THIS IS PERSONAL

 

Thursday, February 15, 2024

 

THIS IS PERSONAL

 

Gen 22:6

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

 

Matt 27:32

32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

 

Mark 15:21

21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

 

 

Isaac was a type of Christ; he carried the wood on which he was to be sacrificed. This type was fulfilled when our Lord was led forth carrying His cross.

 

Cyrene was a city of Libya, in Africa, lying west of Egypt. There were many Jews there, and they were in the habit, like others, of going frequently to Jerusalem. We might gather that Simon could have been a black man and that speaks to the issue of race. Little else is known about him, except that he had two sons named Alexander and Rufus, and we might even conclude that he was a pagan and not a Jew. If he was a pagan then that speaks to the issue of world-wide missions, the thought that the cross would one day be laid on the backs of the nations. But his name was Simon and that makes carrying the cross very personal.

 

We are forever inviting people to make Jesus their “personal” Savior and yet the word “personal” is found nowhere in the Bible. The concept is certainly present, however. If I say that “God so loved the world” as we see in John 3:16 then I can easily discount the personal nature of it. But if, with the Apostle Paul, I say that “Jesus died to save sinners of whom I am chief” then I cannot avoid the personal implication of salvation.

 

Indeed, the difference between Jesus preaching to the thousands and sitting on the lip of a well talking to a single woman is glaring. As far as we can tell by the stories, the multitudes were not greatly changed but the woman at the well was never the same. Indeed, the whole of Samaria was never the same. It was personal.

 

The personal nature of close contact with Jesus challenges and changes all our other relationships. One of Simon’s sons was perhaps well known to the believers in Rome.

 

Rom 16:13

13 Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

 

Dear Lord, carrying your cross removes me from being a spectator to a player. I feel the weight of it, I smell the scent of it and the drops of blood fall upon me. It is personal – and I am glad. AMEN