The Message
The reason some things in the Gospels are so specific is so that if you had questions, you could go and ask. When Mark refers to Simon from Cyrene, he adds the details about Simon having two children named Alexander and Rufus so that you could go talk to Simon and ask questions if you had doubts about the story. If you were making something up, would you be so specific, or would you be vague, afraid that someone might check your story if you made it seem real?
The people stopped by to taunt Jesus, because they have short memories. That's the only thing that allows us to ever look at the suffering of another person and not be compassionate -- we forget about our own suffering, or we forget that one day we, too, will suffer. When people are young, they're often impatient with the elderly, forgetting that one day they, too, will be elderly. When people are older, they look at the young and wonder about how things have changed, forgetting that they, too, were once shaking things up. Jesus was suffering, he was dying, and the crowds did not take compassion, thinking that one day they, too, would suffer and die. They jeered, for in the moment, they were well and he was not.
I have made many mistakes in my life, and I'm not finished with those. I have been very sick at times, and I have needed much help then as well as in other times. I'm guessing you have instances like this as well. When we come across another who is suffering, either due to their own folly or due to chance, may we take compassion, remembering that none of us are immune from suffering. May we be patient, just as Christ came and was patient with us, just as Christ came and suffered with us, suffered for us, for out of his suffering came hope, just as we can hold onto hope, often for and with one another, in the midst of whatever suffering comes our way.
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