QUESTION: Luke 23:26, 33 talks about Simon of Cyrene carrying the Cross, and no verse indicates that he gave it back to Jesus, and it is said they crucified the one who had the cross. Is it possible they crucified Simon not Jesus? Mark saw Jesus arrayed in purple going to be crucified (Mark 15:16-17). Matthew saw Jesus arrayed in red (Matthew 27:28) so, which Jesus did they crucify; the one in red or purple? Pastor Daniel.
RESPONSE: Thank you for the question, pastor. In my experience of responding to questions, I have learnt many things and two of these are: you need to pray that you understand what someone is asking, and you need to pray that you will detect the claims one knowingly or unknowingly makes in their questions.
Allow me, therefore begin by praying that I have understood what the pastor is asking and then point out the detected and assumed claims that are made in these questions.
The claims
The first claim made here is that since no verse indicates that Simon gave back the Cross to Jesus, therefore Jesus never carried the Cross again.
The second claim made in the first question is that Luke 23:33 says that they crucified him who had the Cross.
It matters that we investigate these claims to see how true they are. In the first claim, we ask what relationship does being given the Cross back have to do with being crucified on it?
The point was getting the Cross to the hill and the crucifiers determined who the law had charged to be crucified. Simon could have carried the cross to the hill, handed it over to the Roman authorities and they crucified the very one to whom the Cross belonged.
To ask why no verse reports Simon handing over the Cross back to Jesus is to assume Simon never carried the Cross up to the hill but gave it back on the way.
If Simon carried it to the hill, then there was no need to give it back to Jesus for it could not be carried any further (Luke 23:33).
Secondly, I am not sure if there is a verse reporting every event to the hill. The second claim is that the verse says: ‘they crucified the one who had the cross.’
I have ten Bible versions before me right now as I write this, and not one of them says so in Luke 23:33. It is obvious that upon reaching Calvary, no one had the Cross but the authorities who were supposed to lay the one charged with a crime (Jesus not Simon).
The robe
The other claim made is that Jesus was dressed in purple according to Mark 15:17 and then red in Matthew 27:28.
Let us assume this happened, what is wrong with the same person being dressed in different colors?
This argument sounds like one that contends that the naked and hanging Jesus on the cross is not the same Jesus we see dressed earlier.
A quick literal reading of scriptures will demonstrate that perhaps there are three robes that the persecutors of Jesus dressed Him with through the passion moments.
The first one was a prestigious robe (color not mentioned) and it is in Luke 23:11, and this was by Herod.
The second one was by Pilate and the soldiers and its colour as reported in Mark 15:17-19 and John 19:2-3 was purple.
The third was by the soldiers of the governor and it was scarlet (reddish) and it is reported in Matthew 27:26-28.
However, if the emphasis is placed on the significance of the colour, then the first and second robes are similar. Since Jesus had claimed that He was King, the prestigious robe in Luke 23:11 by Herod and his men before they sent Him to Pilate was a mockery of this claim.
This robe, therefore, was a royal robe in a royal color and this was purple. Again the context of Matthew 26:24-28 agrees with Mark 15:15-20, John 19:1-3 and Luke 23:20-25 to prove that it was the same robe that Matthew chooses to call ‘scarlet’.
The good news is that whether Mathew was color-blind or not, both purple and scarlet were royal colors which symbolised authority.
Was Jesus crucified?
The answer to this is yes, it was Jesus not Simon of Cyrene who was crucified. The evidence and witnesses to this can be found in the Bible. It can be found in the historical records of both believers and non-believers as well.
It was Jesus who was arrested, tried and charged. It was Jesus who claimed to be a King and it was Him who was mocked with the royal robe and He alone crucified.
