All of us love a good story. That's based upon a random meeting, a happenstance, circumstantial, just random meeting of two people. There's so many stories that we could think about. Movies, books that have been written, stories that have been written about just this chance meeting of two people. And that chance, random meeting of two people ended up changing both of their lives and so much more. Now, of course, from our perspective, we know that there's no such thing as a random chance meeting of anyone. But our story today is going to appear in some ways as a random meeting. For today, we're going to be looking at two things that happened on this short journey between the Praetorium and the cross. And that's, of course, Simon of Cyrene and then the offering of wine to Jesus. So this random, as it might appear, meeting as Simon of Cyrene just happens to be the one standing there as the Roman soldiers look and happen to say to him, Pick up the cross. We will see, of course, there was nothing random about that whatsoever, but instead something deeply meaningful. Let's read our passage. Verse 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. And they brought him up to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Heavenly Father, help us in these few short words to see you, to perceive you rightly, to be fed by the seeing of you, to be encouraged, to be lifted in our spirits, to be taught To be reprimanded, to be rebuked, to, to receive in our spirit, Lord, what the Holy Spirit, our great teacher has for us in these few short words, do this for the glory of Christ, we pray. Amen. So in verse 21, we now see that the journey, this little foot journey from the praetorium to the cross is now beginning. They compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. So this journey that Jesus takes as he leaves the Praetorium before Pilate and the crowds who have shouted crucify him, crucify him. This journey would have been in one sense a short journey, in another sense a longer journey because it would have been something more like a parade. A parade, as you probably are aware, is not something that takes the shortest route from point A to point B because that doesn't grant the maximum exposure. A parade will often Wine through the streets of a downtown, that sort of thing, so that it extends it out so that more people can see it. In a similar sort of way, this was the tradition of the Roman soldiers as they were taking one to the place of crucifixion. It wouldn't necessarily be a direct path, but oftentimes it would be more of a parading kind of path. This would have fallen into the rainy season of the year in Jerusalem. So in our minds, perhaps, don't picture a dusty, dry sort of street, but picture instead a muddy. Sort of a rainy kind of a street and picture great crowds, as Luke says, that great multitudes of people came out. So we continue with this theme of the public shaming and humiliation of Christ. We saw that last time Mark speaks to of all the entirety of the cohort of Roman soldiers being brought out to witness the public humiliation of Jesus. So 600 plus people gathered to watch this. Now, Luke describes a great multitude of people who have gathered along the side of the road or the path leading to the place of execution to witness such a great degradation and humiliation of people. And so, on this journey, we read that they compelled this passerby, Simon of Cyrene. So, along the wayside, they encountered this other one. Now, as they're going along this path, We were reminded of the fact of where they're going. They're going outside the camp. Let's not forget that. I know we talked about that last Sunday, but it's so important to remind ourselves Jesus must die outside of the camp. It's as though this whole thing is so disgusting, so vile, so odious, so humiliating. It's like an animal that must be taken away and put out of its misery somewhere out of sight. I don't know if you've ever Had to put an animal out of its misery in some sort of sickness or something like that. Me, growing up around a farm, I saw many animals that were, that were euthanized and killed in such a way. And every time it was always something that you would take the animal to a specific place. Not, not where you had everything else, not where you did everything else, but you take it away to a specific place aside and away from sight. It's almost like Jesus is that animal. We, we want him to die. We want to put him on a cross, but we don't want to see it. We don't want to smell it. We don't want to hear it. Take it outside in his shame and in his mocking. And the writer to the Hebrews, of course, picks up on this. We embrace this as the writer to the Hebrews says to us. We too go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach that he bore outside the camp as he was killed in disgrace and humiliation. So this is the path that they're going along when this event happens that they compel this passerby, Simon of Cyrene. So as they encountered this man, Simon of Cyrene. And they compel him to carry the cross for Jesus. We just want, we, we have to stop and ask the question, Why, why was this? And I know we touched on this last week, but we'll revisit this week, and we'll dig down