Bishop Jason Roberts The Unexpected Cross 2-08-2026

A stranger is seized from the crowd and told to carry a cross that isn’t his—and suddenly the road to Calvary becomes a mirror for our own interruptions, anxieties, and costly obedience. We open Luke 23:26 and follow the story from the garden’s anguish to the whipping post and on toward Golgotha, where the weight of suffering meets the certainty of purpose. Along the way we explore why Simon of Cyrene wasn’t an accident but a provision, how “bearing it after Jesus” reframes discipleship, and what it means when God finishes the work we can’t complete.

We talk about fear, depression, and spiritual warfare that try to break us before we arrive, and we point to the blood that speaks healing, courage, and hope. We challenge the myth that calling is comfortable, showing how providence often hides in inconvenience and how an unwanted burden can be the exact step God uses to move grace forward. We reflect on the crowd, the soldiers, and the illusion of control—then return to the truth that Jesus did not have His life taken; He gave it, right on time, to finish redemption.

This conversation is practical as it is devotional. We share how a simple message from a friend can feel like Simon stepping beside you, lifting your load a few more steps. We invite you to look for those moments, to become that kind of friend, and to keep following even when the road is rough. Ready to see your interruptions as invitations and your fatigue as a place where God provides? Press play, share this with someone who needs strength today, and subscribe so you never miss a moment of hope and truth.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hey, welcome. You're listening to Kwood Church of God's Sunday service on the 421 Show. Service that was pre-recorded live, edited to fit the platform. Hey, go check out our website for more content and information at HOR421 Show.bussprout.com.

