Carrying the Cross: A Good Friday Devotional

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Carrying The Cross: A Good Friday Devotional

It's always difficult for me to watch and/or read Good Friday devotionals. I get distracted; I get annoyed; I get bored. It's not because the message is "old news" or too familiar, nor because the content isn't important to me. I think it's because deep down inside, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to relive that moment. It makes me uncomfortable to realize that my sin was the root cause of all this pain and suffering. I don't want to think about it. I want to move on to Easter, and skip the Way of Sorrow.

So when I sat through the Skit Guys latest presentation - although it was only 4-1/2 minutes long - there were moments when I wanted to turn it off & found myself thinking of other things instead. But I knew why this was, and forced myself to watch the whole thing.

I've often been intrigued with the character of Simon of Cyrene (modern Libya). When I was a young lad, he was often presented as a hero, who helped Jesus along the way to Golgotha. But by the late 60's another view of him came into vogue. One much more impersonal...even sinister (not unlike the culture). Which version of this man is true? Who knows for certain, but I find it intriguing that The Gospel of Mark identifies him as "The father of Alexander and Rufus" . Paul greets Rufus (and his mother) in Romans 14:13 in the dearest of terms, and there is a substantial tradition that Alexander was a notable first century missionary. I can't help but think "surely the experience of carrying the cross of Christ profoundly influenced this young black man, and his entire family, to the point of conversion". Regardless of his spiritual state prior to the event, I believe this was a moment of conversion which changed his life forever. The same thing happens in those moments when we personally and profoundly experience the grace of God in our own lives, and are "converted" (changed) forever.