Q: In Matthew 27:32, as Jesus is being led out to be crucified, the Roman soldiers recruit a bystander, Simon of Cyrene, to carry Jesus cross. But John 19:17 says that Jesus bearing his cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull. Isnt this a contradiction? Who was carrying Jesus cross?
A: There are several ways in which question can be resolved. One way, popularized in the movie The Passion of the Christ, is to picture Simon of Cyrene being recruited to assist Jesus in the task of cross-carrying, but not relieving Him of the task entirely. This approach would, I think, require that the entire cross -- both beams -- be in use during Jesuss walk down the Way of Sorrows, in order for Luke 23:26 to make sense: the reference to Simon of Cyrene bearing the cross after Jesus would mean that Jesus carried one end, followed by Simon of Cyrene who carried the other end.
Another way is to figure that John describes a different stage of the Way of Sorrows than what the Synoptics describe: in John, Jesus goes out carrying His cross, but by the time the procession departs the city limits, Simon of Cyrene is recruited to take His cross, as the weakened Lord is goaded along in front of him.
Yet a third way, perhaps the most satisfying, is to notice that a Roman cross, like most crosses, has two pieces. Since Jesus trial had not been on the Romans to-do list, but had commenced and concluded suddenly, the soldiers may not have had time to take the main cross-beam (the vertical bar) to Golgotha, where the seditious bandits were to be crucified that day. So, while Jesus was burdened with the horizontal bar across His shoulders, Simon of Cyrene was recruited to carry the vertical bar, and the bars were eventually joined together at Golgotha.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: There are several ways in which question can be resolved. One way, popularized in the movie The Passion of the Christ, is to picture Simon of Cyrene being recruited to assist Jesus in the task of cross-carrying, but not relieving Him of the task entirely. This approach would, I think, require that the entire cross -- both beams -- be in use during Jesuss walk down the Way of Sorrows, in order for Luke 23:26 to make sense: the reference to Simon of Cyrene bearing the cross after Jesus would mean that Jesus carried one end, followed by Simon of Cyrene who carried the other end.
Another way is to figure that John describes a different stage of the Way of Sorrows than what the Synoptics describe: in John, Jesus goes out carrying His cross, but by the time the procession departs the city limits, Simon of Cyrene is recruited to take His cross, as the weakened Lord is goaded along in front of him.
Yet a third way, perhaps the most satisfying, is to notice that a Roman cross, like most crosses, has two pieces. Since Jesus trial had not been on the Romans to-do list, but had commenced and concluded suddenly, the soldiers may not have had time to take the main cross-beam (the vertical bar) to Golgotha, where the seditious bandits were to be crucified that day. So, while Jesus was burdened with the horizontal bar across His shoulders, Simon of Cyrene was recruited to carry the vertical bar, and the bars were eventually joined together at Golgotha.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
