Mark 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. I. In going through the history of the fact, our thoughts must glance along THE LINKS OF THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LAST APPEAL OF PILATE, "Behold, the Man," AND THE SUBJECT WHICH CLAIMS OUR ATTENTION NOW. II. WE PASS FROM THE HISTORIC FACT TO THE CHALLENGE FOUNDED UPON IT. In view of what is now meant by cross bearing, we ask, "Who among you is willing to become a cross bearer for Christ?" The only cross in prospect now is a cross for the soul. Carrying a cross after Christ means, for one thing, some kind of suffering for Christ. View the cross bearing as something practical, in distinction from something only emotional, and answer the question, "who is now willing to be a cross bearer for Christ?" "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children!" On the roadside near an old Hungarian town, grey with the stains of time and weather, there is a stone image of the great Cross bearer, and under it is sculptured this inscription in Latin; "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow." "The thorough woe-begoneness of that image," remarks an old scholar, "used to haunt me long: that old bit of granite — the beau-ideal of human sorrow, weakness, and woe-begoneness. To this day it will come back upon me." Natural sensibility is not irreligious; but, considered in itself alone, it is not religion. With all the pain of bursting heart, and all the leverage of straining strength, Simon, bearing the cross for Christ, is the perpetual type of one who not only feels for Christ, but who tries to do something. I charge you by the crown of thorns, that you shrink from no ridicule that comes upon you simply for Christ's sake. On July 1st, , when John Huss had to die for Christ's sake, and when, on the way to the dread spot, the priests put upon his head a large paper cap, painted with grotesque figures of devils, and inscribed with the word, "Hoeresiarcha!" he said, "Our Lord wore a crown of thorns for me; why should not I wear this for Him?" I charge you by the truth that Christ was not ashamed of you, that you be not ashamed of Christ. In view of the strength assured to each cross bearer, who is willing? (Charles Stanford, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. |
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