just a little deeper into this, asking the question, why was this? Because we're never told. All three of the Synoptic Gospels have the account of Simon of Cyrene, and none of them give us an explanation as to why. He was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus. We know that it was a lawful order. We remember from Matthew's gospel, Jesus is teaching there. And it's this regular, almost every day, if you will, occurrence of, of such regularity in which the Roman soldiers had the authority To make anyone carry a burden of theirs, Jesus takes that and turns it into a teaching. And he says, you know, if you're compelled to go one mile, go two miles. And so, that is a circumstance or an event that happens so regularly that Jesus is able to make a parable or an illustration out of it. So, we know this was this lawful kind of order in which a Roman soldier could compel or force anyone within their jurisdiction to carry a load or a burden for them. And so, these Roman soldiers, who would not ever think to pick up the cross themselves and carry this cross piece for Jesus themselves, they compelled this passerby, Luke says that they seized this man, Simon of Cyrene, this this word of force and power. And hostility, they seized upon him. So we don't have in our minds, this picture of a Roman soldier, maybe politely asking, yeah, Hey, would, would you mind helping us out here? He's having a tough time. Or would you mind picking up this cross and, and carrying it for him? If, if you don't want to, that's fine. We'll find somebody else. Not, not at all. Instead. Picture the Roman soldiers with their gruffness, with their with their overzealous authority, grabbing or commanding someone, shoving him down to the ground, pick up that cross. So the question that we come to, that we must deal with, is why was Simon of Cyrene compelled? Now, as we think about this question, we remind ourself that we don't know, we're not given the answer. None of the gospels give us why it was that Simon was compelled to carry the cross of Christ. But it's worth thinking about as we think about the things that the scriptures don't tell us explicitly. We are careful not to read into what the scriptures don't say. Any sort of meaning or application that we apply to our lives. Instead, we do use our thoughts, the brain that God gives us, to think about the situations that the scriptures don't give us all the details for. But we understand the meaning is not found there. The meaning is always found in what we're told. We never find the meaning of the scriptures in what was implied, or what we must Use our imagination to come up with but nevertheless it is sometimes helpful I think to allow our thoughts to wonder into why what was the reason behind this that we're not told I think the assumption oftentimes is that Christ had been beaten so severely the flogging perhaps went a little too far Perhaps they took a little too much life out of Jesus and he's physically not able To carry the cross and he falls under the weight of it And in order to expedite the execution, they grab this other man and force him to finish carrying the cross. Because we do know that Simon wasn't compelled to carry the cross from the beginning. In John 19, we're told that Jesus went out from the praetorium carrying his own cross. So, the fatigue perhaps, the exhaustion that Jesus now, remember he was up all night. No food, probably no water, no care whatsoever, no rest at all. The multiple beatings, the scourging, all this maybe plays a toll on Jesus and he is physically unable to continue with the cross piece, which we find quite possibly that might quite possibly be the reason why that Simon was compelled to carry this. But that also doesn't seem to really match up with what we read a little bit later, where from the cross in Luke 23, Jesus will cry out with a loud voice. So it doesn't really seem to be the same person who. In one moment can't continue under the load of this piece of wood who from the cross as he's now hanging Moments from his death cries out with what's described as a loud voice the two of those don't seem to match and then there's the the interaction between Jesus and Luke's gospel with the ladies along the way as They will express pity, pity towards Jesus and Jesus rebukes them for their pity So, it may be that Jesus was just too exhausted to continue and the Roman soldiers, he falls and they beat him for a while, they find out like an animal that's spent, he won't get up and so in order to just move this thing along they grab Simon. That could very well be the case. To me it doesn't seem like the best explanation. Or some have thought that perhaps it was an act of, of mercy on the part of the soldiers. As they have watched Jesus now beaten to within an inch of his life so to speak proverbially. And maybe there's this moment of compassion when maybe they're beginning to realize this man is suffering unlike the other people that we see suffer. And maybe there's this moment of compassion. Possibly so. Maybe it's just something expeditious. Maybe it's just something very pragmatic. Maybe the soldiers themselves being very experienced executioners, maybe they are realizing that Jesus might just not make it to the