Simon, would you still have passed that way? Would you still have passed that way if you had known how you would be mistreated? Would you still have ventured into the city if you had known that you would be forced to carry another man’s burden? Would you still have entered that gate and strolled down that street if you had known that the cross of another man would soon be upon your shoulders, that his blood would soon stain your hands, your face, your clothes?
It was no honor to carry the cross of a condemned criminal, but the kind of insult a conquering army can demand of a people that has bowed before their sword. And so, when that battered man no longer had strength to carry his heavy beam, the soldiers compelled you to do it on his behalf. I wonder if they chose you at random, or if they chose you because you looked compliant and complacent. I wonder if they knew from your appearance that you were from out of town, from your dress or complexion or demeanor that you were from faraway Cyrene. I wonder if they were choosing an easy
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