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Recently, a colleague of mine recommended watching the music video for Ray Boltz’ song “Watch the Lamb”. It tells the story of a man going into Jerusalem with his two sons for Passover. While there, they get caught up in the drama of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. The father even gets pulled over by the Roman guards and forced to carry Jesus’ Cross. The father is so taken away with emotion at what he sees in Jesus’ story, that all he can do at the end is hold his two boys tight and tell them to “watch the lamb”, the lamb being Jesus.
The father is supposed to be Simon of Cyrene, who according to tradition did have two sons who were among those who joined the early church. The song does a good job of capturing Simon’s getting swept away in the event of Jesus’ march to the Place of the Skull.
Simon got called on to help Jesus carry His Cross. He was called on to assist Jesus in this one moment as Jesus marched on to accomplish salvation for us all.
God calls on all of us to help in His work in this world. We never know when we might expect God to call on us. It might even be now. Will you be ready for that moment, whenever it might be, when you are suddenly swept into the story, just as Simon of Cyrene was?