cross, that he might expire right there, in which case leaves them with a mess, because now they have an executed criminal that wasn't on the cross. And so in order to expedite things, seeing that he might not make it or perhaps He's moving so slowly that perhaps they're out of patience and they're just ready to, their fun is now over, they're just tired of this now, they're ready to put him on the cross, they grab this guy who's going to move quicker than Jesus. Maybe any of those explanations or maybe all of them, I don't know, but none of them to me seem to fit as well as the following one. When I think about the context, all four synoptic, or all three synoptic gospels have the same flow of thought, the same focus, and that focus is on Humiliation. And so to me, it seems most likely that this is another aspect of humiliation that's being heaped upon Jesus. In other words, remember how the humiliation sort of played out. Oh, he's a king. Well, a king needs to wear kingly garments, so let's put this purple cloak on him. A king needs a scepter, so let's get this reed and put it in his hand for a scepter. Oh, a king needs a crown. Let's give him a crown of thorns. Oh, a king doesn't carry his own burdens. Let's get someone else to carry this king's burden for him. You see, I think that's more likely that it's just a continued aspect of the humiliation of Jesus as he is humiliated to the point of carrying his own instrument of execution. Just think of how humiliating that is. We've read the stories. I'm sure of Nazis in World War II and how they would oftentimes make their victims dig their own grave and you think just how humiliating to be made to dig your own grave and then knowing that that hole that you're digging in is where you're going to fall when they shoot you in the back of the head. How humiliating is that? Well, in a similar way, how humiliating to carry my own instrument of execution. You want to just say, well, why would any of the prisoners cooperate with that? Why wouldn't they just say, what are you going to do, kill me? But that's not how the human mind works. And so, he's carrying his own instrument of execution. And then even a greater level of humiliation is, Oh, let's get another one, because he's a king. A king doesn't carry his own instrument of execution. We'll get someone to carry it for him. So, perhaps it's just heaping on more and more humiliation upon him. Now, in grabbing this man, Simon, let's now ask ourselves, what do we know about him? We know from his name that he was a Jew. Simon is a Jewish name. And we also know that he's from this place known as Cyrene or Cyrene. Cyrene was a town located in northern Africa in what we would now think of as Libya, near a place called Tripoli. If you're familiar with the Barbary Pirate Wars of the early 19th century, then you're familiar with a little bit with Tripoli. So that would have been the place where Cyrene is located. Now, Cyrene or Cyrene, Was a place in which a lot of Jews had gone to live after what's known as the dispersion. The dispersion was when the conquering of Jerusalem took place and many Jews were dispersed to many parts of the globe. Many Jews went south to Alexandria, to Egypt, to other places. Also, they went to Cyrene, and there was such a large Jewish population here in Northern Africa that there was even later on when the exile was over and the temple was rebuilt. There was even in Jerusalem what was known as the synagogue of the Cyrenes because there were so many Jews that were had now Become known as Cyrenians that when they would either visit Jerusalem or relocate to Jerusalem They had their own synagogue from in which they could worship. So it was a place with a large Jewish population We also know that it was a place that later on will become particularly receptive to the gospel. We know that because, well, we have a few clues in the book of Acts. We have, for example, in Acts chapter 2, we see that Specifically among those group of people, when the tongues come, the fire and, and the people from different places hear them speaking in their own language, we're specifically told that there were Jews there from Cyrene who heard in their, their own language in that way. We also, if we kind of sort of trace that through Acts 11, Acts 13, we see different places in which we, if we think about the church in Antioch, that we will find a number of references. To leaders, prophets, people connected with the Church of Antioch and were told that they were Cyrenians or from Cyrene. So it appears to us that, that Cyrene seems to be a place in which the culture received the gospel after this gospel goes forth. And there's quite a few converts, it appears to be. But this is, this is what we know about his background. Simon of Cyrene, a northern African. Sometimes I've heard it described that he was a black man. I heard once one time in a, in a Billy Graham message, he was speaking of Simon of Cyrene, and he, in, in an, in an encouraging way to those of African descent, he'd, he said, and it was a black man who carried the cross of Jesus. But that's not actually the case, because he would have been a northern African, not a Sub Saharan African. His skin would have been basically the same skin