Self-portraits

Simon of Cyrene is a bit of a self-portrait in the Scriptures; evidently his sons were figures in the early church (cf Mk 15.21).  There is no indication in the Bible that he had any other interaction with Jesus other than to carry his cross on the road to Calvary.  But this brief walk down the road seems to have completely transformed his life—so much so that it lived on in his sons, Alexander and Rufus.

As we would expect, the focus is not on Simon, as though he is to be admired, but on Jesus Christ, the one who suffered and died.  All we know about Simon is that he carried the cross a ways and that he had two sons.

In a way, this ambiguity about the life of Simon provides us an opportunity to paint our face over his, to see ourselves in his encounter.  I think the Scriptures do this for us on purpose, though most explicitly in the life of Paul.

Paul writes of his conversion—being struck down on the road to Damascus—that he was a prototype for all future believers (1Ti 1.16).  There is a Damascus road for all of us.  While we are enemies, blasphemers, and persecutors, Jesus strikes us down and pulls us to himself.  It is a hostile invasion of sorts, but one, I think, that is in retrospect always welcome, and always tinged with the experience of the Savior suffering on his road to Calvary.