picture of those who were there is decidedly bleak. We find one who is compelled to assist, some who are bored and indifferent, and others who are hostile and abusive. Listen:

³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

We might break down the crowd like this:

• Simon of Cyrene: compelled to assist
• The Roman soldiers: bored and indifferent
• The passersby, the priests, scribes, and elders, and the robbers: hostile and abusive

Simon is from Cyrene, modern day Libya. He is “compelled” to carry his cross. The Romans soldiers certainly had the authority to force such an action, and Jesus’ words from Matthew 5 suggest that such behavior was common enough to be part of the popular mindset.

⁴¹ And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

This is the totality of Matthew’s picture of Simon of Cyrene. He was “compelled” to carry the cross. We are not given a glimpse of his psychology or of his own views on the matter. He is passive in this episode. He was there. He was compelled. He carried the cross.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary observes, “The word for ‘robbers’ here is the standard term in Josephus for revolutionaries; presumably they had been colleagues of Barabbas. Executing criminals at festivals increased the publicity, hence the deterrent value, of their deaths.”[1]

Then in verses 33–38 we see, presumably, the behavior of the soldiers. There is a note of indifference here, of boredom, of men sitting about waiting for their gruesome work to end. But they do not merely sit about.

³⁵ And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

There is a chilling matter-of-factness to all of this.

• They crucify Him.
• They divide His garments.
• They cast lots.
• They sit down.
• They keep watch over him.
• They put the sign over his head.

The casting of lots for Jesus’ garments is a fulfillment of Psalm 22.

¹⁶ For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—¹⁷ I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; ¹⁸ they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Behold the tedium and dehumanizing indifference of these professional oppressors of men. What did they think of Jesus? Likely nothing more than that He was a weird malcontent among a group of people they largely despised and whose death they wanted to hasten so they could be about their business.

One is compelled. Others are indifferent.

Others taunt. In fact, there are three groups that taunt at this point in Matthew’s account.

³⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ⁴² “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Jesus is taunted by:

• those who pass by;
• the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders;
• the robbers crucified with Him.

The taunt “If you are the Son of God…” in verse 40 repeats the devil’s language from Matthew 4.

³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

The taunt in verse 43 is a quotation from Psalm 22.

⁶ But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. ⁷ All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ⁸ “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

The taunting of the crowd, then, both mimics the language of the devil and fulfills the prophetic picture of the suffering servant from Psalm 22.

Again, Matthew’s depiction of those who were there when they crucified our Lord is profoundly negative.

But within this cast of characters are (possibly) two who came to trust in Jesus.

And yet, on the basis of the rest of the New Testament, there is a light of hope even here.

The Penitent Thief

Consider Matthew’s depiction of the thieves on the cross:

³⁸ Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left.

⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

There can be no doubt, then, that, initially, both thieves taunt Jesus on the cross. But there is more to this story. We find it in Luke 23.

³⁹ One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

First, there is no contradiction between Matthew’s account and Luke’s. Matthew depicts the earlier moments on the cross. Luke depicts the later moments. In other words, both initially taunt Jesus, but then something changes.

Luke shows us the penitent thief, the thief who “rebukes” the other, admits his own guilt, professes Jesus’ innocence, and then asks Jesus to “remember” him “when you come into your kingdom.” It was this thief who received the beautiful reply: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

It is a wonderful thing that Luke is able to shed more light on Matthew’s decidedly negative depiction of the two thieves. Again, Luke does not correct Matthew. He simply sheds additional light. And that light is significant, for it lets us know that one of the thieves repented and was saved!

Simon of Cyrene

And there may be reason to hold out hope for Simon of Cyrene, the man tasked with carrying the cross for Jesus. Matthew’s account is fairly straightforward: “As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.” And that is that.

Interestingly, Mark, in Mark 15, adds some other details that flesh the story out even more.

²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

Some years ago, I preached on this passage from Mark 15. I would like to share some words from that earlier message.

Many have asked over the years why it is that Mark names Simon’s two boys: Alexander and Rufus…Kirsten Marie Hartvigsen rightly observes that the naming of Simon’s children “may indicate that the…narrator assumes that at least some audience members are more familiar with the latter male characters than with Simon of Cyrene himself.”[2]…

This is intriguing, but, first, let us consider whether or not the rest of the New Testament sheds any light on Simon of Cyrene himself. As it turns out, it might. In Acts 11, Luke tells of a group of Christ followers who came to Antioch some years later preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to great effect. Listen closely to who these people were:

¹⁹ Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. ²⁰ But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.

Fascinating! These were men “of Cyprus and Cyrene,” Simon’s own country. Keep that in mind, the Cyrene-Antioch connection. Two chapters later, in Acts 13, we read of a group of men who were “prophets and teachers” in Antioch. Listen to their names:

¹ Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul…

Did you catch that? “Simeon who was called Niger.” “Niger” is the Latin word for “black,” which is likely a reference to the color of Simeon’s skin. So this appears to be a description of a teacher and prophet in Antioch who was called Simeon, which is another spelling for Simon. And the possibility of this Simeon called Niger being Simon of Cyrene is heightened further by the fact that the next name on the list is “Lucius of Cyrene.”

Was Simeon called Niger the same person as Simon of Cyrene? Very possibly so since we know that a delegation of Cyrenian Christians were in Antioch. And notice that in both Acts 11 and Acts 13 these men from Cyrene are seen as true and good and effective preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

While we cannot say for certain, it is very possible that we have here a picture of Simon [of] Cyrene, a follower of Jesus Christ and now a preacher of the gospel of Jesus who had helped to take the gospel to the nations! What is more, Romans 16 may contain a reference to Simon’s son, Rufus, as well as to Simon’s wife! Romans 16:13 reads:

¹³ Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

When we keep in mind that Mark’s gospel is thought by many to have been written to Roman Christians and that Mark’s reference to the children of Simon was likely included in his gospel because his audience knew Simon’s children but not Simon, the case is greatly strengthened that the Rufus of Romans 16 is the Rufus of Mark 15. And what do we know of this Rufus? We know, Paul tells us, that he was “chosen in the Lord” and that his mother was a mother to Paul himself! Not a biological mother, to be sure, but a mother figure of Christian nurturing and care. In other words, she was a truly great woman indeed!…

There is a last point to be made, one that is, I believe, symbolic of a greater point, and that involves the names in our text: Simon of Cyrene, Rufus, and Alexander. “The names Simon, Rufus, and Alexander are Hebrew, Latin, and Greek names, respectively,” writes David Garland, “and hint at the universality of the gospel, which will reach across cultures to the ends of the earth.”[3]

Is this proof definitive? Likely not.

Is it worthy of note and does it open up a very real possibility that we know what became of Simon of Cyrene and his family? Likely so.

And what is it that appears to have happened? It appears that the one who was compelled to take the cross by the Romans in time took it by faith as well. He trusted in Jesus and led his family to do the same!

These were the people who were there when they crucified our Lord.

And, at first glance, it is a dire and depressing picture!

And yet, buried within it is a note of hope and very powerful reminder: The light still shines in the darkness! And the light is Jesus!

 

[1] Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (IVP Bible Background Commentary Set) (p. 121). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] Hartvigsen, Kirsten Marie. Prepare the Way of the Lord. (Bonston: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 2012), p.500.

[3] Garland, David E. Mark. The NIV Application Commentary. Logos Version.