tone as those in Palestine or, or, or in Israel. So he, he being from northern Africa, being a Jew, he's here, we're told that he's a passerby. And they were also told he was coming in from the country. So here we see this picture of this man who doesn't live in Jerusalem, but he's coming to Jerusalem as a visitor, so to speak. Why would he be coming to Jerusalem? Because of course, It's Passover and there are tens of thousands of Jews flooding into Jerusalem just at this very time. So he's coming in. Apparently he's showing up a little bit late because he's arriving here at the end of the week, but he's coming in from the country after this fairly long journey from the other side of the Mediterranean and he's coming in from the country and as he comes in this passerby, we're told he comes upon this scene in which. There's this crucifixion taking place and he just is sort of thrust into the middle of it just sort of thrust into Well here he is now this just sort of coming into Jerusalem There's this crucifixion taking place and the next thing he knows He's called upon to be the one that carries the actual cross of Jesus. So as he's compelled to carry Jesus cross We also got to think a little, just a little bit about, well, what does that mean? Does that mean that he took the cross from Jesus? When the soldiers compelled him to carry the cross, did they say, well, put this down and then give it to Simon now? Or was it, was it in two pieces? Was it the upright piece and the cross piece and one was carrying each? Or was it more like Jesus had one end and Simon had the other end? We don't know. We don't know. It could have been any of the above. But we do know for certain from John chapter 19 that Jesus carried his own cross. We do know for certain that Simon of Cyrene also carried the cross of Christ. So perhaps it's most logical to think that they both were forced to carry this together. Or perhaps Jesus carried it a while and then was forced to give it over to Simon, we don't know. But none of those things are important because that's not what the Holy Spirit told us. What the Holy Spirit told us, Jesus carried his own cross, and Simon was also compelled to carry the cross of Christ. So what we are to gather is within that somehow. In the bearing of this cross, in the heaping of shame, not just upon Simon, but also upon, not just upon Jesus, but also upon Simon. Somewhere in here, this is what the Holy Spirit means for us this morning. As Simon is compelled to carry this cross, the shame that is heaped upon Jesus also becomes his. We must understand that. And that's not something that's intuitive to us. Because to us, we see this as a hideous execution. To us, we see this as a horrible way to die, but to the Jew, they saw this as nothing less than a curse from God because that's what their scriptures told them. Cursed is the one who is hung on a tree. And so when Jesus is before Pilate and the crowd is screaming for his blood, we can pitch in our mind that there probably were some people within the crowd who shared some sympathy with Jesus. After all, he was a Jew, one of their own. Perhaps they knew Him, knew of His teaching. Perhaps He had healed them. And so the crowd, even though the loudest voices were screaming, crucify Him, we can imagine that there were some voices in the crowd that had compassion and were saying no. But once the cross is put onto Jesus back, I think that we should understand that that all changed. Once He is then seen visually as bearing the cross, in the mind of the Jew, He was then cursed. And so, likewise, for Simon to pick up, even if he's picking up part of it, Jesus has the front end, he has the back end, whatever the case may be. Once he touches that too, once he picks up that burden too, he also, now in the eyes of the spectators, becomes part of the cursed. What a thing. What a thing. We don't know much about his background. We don't know what kind of man he was. We assume that he's here for Passover. We don't know if that means he comes every year for Passover. It is a long journey. Maybe this is the first time he's ever been to Jerusalem. We don't know if he's alone. We don't know if his family's with him. Perhaps his wife and children. We know he has at least two children, Alexander and Rufus. Perhaps they are young, three-, four-, five-, or six-year-old children, watching this happen to their father. And what a, what a thing to happen to him. What a thing to happen to their father to see him have to become the one who picks up this Curse it, cross, and carry it with this man. What does Simon know about Jesus? Probably little or nothing. Maybe he's heard something on the way. But remember, he's coming from the south. Jesus ministry has almost been exclusively in the north, in Galilee. So he's coming from an area far removed geographically from where Jesus has been performing his miracles and healing, doing his healings and doing his teachings. Perhaps he has heard something. Or perhaps he's heard nothing, and he knows nothing about this man, Jesus, whatsoever. And yet, in an instant, his life is now completely rerouted. And in the eyes of all those around him, he then becomes the cursed one, picking up this cross with Jesus. And isn't it strange