RUFUS AND THE MAN WHO CARRIED JESUS’ CROSS

Simon of Cyrene was passing by when he was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross. When Mark records that moment, he includes the names of Simon’s two sons. “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.” Mark 15:21 KJV. Mark identifies Simon through his sons. That wording suggests Alexander and Rufus were known to his readers. Their names helped identify the man who carried the cross. Years later, Paul includes this greeting in his letter to the believers in Rome. “Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” Romans 16:13 KJV. The Rufus Paul greets may be the same Rufus Mark names as Simon’s son. If so, the son of the man who carried Jesus’ cross was later a believer in Rome whom Paul knew personally. Paul also greets Rufus’s mother, calling her “his mother and mine.” His wording suggests she had cared for Paul like a mother. This was a family with whom he shared a close bond. Read Mark 15:21 alongside Romans 16:13. One passage names Rufus’s father at the cross. The other may show us that son years later, known and loved among the believers in Rome. #MoreJoyMinistries