Prayer Of Thanks And Healing

The Healer Is In The House

From Garden Agony To The Whipping Post

Power In The Blood And Overcoming Fear

Why Simon Of Cyrene Matters

Taking Up The Cross And Following

Crowd, Soldiers, And Prophecy Fulfilled

The Weight Of Discipleship

SPEAKER_03 0:38

If you've got your Bibles and you want to turn with me to Luke chapter 23. Verse 26. I'm just going to share one verse of scripture with you. I may pull some other ones out, but I'm just going to share one verse with you if you want to stand. Try to get through it pretty quick. Luke chapter 23. Verse 26. Says, and as they led him, Jesus, as they led Jesus away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrene, coming out of the country. And on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after. Highlight that word in your Bible because it's very important. That he might bear it after Jesus. Heavenly Father, we come to you this morning. And we're just so thankful for the opportunity to gather into your house one more time. Where there is freedom to worship you. Where there's freedom to express ourselves and what you've done for us in our past. And we find it way down deep that we've got a praise that we have to just let it out. We thank you, Lord, for what you've already done right here in this place this morning. I believe you and I thank you for the miracle that you've just done right here in the front of us all this morning. My brothers and sisters come in agreement with me this morning saying that you have already healed this morning, that you have already restored this morning, that you have already spoke life over things that the enemy has tried to speak death over. We come to you to give you honor and to give you glory for you being able to overcome the cross. Oh, help us not forget, Lord. Help us not forget, Lord, not only what you've done for us in our past, but what you've done on the cross, what you were able to finish. Death has no power over you. We thank you, Jesus. We thank you for your word. We ask that you bless it this morning. And everybody says, Amen, as they're being seated. Now you all are not disrupting, you all stay right there all day. If you want to, you tarry in the altar. I don't care. I'm preaching. Because I believe this message may be for her, as I know it is to some of you all. When I come to you to talk to you about an unexpected cross. Now we take that verse. Let's take her time with it. Georgina, put it back up there if you don't care. That way I can kind of go along with it. It says, and as they there it is. There it is. There it is. The healers in the house. I wish I had somebody else in this room with me that would agree with me right now that the healer is in the house. We'll start revival and we'll slay devils in this place today if you'll get behind me. You may brought a few things with you today that you need to get a hold of and get rid of. We're going back to the cross today, but there were some things that happened before he ever made it to the cross. You see, my Bible says that he was on the whipping post where he bore 39 stripes. You all ain't getting excited because you ain't the ones that need it. But when you need a healing, when it comes to your house, you will appreciate the stripes that was born on Calvary. You said it did, but my Bible says that through his tribes. He got 39 stripes across his body, and it wasn't just a simple whip like you see him beating these horses with now. This was a whip that was laced with rocks. That every time that wheel went across the back, every time that whip went across it, and he snapped it back. You know the flesh we take communion with, you know the flesh that we got a remember him by it was ripped from his body. For this reason right here. For this reason right here. We sing about it all the time, don't we? About how there's still power in the blood. I still believe. I still believe that there is soul cleansing, that there is body healing. I believe that there's so much power in the blood. You see, it started before he ever went to the whipping post. When the shadow of the cross was felt by him in the garden, when the heikana shatama is not when he was in the garden, the Bible says that he started bleeding there. Does it not? When he was in agony, when he was being tormented by the devil, can I go ahead and call it just the way it is? Because some of you this morning is in this house that is being tormented by the devil, with agony, with defeat, you're struggling with anxiety and depression. Can I tell you that Jesus overcame that in the garden before he ever made it to the cross? If you're struggling with fear, anxiety, and the devil has weighted you down, there was bloodshed in the garden too. There was bloodshed in the garden. As they tied him to the whipping post, and they beat him mercilessly without even just reason or cause. Welcome to the club, baby. Jesus didn't do anything either, and the devil tried to beat him before he ever made it to the cross. To the point where Jesus was so weak in his fleshly body that they thought, and I want you to get that word, they thought he could not pack his own cross. My Bible says that my Savior can do anything. As I was putting this sermon together, this message together, I began to go back and read about Simon and what was so significant about him, and there wasn't anything. There wasn't anything significant about Simon. I don't think he's ever mentioned again, other than the three gospels. His sons is sometimes referenced in later parts in Romans. But I don't think that Simon, the guy that helped him carry the cross, is ever mentioned again in the Bible. I don't think so. If I'm wrong, correct me. So there was nothing important about this man, Simon. He was a foreigner coming into a country where he didn't have many friends, Brother Jeff. And as a matter of fact, when he came in and he felt like an outsider, they made him feel a little bit more like an outsider. Because the Bible says that they laid hold of him. Come here, brother Danny, you're gonna help me preach this. So what they done, they found a passerby that didn't look like them. You'll get that in a minute. He was a foreigner from another country, Africa. He didn't look like them, he probably didn't dress like them, he probably didn't talk like them, he probably didn't have many friends in the city, if you will. How many have ever been there before? You felt like you're in a strange place and that everybody's against you and that nothing's going right for you. Can I tell you, you might be right in the center of God's will for you? You might get that in just a minute, too. You may, it may just be the fact that you went to a jungle, sister, where you are considered a foreigner. And they may not take too kindly to you because you don't talk like them, you don't act like them, you don't look like them. But you, and I