to think about? The one who told us, if we're going to follow him, we must pick up our cross. And then here's Jesus with his cross, but then someone else is then forced to come along and pick up his cross with him. What a thing to think about. So what do we gather from this man, Simon? What do we gather from him? I think one of the first things that we see in this man, Simon of Cyrene, is Something to do with the makeup of this church that is going to be birthed here in just a few hours. The makeup of this church. Here's this man, Simon, who is a foreigner from a foreign land. And he is then seized upon to help Jesus in a particular way. Have you ever thought about the times that Jesus was helped? Because there's not many. There's not a whole lot of helping Jesus that takes place in the Gospels. He is given a boat to borrow when he needs to travel across water, or preach from a boat. We're told he has no place to lay his head, so we assume that people are giving him, at least from time to time, a place to stay. We're told of some ladies, some women, who support His ministry in a financial way, but we really are told very, very little of anyone helping Jesus. And here we are at probably the most crucial point in all of Jesus's earthly life, and we find him being helped. By of all people, a foreigner. Isn't that remarkable? To actually help Jesus carry His cross. Not to say that Jesus needed physical help. That He was unable to bear His own cross. That's not what we're saying. Instead, what we see here is a picture. of what Jesus is about to give birth to from the cross. That's what the cross really, we should see the cross as Jesus birthing the church upon the cross. Jesus is in a sense giving birth to this new church. In fact, if we were studying in the gospel of john, we would see that very clearly from the piercing of the side and outcomes, the water and the blood. And we would connect that together with. The first Adam, whose side was also opened is actually the word for side, not the word for rib. But his side was open and out came the woman who becomes then the metaphor for the church. Think of Revelation. The woman is the metaphor for the church and the birthing of that. And now the second Adam gives birth to the church from the cross as his side is pierced and outcome water and blood, which he said in chapter three, you must be born from in order to be his. And so from the cross, he's birthing. Giving life to this church and in order to bring that about of the first ones, the carrying literally the carrying of the cross to that is as though Jesus is saying from the start, this will be those made up of all types, all places, all tribes, all tongues, all peoples. As we read in Romans, or as we read in Galatians chapter 3, you're all sons of God through faith. There's no Jew or Greek, there's no slave or free, no male or female. You're all one in Christ, or Romans chapter 10. There's no distinction between Jew and Greek. So it's as though Jesus is saying this is something about the makeup of the, of this church. He's already chosen twelve apostles. From outside the inner circle, from Galilee, from the north, fishermen, those who would not have been considered of the class of people that you would want to start a new movement from. Now, even as this church is being brought forth, we see once again that the one, literally the one helping him with his cross is one who is a foreigner. I think we also see something of a picture of, of a disciple, of a profound picture of a disciple. As he is then seized upon, compelled to carry the cross of Jesus, we can't help but to think about how Jesus has taught us. This is what you must do. If you would follow me, you must. Die to yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. Now, that's not to say that when Simon is made to pick up Jesus cross, that's an act of salvation. That Simon is saved when he's forced to carry the cross. But instead, what we're shown is this metaphoric picture. This is what a disciple is. One who picks up the cross and follows, as Luke says specifically, behind Jesus and follows Jesus. It's this image that we're shown. We're being shown images all along. Jesus is being shown as the sin bearer. He's bound. He's led from here to here. He's the sin bearer. He's the one who carries our shame as the shame is heaped upon Him. But also we see this is a picture of a disciple, one carrying his own cross. Notice even in the imagery there, notice it wasn't a volunteer effort. The Roman, the Roman soldiers didn't say, can I have a volunteer? Does anybody want to carry this cross? Come forward. He was seized upon. He was compelled. It's like a picture of God injecting himself into the life of a person to say, I seize upon this heart. I come upon this heart to open your eyes that you may see and you may respond. And so it's this picture, this image of, of one. who is to be this disciple. Now, we have good reason to believe that this was an event that led to the conversion, the true and genuine conversion of Simon. Because, as Mark tells us here, that he's the father of Rufus and Alexander. Now, if we were to look to the letter to the Romans, remember Mark is writing in Rome to the Roman church, and at the end of that