A poignant expression of this unity of purpose between Father God and the Son is found in Mark 15:21 when “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on His way in [to Jerusalem] from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.” Simon’s name means hearing, and he was from Cyrene, which means powerful or sovereign. He was father to Alexander, whose name means Defender of Men, and to Rufus, whose name means red, which is also the name of Adam. So from a place of power and sovereignty (Cyrene), this hearing (Simon) father of the Defender of Men (Alexander) and of Adam (Rufus) was passing by. This powerful hearing father of Christ Jesus and of Adam is the one who carried the burden of the cross as He accompanied Jesus up to Golgotha. The two went as one, together: God the Father whose heart was burdened for mankind; and Jesus the Son who willingly laid down His life.

This scene of Father and Son going up to offer sacrifice together is foreshadowed by Abraham and Isaac climbing up Mount Moriah in Genesis 22. Abraham, whose name means Father of many nations, carried the fire; while his son, Isaac, carried the wood for the burnt offering. Wood in the Bible represents humanity, and our God is a consuming fire. So here again we see the fire of our Father God walking alongside the Son who was bearing the wood of our humanity to the cross. The Holy Spirit repeats the refrain “the two of them went on together” two times in verse 6 and verse 8 of Genesis 22. This is vital for our understanding of the cross. God was not indifferent on the sidelines, nor did Calvary change His willingness to receive us. His involvement in our Salvation has been consistent since the beginning of time. It is as evident in Genesis, as it is clear in the gospels. If we are to enter communion with God, we have to appreciate that Jesus didn’t save us from a God who was full of wrath toward mankind. Jesus saved us from sin in oneness with a God who is full of mercy and love for mankind.

Let’s not forget that the Son can do nothing by Himself, and only did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19). Jesus did not even speak on His own, but only said what He heard the Father say (John 12:49, and 8:29). So when Jesus said “Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing,” He was not pleading to change His Father’s mind; He was giving voice to what He saw the Father doing as He hung on the cross: “God in Christ was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). God was forgiving mankind, and Jesus was interceding in accordance with His will. As Isaiah son of Amoz said “it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer… for He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:10 and 12). The intercession of Christ Jesus at the cross was a clear expression of God’s heart to intercede on our behalf; to save us from ourselves, not from Himself.

Now as Christ lives to intercede for us, we can be assured that He is not trying to convince God to accept or help us; but that He intercedes in accordance with God’s will for us (Hebrews 7:25). The Lord our God is One, and there is no part of Him that was not active in our Salvation. He did not withhold His only Son to spare us; there is no part of Him that needs convincing to act on our behalf. The burden was His, the love was His; God gave His own flesh and blood; Jesus laid down His own life. The very works that Jesus finished testified that God sent Him; and accepting the testimony of Jesus certifies that God is true, that God saves (John 5:36 and 3:32-33). Oh let us believe in the testimony of God in Christ, and trust in the truth of His Name:

Jesus!