Jesus Wasn't Strong Enough to Get to the Cross

 

Now, before you label me a heretic, hear me out.

It just hit me that Jesus didn’t have the strength to go to the cross. He was so physically weak from the beating He took that He was unable to carry His cross from Jerusalem to Golgotha. He could have just laid down and died right there, but He needed to get to that cross, so they grabbed a seemingly inconsequential bystander, Simon.  

[Mat 27:32 KJV] 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

But was he really? I looked up the meanings of the names Simon and Cyrene. Simon means “heard,” and Cyrene means “supremacy of the bridle.” A bridle is how one controls a powerful animal. Jesus had taken on the bridle of buying our redemption from sin, but His fleshly body was too weak to do the job. The Father “heard.” The mission Jesus was on was the supreme mission of all time. So, God sent in a man to help, a man with a message in his name. The first-century Jews would have understood this connection. It was just another reason to marvel at the work of the cross.   

In Matthew 26:41, Jesus tells his disciples, “The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” In the garden, Jesus was praying for the strength to follow through. He had to get to the cross. Hebrews 4:15 says, “(He) was in all points tempted like we are.” He knew His flesh was weak, and in this too, He demonstrated how, through prayer, we can overcome. Sometimes, we need help. The Father sent help in response to Jesus' prayer. Our flesh is limited, but God is able to send us help!