letter, he will say this in Romans chapter 16 and verse 13, Great Rufus chosen in the Lord. Same name as what we're told. is one of the sons of Simon. So we have very good reason to believe that somehow, through this experience, this man, Simon, came to a saving faith, somehow ended up in the church in Rome, and his two children, Alexander and Rufus, are known to the Roman Christians, because that's what we, when we come across instances in the scripture in which we are told the name, then most often that means that the person is named, because the ones reading that letter, or reading that gospel will know the person. And so to the Roman church when, when Mark says, Simon, father of Alexander and Rufus, the Roman Christians to which he was writing would have said, we know, we know Alexander and Rufus. We know them. In fact, Rufus is a leader in the church and so is Alexander. We've known them since this time. And the mother, as Paul mentions their mother as well. So this picture, picture of the one who looks upon the cross, picks up this cross, and in doing so, The hatred of those around him is, that's directed toward Jesus, is also now directed towards him. And he now is this picture of a disciple. Remember, as Jesus will say, If they hate me, they're going to hate you. If they spit on me, they're going to spit on you. If they despise me, they're going to despise you. And so also Simon, once he touches this piece of wood, It also becomes sort of the co hated one along with Jesus. So we see that, but we also see, I think, that something about the need for preparedness, the need to be absolutely prepared, because you can't miss the fact that just on the turn of a dime, Simon's life is completely turned upside down. Here he is just coming in to observe the Passover. The Passover was the most joyful time of year for the Jew. It was sort of like a for us, maybe Christmas and 4th of July all rolled up into one. And here he is, we can just imagine that he's just ready to celebrate this week of Passover, this most joyful time of the year. And then just in a moment, everything about his life now changes. And if this truly is an event that leads to his conversion, then we could say everything about the rest of his life changed. But for certain, in that moment, when he goes from just Coming into Jerusalem prepared to observe the Passover to now the object of hatred of the whole city. His life radically changes in just a moment. So there's something there about the need to be prepared. The need to be prepared to pick up that cross. You know, we as believers, we know the scriptures teach us that the life of following Christ is a life of denying ourself and picking up our cross and following Him. Well, the picking up of our cross and following Christ is not this thing that we just sort of do at conversion. And then that's how the rest of our life plays out, because we're now bearing our cross. And so everything from now on is just this one big act of denying ourself and bearing our cross. That's just not how the Christian life works. In fact, really, as you think about bearing our cross, that's really something closer to theory. Then reality. That's really something closer to an idea. The idea, the theory, bear my cross, die to myself. And so there's this There's this theory, there's this idea, there's this spiritual teaching that really only becomes a reality when you're faced with it. Do you follow what I'm saying? That there's, there are these moments in our life in which picking up a cross, denying ourself, and following Jesus goes from something we talk about on Sunday morning to something we actually have to do. And that's what I mean when I say that this can go theory to reality just like that. Just in a moment's notice, all these things that we talk about within the context of studying God's Word as we gather together as believers, all those things that we learn, that's when those things go from just spiritual teachings to actually living them. And when that happens, oftentimes it's just like this on the turn of a dime without a moment's notice. And anything can bring that about. One car missing the stop sign takes that from theory to reality just like that. One moment in which the doctor walks back into the examining room, sits down and says, I've read your results. We need to talk. One moment. It goes from things that you talk about on Sunday morning to, okay, how are we really now going to live this out? Is this really going to become reality in my life? Is this going to carry me through this or not? And this is something of what Simon faces now we don't know anything about what he knew about the gospel of grace beforehand. And so I'm not saying that this is an actual picture of someone who in that moment bearing the cross of Jesus had to become a reality for him. I'm saying what this is is a picture of the life of the disciple in which just out of the blue out of left field. All the things that you've talked about, all the things that you read in your Bible, all the things that your devotions, whatever sort of devotions you read or give yourself to, all those things that they talk about, in a moment of time, they have to go from practice to what I actually live. From things that