Mark 15:16-21 | Revelation 2:1-7
The right place at the right time? The wrong place at the right time? Either way, Simon the Cyrene was there. We can imagine there are many, many people Mark could have told us about in Jesus’ story. He left a lot out. But not Simon the Cyrene. Why?
Imagine his day: he went out to the countryside. Why? Was he collecting food? Taking a nap under a tree? Regardless, it’s unlikely he imagined the task he’d have as he came into Jerusalem.
You might suppose the cross has a way of interrupting the days of our lives. We fashion it into gold and silver to neatly hang around our necks or from our ears. In this way, it’s a daily reminder to many of how we first knew Jesus’ love. But Jesus’ cross has no such shiny aesthetic. The title of a book declares there is No Handle on the Cross. We don’t make our plans around it, though we might seek to be shaped by it.
It has been conquered and so its nature is forever glorified by Christ. But we wrestle with it still as Jesus calls all his disciples to pick one up.
Mark 15:16-21
The soldiers led Jesus away into the courtyard of the palace known as the governor’s headquarters, and they called together the whole company of soldiers. They dressed him up in a purple robe and twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on him. They saluted him, “Hey! King of the Jews!” Again and again, they struck his head with a stick. They spit on him and knelt before him to honor him. When they finished mocking him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Simon, a man from Cyrene, Alexander and Rufus’ father, was coming in from the countryside. They forced him to carry his cross.
Revelation 2:1-7
Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven gold lampstands: I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. I also know that you don’t put up with those who are evil. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars. You have shown endurance and put up with a lot for my name’s sake, and you haven’t gotten tired. But I have this against you: you have let go of the love you had at first. So remember the high point from which you have fallen. Change your hearts and lives and do the things you did at first. If you don’t, I’m coming to you. I will move your lampstand from its place if you don’t change your hearts and lives. But you have this in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, which I also hate. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will allow those who emerge victorious to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.
Prayer
God,
Let me not let go of the love I had at first. There are days I forget. There are seasons in which the things of the world seem more attractive. How silly I am. So easily distracted.
Let me not let go of the love I had at first. I know I probably can’t know you the way I first knew you, simply in terms of salvation for me. Actually, I don’t even want to. Give me eyes, a mind, and a body for knowing you for today, not just yesterday. And in this way help me know your salvation for me and through me.
Let me not let go of the love I had at first. Lead me to the cross as I remember. Lead me out of the empty tomb as I embody that love.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.