I am Simon Cyrene, the Twelfth disciple

I describe myself as the alien who carries the burden of the cross as Jesus slowly moves to reach His earthly destination. Jesus is spared from the burden of carrying the cross on the day of His crucifixion. My discipleship is predestined by the Sovereign Grace and not by my belief or disbelief, or free will.

I describe myself as Simon a Cyrenian bearing the burden of the cross under compulsion and following Jesus. I am drawn to follow Jesus and there is no free will involved. There are no exceptions to this rule.

I am in the City of Jerusalem and yet I am an alien for I am not a citizen of Rome, not a citizen of Israel, not a citizen of Judea, and not a citizen of Galilee. I follow Jesus but I have not yet entered the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth to claim the citizenship status.

I reflect upon the Great Struggle, the Agony of the Cup held by Jesus and the Burden of the Cross I carry. The completed act of Crucifixion resolved the Agony of the Cup, the Great Struggle endured by Jesus. I am the alien who is present when Jesus cries out as the Agony of the Cup comes to its conclusion.

Judas Iscariot, the Twelfth Apostle, a Spiritual, and Moral Being:

Man is a spiritual being and is constituted as a Moral Being. The moral nature of man is a spiritual attribute and at a fundamental level the ability called moral discernment is related to the spiritual function that makes man a conscious, sensible living entity. The function called consciousness contributes to the awareness to know the nature of actions performed and to make the distinction between right and wrong. Sometimes, man is driven by an external stimulus or desire to perform an action and later man reviews his own action to determine the good or evilness of his own act. The Science called Anthropology refers to the systematic study of man as a physical and moral being. Anthropology prefers to use direct observations of human beings, their activities and their products rather than using documentary accounts. Since Anthropology and all other Natural Sciences have not defined man as a Spiritual Being, I am using a different methodology to make my observations using documented accounts of human behavior and human nature to explain facts which can also be established by direct observations of living human beings. In this context, to know man as a Moral Being, I would like to share the story about Judas Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus that is recorded in the Bible and most of my readers are already familiar with this story. I would like to remind my readers that at the time of this story, during the life of Judas Iscariot, there was no established religious faith or belief called Christianity and the actions of Judas strictly reflect upon his own intrinsic spiritual nature and his mind was not influenced by any concern about the truth about Jesus. The disciples of Jesus were very doubtful and they waited until the fact of Resurrection was established to clarify their disbelief.

For I describe myself as an alien, I bear the burden of the Cross as I painfully march towards my earthly destination and when the struggle finally reaches its conclusion, at the ninth hour, I ask myself, “My God, my God, Why have You forsaken me.”

I am Simon Cyrene for I am predestined to follow Jesus Christ to carry the Burden of the Cross without seeking the reward of Salvation or Everlasting Life.

Simon Cyrene