To Bear His Cross
After the Roman soldiers mocked the Savior and pretended to worship Him, they smote Him and led Him away to be crucified. Matthew recorded, “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross” (Matthew 27:32). I have written before about this Simon and how this experience may have led him to receive the gospel and follow Christ spiritually. My dad mentioned the story to me yesterday and highlighted the fact that he was the only mortal we know of who was able to help the Savior during the atonement. We know that in Gethsemane “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). The Savior also seemed to have been seeking some support from His three chief apostles, but didn’t get it because they fell asleep. When He came back after some initial time in the garden alone, “And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray” (...