I think about and talk about to what is actually going to carry me through this. And I say all that to say that's the way life works. That's the way life works down here. It doesn't work in such a way that we take all these verses and we memorize these spiritual truths and we sort of put them in there and then we're good. Instead, you take those things and you put them into your heart and you wait and you're prepared because you know there will come a moment in which those things are pressed. Those things are tested. And that's the moment that we find out, do I really believe those things? Or was that just something I was saying because everybody around me at church was saying those things. There is nothing that will show you that like a trial, like a furnace, like that moment when the car misses the stop sign, or that moment when the phone rings at 2 a. m. and it's your teenage, or that moment when you get that news or this happens or that happens. There's a thousand examples you could put into that. But that's when the things that we learn and that we talk about, that's when they have to then go from theory to reality. That's what we see happening to Simon in just a moment, just a moment. He goes from bystander to picking up a cross. What a powerful thing for us to see in this man, Simon. But now let's continue on. Verse 22, And they brought him to a place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. Verse 23, And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. So now let's wrestle just a little bit about, with the wine. As Jesus is approaching the cross, they offer him wine. We're told wine mixed with myrrh, and we're told he didn't take it. We remember that Jesus told the disciples in the upper room, I won't partake of the fruit of the vine again until I do so in the kingdom. And so here he's being true to that and doesn't take of the fruit of the vine. But, once again, just like Simon, we're told of this instance, all three synoptic Gospels have it. We're told of this instance, but we're not really told the explanation. Why did Jesus refuse it? Why did he tell his disciples, I won't partake of the fruit of the vine? Why does he refuse this now? And we're left to sort of put those pieces together. And so we're going to do so carefully, being careful not to go beyond the teachings of Scripture, but also being careful to see everything that Scripture's showing us. So as the wine mingled with myrrh or mixed together with myrrh is offered to Jesus, what we do know is that those two substances mixed together would provide some sort of mild narcotic, some sort of mild relaxant drug, some sort of pain dulling, mind numbing type of effect. So why was it offered to Jesus and why did he refuse it? Well, we're not exactly sure. We're not told for certain. And so we can speculate. We can speculate. That it was one of a few reasons perhaps that he was offered is perhaps it was out of compassion from some of the Jewish ladies. We do know that there was a custom that as people were being led to their execution, that there were Jewish ladies who would follow to the letter, Proverbs 31 and verse six, which says, give strong drink to the one who's perishing and wine to those in bitter distress. And so So we see that and we say, well, perhaps it was these ladies following that teaching and seeing even though this man is cursed, we can still have some compassion and offer him this, this way to face what he has to face with a little less of a horrendous pain aspect to it. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps it was just a matter of expediency. Perhaps the soldiers being experienced executioners, perhaps they knew how these things tend to go. And they had just learned from experience that this is just a whole lot easier if we drug them. Because, you know, you can be as beaten down and flogged and apparently at the point of death, you can be as weak as you want, but when that moment comes that the spike is about to be nailed into the wrist, all of a sudden now you have superhuman strength. I'm sure they've seen that kind of thing. We've heard about that sort of thing. That at the moment of death, there's just something can come over a person to give them superhuman type strength. And so imagine just the awkwardness, if I could call it that. The awkwardness. Not to be too, too, I don't want to sound crass about this. But nailing a human being to a piece of wood. Think about the mechanics of that. That would not be an easy thing to do. Especially if the human was not cooperative. Even if he was cooperative, think about that. Nailing a human being with a spike that probably wasn't too sharp, going through muscle tendons. And even bone. And then through wood. That's a very difficult thing to imagine. I read just recently of some of the excavations and how they found excavations of Roman crucifixion victims. And they've actually found a spike that has fragments of two heel bones on the spike. So they went through the two heels, but then the point was bent. So they speculate, well What must have happened was as this went through the two heels and then it went into the wood, it hit a knot in the wood and it bent. And you think, what a, what a thing. And so imagine an