Simon May Bear the Cross, but the Cross Must Bear Christ
In a sermon on Luke 23, Luther makes this interesting observation:
“We should learn to make a distinction between Simon and the Lord Christ. Simon bears the Lord Christ’s cross to the place of execution; then he leaves. This illustrates the real difference between the Lord Christ’s and our suffering. We do not earn forgiveness of sins with our sufferings. Only the suffering of the Lord Christ is sufficient for that. He alone is the true Sacrifice and the Lamb of God that has paid and rendered satisfaction for the sins of all the world. That is why He hangs suspended on the cross. But Simon merely walks under the cross, that is, the cross we bear serves to weight down the old Adam and to Curb sins. But the fact that sins are forgiven we owe solely to the labor and merit of our Lord Christ…If the cross is to achieve forgiveness of sins, it must not bear Simon; but Christ must hang on it and die on it. And this is the reason why Simon goes free, for through Christ’s death we are freed from death and come to eternal life.”
During the Lenten season we of course focus on the road of the cross. This is especially true this year as we Behold the Man, how God the Son became man to be our substitute under God’s Law and Justice; to be able to endure the suffering and passion in our place to accomplish the forgiveness of our sins. We also are mindful that we are no greater than our Lord, and we too must travel the same road He travels – that there is suffering before glory. But as Luther rightly noted, though we bear the cross of Christ, it never earns the slightest forgiveness for us, ever. Only Christ on the cross does that. Our cross bearing is one of daily remembrance of Baptism, that is, daily crucifying the Old Adam by the grace and strength and Spirit God gave us in our baptism. It is a daily curbing of sinful desires and acts while instead living a life of service and sacrificial love for those around us by the New Person in Christ being raised up and strengthened by the same grace in that sacrament. We walk under the cross, where He weighs down and drowns the Old Adam and its power over us, while lifting us up in the power of His resurrection to New Life. God help us during this Lententide to understand this difference between Simon of Cyrene and Christ. To Behold the Man, God our Substitute and only Savior.
Pastor
