All God’s Children Have Names
Romans 16:13
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.
Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord: In this case, "chosen in the Lord" probably means more than chosen as a Christian; it suggests a specially selected and distinguished believer in Christ. The same word "eklektos" describes the chosen or elect lady (possibly figurative for the ecclesia itself) addressed by John in 2 John 1:1. A related word "ekloge" is used of Paul at the time of his baptism:
"The Lord said to Ananias, 'Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name' " (Acts 9:15,16).
However,"eklektos" and other related words may also describe all believers who are "chosen" in Christ, to be "holy and blameless in his sight" (Eph 1:4). But this is probably not the meaning here, where Paul seems to set Rufus apart from his other fellow-believers.
It is quite likely that this Rufus was a son of Simon the Cyrenian, the man who was compelled to carry the cross for Jesus to the place of his execution:
"A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross" (Mark 15:21).
From the same evidence it may be assumed, quite reasonably, that Simon's wife (and then Rufus' mother) is mentioned also in Romans 16:13, as a sterling character.
The man who carried Christ's cross
It is obvious that Rufus was a special believer, as was his mother. It is quite likely that the process by which son and mother became special — not only in the eyes of Paul but also in the eyes of the whole ecclesia — began a generation earlier, before Saul of Tarsus was even a believer, and possibly before Rufus was even born.
J.J. Blunt has done a great piece of investigative work to draw the threads together by which such a connection may be made:
Clement of Alexandria, who lived about the end of the second century, declares that Mark wrote this Gospel on… Peter's authority at Rome. Jerome, who lived in the fourth century, says that Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, being requested by his brethren at Rome, wrote a short Gospel.
Now this circumstance may account for his designating Simon as the father of Rufus at least; for we find that a disciple of that name, and of considerable note, was resident at Rome, when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans. "Salute Rufus," says he, "chosen in the Lord" [Rom 16:13]. Thus, by mentioning a man living upon the spot where he was writing, and amongst the people whom he addressed, Mark was giving a reference for the truth of his narrative, which must have been accessible and satisfactory to all; since Rufus could not have failed knowing the particulars of the Crucifixion (the great event to which the Christians looked), when his father had been so intimately concerned in it as to have been the reluctant bearer of the cross.
Of course, the force of this argument depends on the identity of the Rufus of Mark and the Rufus of Paul, which I have no means of proving; but admitting it to be probable that they were the same person (which, I think, may be admitted, for Paul, we see, expressly speaks of a distinguished disciple of the name of Rufus at Rome, and Mark, writing for the Romans, mentions Rufus, the son of Simon, as well known to them) — admitting this, the coincidence is striking, and serves to account for what otherwise seems a piece of purely gratuitous and needless information offered by Mark to his readers, namely, that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus; a fact omitted by the other Evangelists, and apparently turned to no advantage by himself.
Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences, pp. 280,281
The story of Simon the Cyrenian is an extraordinary one. Evidently, he was a Jew who traveled a long distance — all the way from North Africa — to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He had no idea of adventures that would come his way, events which seem to have changed his life dramatically and absolutely. Never again would he see the world and himself in the same way.
We can assume that Simon entered the city with great anticipation. The Jerusalem of Passover would be an exciting and festive place, when many thousands of Jews from all over the Roman Empire had converged to remember the Lord God's deliverance of His people out of bondage in Egypt into freedom in the Land of Promise.
But Simon had scarcely joined the crowds on their way to Herod's magnificent Temple before he found himself drafted into service by a Roman soldier. It looked as though it would be a short task, but a very distasteful one. He found himself carrying a criminal's cross, trudging along under its weight and following an extraordinary figure on the way to the hill of execution, called Golgotha. He must have been so angry, and yet he dared not show it — to have come so far to worship the One true God, in the one special place out of the whole earth where He had chosen to place His Name and His Presence. And now, out of nowhere, he was suffering this terrible and shameful thing — to walk along with a condemned man and watch him die.
But something happened along the way. He felt strangely drawn to the solitary figure he was following, how he submitted to all the indignities heaped upon him, almost like a lamb mute before its butcher, uttering no word of complaint. What kind of man was this?
When his duty was discharged, Simon must have stayed to watch the awful scene unfold. He must have heard the captain of the Roman soldiers, the centurion, say in wonder that this crucified man could be, might be, the son of God! He may have heard the words, almost whispered by the dying man, forgiving those who gleefully or callously tortured this extraordinary man, and then watched him suffer and die.
That chance encounter on the road to Golgotha changed Simon's life. He came to celebrate the Jewish Passover, but he may well have stayed right through the seven weeks leading up to Pentecost. Before he left Jerusalem, he must have met a number of the disciples of Jesus, and heard the news, perhaps even seeing the evidence, of the empty tomb, the resurrection, and the last words of the risen Lord to his followers. In a short time, as such things are measured, Simon came to see the Passover in a new perspective — "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" His life would never be the same again. What he had first thought to be the most horrific experience imaginable had turned into a truly transcendent honor: 'I was the one — and not even one of his disciples then — chosen to follow the Savior to the place where he sought, and achieved, my redemption. When he said those words, "It is finished", it was then I knew it was only beginning for me!'
In time to come, the great revolution during Simon's time at Jerusalem would touch his wife and influence his sons, Rufus and Alexander.
Simon's conversion is poetically interpreted in a brief poem by an unknown author:
There is no mark of course, but I can feel Here on my shoulder to this very day The grinding weight where that rough timber lay And left, an hour or two, its vivid seal. I had no thought, no patriotic zeal, That morning there a hero's part to play; Only, I saw his eyes which, as he lay Down in the dust, held mine in mute appeal. "A curse on you, Roman dogs," I cried, And never felt the lash the soldier swung; Then we went together side by side, My back bent double as we climbed the hill To Calvary where on the cross he hung; And I am proud to say I feel its burden still.
What Simon saw and felt on the fateful day — and the weeks that followed — changed not only himself. It also changed his family and many, many others. And it changes men and women even today. No wonder that Simon's son, Rufus, and Simon's wife (was she by now his widow?), became extraordinary disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and great friends of Paul the Apostle.
And his mother, who has been a mother to me, too: Paul had a number of "mothers" in the Truth (see Matt 12:49,50; Mark 3:35; 1Tim 5:2)! Perhaps this special woman perceived his unique loss when he became a follower of Christ, at the same time "losing all things" (Phil 3:8), and she attempted to minister to him by providing what he was now lacking: a warm and loving family.
Let Christian mothers find here a great field for that wonderful heart of instinctive loving care given by God to mothers, that they extend their maternal care beyond their own family circle, to all Christians, and especially to all laborers for Christ. The Lord will remember it at his coming!
Newell, Romans Verse-by-Verse
Joseph Bland writes:
The truth breaks down barriers of wealth and position, and unites as one those who truly love our Lord Jesus Christ. The mere fleshly relationship is as nothing compared with the higher spiritual relationship begotten by the word of truth. We feel something of the spirit of Jesus when he asked the question, "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" and when asking the question, and beholding his disciples, "he stretched forth his hands towards them, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matt 12:48-50). These are the experiences that should be ours towards each other.