What Weight are you Carrying?

 

I was going to share the entire first twenty-six verses of Luke chapter 23 with you today. Tomorrow, Good Friday, you will get the rest of the story. But I had too much to share from my personal life, and – well – there was one verse that said enough.

You know how the story goes. Jesus had been arrested. The church leaders turned Him over to Pontious Pilate, the Roman governor, for questioning. 

There was a tradition during Passover each year to release one prisoner. Pilate asked the crowd if they wanted Jesus or a murderer, Barabbas, to be released. They shouted, “Release Barabbas! Crucify Jesus!”

Jesus was taken away. The Roman soldiers mocked Him and beat Him, then took Him off to be crucified. After all that He had endured, carrying the wooden cross along the road to Golgotha got the best of His physical body. His spiritual body could hold the weight of the world, but He was an earthly man too.

     As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26, New Living Translation)

I’ve had a rough week. I feel like I’ve had a burden thrown on my shoulders that I just can’t deal with. I lay on the couch yesterday afternoon and prayed to God, “Please lift this burden from me.”

As I mentioned, I’d already planned on including the above verse today. But in that moment of prayer, it struck me.

Simon from Cyrene only carried that cross for a little while, and I only have to handle my problems for a little while as well. Jesus will carry all of my burdens for all of my life if I only turn my probems over to Him. Or as in the words of Matthew 11:28-30 in the New International Version:

     "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

(Today’s picture is one I took when I was in Kenya in 2015.)