uncooperative person, and imagine how this would take half a dozen men to make this happen. So perhaps they've learned, this, this goes a whole lot easier if we drug them a little bit. We don't care if the drug wears off once they're up there, but to get them on it, this is a lot easier. Maybe that's what was happening. We don't know. Maybe this was having to do with something that we've mentioned before, just a couple Sundays ago, that when the, when the one who was to be executed reached the place of execution, if they confessed. They would then receive this dulling drug, this numbing drug, and so it's sort of a motivation to confess, that kind of thing. You know, this will go a lot easier for you if you confess, kind of like the, you know, all the stories that you've read about the torture that took place behind the Iron Curtain. We're just, we were just reading a book recently about that, the tortures behind the Iron Curtain and how you know, this can hurt a whole lot less if you confess and then somehow you get a whole lot of confessions out of that because in exchange for the confession, there's an easing of the pain. So maybe it was something to do with that. We don't know. But what we do know is there was a narcotic offered to Jesus and he refused it. And that's the point to see. Whatever the reason behind it, He refuses the mind altering substance that could have made this physically easier for Him. And He goes to the cross with clear thoughts and with a clear mind. And that's the thing to see. Our Savior did not need to have His thoughts dulled in order to take the punishment of our sin. And that is the crucial, crucial thing to see. This is what The night in Gethsemane was all about. You remember in Gethsemane, the father is showing to the son, the son, the son of God has always known this is what he was born for. But Jesus, the human, at some point in his life, Jesus, the human came to the understanding of what he was here to do. Yet that understanding wasn't. It wasn't full. It wasn't complete. He didn't know the totality of what he would be made to be on the cross until Gethsemane, when the Father shows him this is what will happen tomorrow, my son. Now, seeing this, will you do it? And that was what the wrestling of Gethsemane was all about. And he answers, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. In other words, Yes, Father, but I need your help. And this is what that's all about. Now, having seen this, going to the cross, he's given the option, this can be made a little bit easier. And he says, no, I will be nailed to that tree with eyes that are clear, thoughts that are plain and true, with an understanding that is not dulled. He did not have to have any sort of dulling of the senses in order for Him to take upon Himself the punishment for the sin of His people. And isn't that a glorious, glorious thought? Romans 5 and verse 8. While we were yet sinners, seeing us fully and completely, knowing us fully and completely, Jesus says, I will go to that cross and don't you dare take off one of the sharp edges of this. Don't you dare dull this in any way, for I, with eyes wide open, will take this upon myself. Isn't that a beautiful, beautiful picture? We said earlier that the cross really should be thought of as the birthing of the church, but it also should be thought of as something like Jesus marrying his bride. Now, I know it's not really the full picture of that, and I know there's the marriage supper of the Lamb in Romans 7, but in a real sense, the cross is Jesus taking his bride, because on the cross, Jesus takes his bride. Sin and warts and ugliness and all and he takes his bride on the cross. And he needs nothing to help him do that. It's like if you take that analogy and you think of it in terms of a wedding, because the cross is something, something like a wedding. Something like our bridegroom saying, I take you. So if you think of it in that context, would anyone be happy if on your wedding day, your future spouse had to throw back two or three? Would anybody be happy about that? In order to go through with this, we need a little bit of liquid courage. Is that a pleasant thought for anybody? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. If you can't take that spouse with eyes wide open and mind clear, You shouldn't be taking it. And that's Jesus. She's my bride. I know what she looks like. I know what that's gonna be up there. And that's what I'm here to do. And he goes onto that cross fully in control of his thoughts, fully in control of his mind. And aren't you glad of that? Aren't you glad that he didn't go on that cross with a buzz? Aren't you glad that he goes on that cross fully cognizant? I know one person that's glad. One of the two thieves. Don't you think he's glad when Jesus looked over at him with eyes that weren't glassy and with words that weren't slurred and said to him, today, you will be with me in paradise. What a picture of our Savior. Looking full, full on to what he was getting on that cross, looking into the ugliest depths of the souls of all of his people and saying, I will take her. And I will take him, they are mine, and I will go onto this cross to purchase them knowing exactly what this is going to cost me.