Sometimes details make me wonder.

As we read Matthew’s story, Jesus is carrying his cross. A man from Cyrene, named Simon, is forced to carry it for him.

That’s it. We know where Simon is from. We know what he did for part of an hour of one day of his life.

If we look at Mark’s story, we read that Simon had at least two sons, Alexander and Rufus.

If we look at Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, we discover that Rufus and his mom are living in Rome, and she was like a mother to Paul, too.

If we look at the story of the spread of the church, following the persecution in Jerusalem, we find that people from Cyrene who were in Jerusalem go to Antioch and begin to tell the stories of Jesus, and one of those people, a man named Lucius, was a teacher there.

Cyrene was, by the way, in Northern Africa, near Libya. It was a long way from Jerusalem. It was a Roman city. Jewish people from there would have come to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover as a pilgrimage. And at least one of them, Simon, got caught up in the story.

Simon, that day, became a follower of Jesus. (Luke tells us that he carried the cross behind Jesus). His traveling companions end up becoming missionaries. His wife and sons care for Paul at some point on his journey.

Sometimes we think that serving Jesus means speaking or teaching or preaching. We think that doing practical tasks are no big deal. This family, whose only traces in scripture are serving, ended up helping Jesus and Paul. They are singled out for mention as being helpful.

Apparently the followers who merely help are important, too.

Simon says.