The Fateful Journey to Golgotha 

Pilate reluctantly condemned Jesus to crucifixion despite pronouncing him innocent. He attempted to satisfy the Sanhedrin by scourging Jesus and releasing Barabbas, a known criminal, to appease the crowd but ultimately failed to stand firm. Pilate’s day, intended to be quiet for the Passover, instead became embroiled in turmoil, haunted by the threat of political repercussions if he did not comply with the Sanhedrin’s demands.

The captain of the guard who had arrested Jesus led the crucifixion. Jesus had been severely scourged even before his trial; the two criminals with him were scourged according to custom as they were prepared for crucifixion. By 9:00 AM, the procession was ready to depart for Golgotha.

The Sanhedrin, satisfied with Pilate’s decree, returned to plan the elimination of Jesus’s followers. Of the two hundred or more onlookers, many were hostile or curious bystanders seeking spectacle. Only a few leaders and sympathizers stayed to witness Jesus’s journey.

Jesus had predicted these events, stating that his life was not taken by force; rather, he willingly laid it down, with the authority to take it up again as commanded by the Father.

Custom dictated that each condemned man carry his crossbeam to the crucifixion site. The larger vertical beams had been prepared at Golgotha. The captain carried small signs indicating each prisoner’s crime. For the two thieves, the signs read "Brigand," while for Jesus, Pilate had personally written "Jesus of Nazareth—the King of the Jews" in Latin, Greek, and Aramaic. Despite protests from the priests, Pilate remained unmoved, stating, "What I have written, I have written."

Pressed for time due to Passover, the group took the shortest route through the Damascus gate, leading out of the city. As the procession passed through Jerusalem’s narrow streets, many compassionate women dared to express their sorrow. Risking legal punishment, they openly lamented, defying the public shaming custom meant to humiliate the condemned. When some of them even dared to follow along by his side, the Master turned his head toward them and said:

"Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but rather weep for yourselves and for your children. My work is about done—soon I go to my Father—but the times of terrible trouble for Jerusalem are just beginning. Behold, the days are coming in which you shall say: Blessed are the barren and those whose breasts have never suckled their young. In those days will you pray the rocks of the hills to fall on you in order that you may be delivered from the terrors of your troubles."

Exhausted from lack of sleep, food, and water since the Last Supper, Jesus’ physical and emotional suffering was immense. As he passed through the Damascus gate, weakened, he fell under the weight of the crossbeam. Despite the soldiers’ rough treatment, he could not rise. The captain intervened, ordering them to cease, and instructed Simon of Cyrene, a passerby, to carry the crossbeam for Jesus.

Shortly after 9:00 AM, they reached Golgotha, where the soldiers began nailing Jesus and the two thieves to their crosses.

Simon came with friends from Cyrene in northern Africa to celebrate the Passover. He was stopping with other Cyrenians just outside the city walls and was on his way to the temple services in the city when the Roman captain commanded him to carry Jesus’ crossbeam. Simon lingered all through the hours of the Master’s death on the cross, talking with many of his friends and with his enemies.

After the resurrection, Simon embraced the gospel and returned to Cyrene, guiding his family into the faith. His sons, Alexander and Rufus, would later become dedicated teachers of the gospel in Africa. But Simon never knew that Jesus, whose burden he bore, and the Jewish tutor who once befriended his injured son were the same person. Jesus (the Jewish tutor to Ganid), Gonod and his son Ganid were on a tour of the Roman world in 22 CE. They stopped for two days in Cyrene and gave first aid to a lad named Rufus (Simon’s son), who had been injured by the breakdown of a loaded cart. They carried him home to his mother.