don't know why, sister, but you are right where God has placed you doing exactly what God needed you to do when God needed you to do it. Simon the Sieran. Just a passer by, right? Oh no. He was aligned to the perfect will of God the Father. You see what happened in the also in the garden, Jesus was he was saying, if this cup is possible, let it pass from me, right? But he says, if not my will, let your will be done. And the Bible says, even in the garden that he sent angels to strengthen him, right? Help me, Jesus. But it didn't stop there. You see, God knew the roadway to the cross wasn't gonna be easy because of what Jesus has already been through. Come on, somebody. He sees you right in the situation that you're in, he knows what the season you're getting ready to go through, and it may not look good, and it may look like it's gonna be a hard road. And you may have said, I've already been through this, and I've already been through that, but God is already making provision even from the garden to the roadway to the cross. So this Simon, this passerby that don't really fit in, come on. They laid hold of him and they didn't stop there. They said, You know what you're gonna do? Stand right there. Stand right there. You're gonna carry a cross. You know what Simon was probably thinking, like most of us would. Can I sit down here just a minute so I can include myself with you all? I would have probably been thinking, I don't know why I've gotta carry this cross. It don't belong to me. I didn't do anything. I'm preaching to myself, I know. Nobody else is like that. I get it. But the Bible says that they laid the cross on him so that he might bury as it were. Come on, somebody, somebody. It's in the scripture after. Do you know what that means? It means he was following. If you back it up to Luke chapter 9, I believe it's 26. Don't quote me on 26, but I believe it's it's in the 20s. It says that we need to take up our cross daily and follow him. You know what Simon was doing, he was making provisions for Jesus to get to the cross. Come on, you're following behind me. Now, Jesus is probably beaten beyond human recognition. You remember what I told you, don't you? He was beaten before he ever made it to the cross. He had that's right, he had his beard plugged from him, he was beaten and spit upon. The flesh was torn from his body. He probably did not even look human. Forty stripes would kill a man, that's why they just give him 39. And I I began to read on the importance of Simon and why Simon was made to carry the cross. And there were different opinions by the scholars. One scholar believed that the the soldiers were having compassion on Jesus. Now you can choose to believe that or not. I mean, I don't know. Another scholar believes that they were just trying to expedite the process and hurry up and get him to the cross. And that may be true. Because I believe that the Roman soldiers was feeding off the energy from the crowd, like the football game tonight, when you're cheering your favorite team on. You know, they seem to get a little more energetic when you're cheering for them and going on and all. I'm pretty sure the Roman soldiers was probably doing the same thing. They were being coached and they were being egged on by the by the crowd, and they were people pleasers. This ain't popular, I know. There's another scholar that believes that they were just trying to preserve his life, that he had already been beaten so mercilessly, and that he was already suffered everything that humanly could possible could withstand. They were just trying to preserve his life so that he could make it to the cross. Can I go ahead and tell you today that Jesus was prophesied thousands of years ago that he would be nailed to a cross and it was there that he would die, he would bleed out and die. But can I also tell you that he would not have died on the way carrying his own cross? Do you know why, Brother Steve? Because they didn't have the power to take his life even on the cross. My Bible says that while he was on the cross, he gave up the ghost. They didn't take it from him, they couldn't kill him, they couldn't get rid of him, and they can't do it today. He was getting to the cross. Do you know why? Because there was a place he had to give up the ghost for Brother Jason. I won't include you if you don't want it, but I'm gonna go ahead and claim it this morning. He hung there for Brother Jason this morning. Way well, first of all, it came in two pieces. And it's debatable if Jesus is packed the whole cross or the cross member. I believe that he packed the whole cross. I wasn't there, and neither were you, so I'm gonna say that he packed the whole cross because that's what the Bible says. I don't know. It may have just been the cross either way. I don't care. I know what was done on it. I'm not gonna fall out with you over that. I do know what happened on the way, though it got heavy. Can I talk to some people this morning? Who is following Jesus? And it seems like the more you follow, the more you follow. The heavier, the heavier it gets to the heavier it gets to the point where you don't think you can even make it one more thing. It's so heavy that you think that you can go on another image. You know Jesus had two thousand feet. He had to go from the place he was in it to the place he was gonna die. The Bible says he could have called an end to it any minute, brother. The Bible says he could have seen legions of angels. It's not gonna be the pain from the flames and those around you who are battened and just trying to find some relief. But do you know the worst part of hell? You're separated from God for all eternity. How can a God love me so much?

SPEAKER_02 26:24

And he would watch his own He would watch his own son be beaten, mocked, ridiculed, his bare blood from his body.

Hell, Separation, And Costly Love

SPEAKER_03 26:46

He would watch as the soldiers were having a good old time at his expense as they rode nails through his hands and his feet. How can a god love me so much? And he would watch his own son go through all that just for an opportunity that I would in turn someday, hopefully. Give him my heart. And do you know the the consequence to that? There's a possibility that I would reject. If there's one person in this room that should be disqualified from ever standing behind a polio and preaching this miraculous gospel you're looking at. Even when I turned him away, even when I cursed the day and said I would never do this. You'll appreciate that song, Reckless Love, when it means something to you. Because there's no hill he won't climb up. There's no wall he won't get down.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

Coming after you.

Unexpected Calling And Hard-Won Testimony

Carrying What Wasn’t Ours To Save

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Simon coming to town, brother Tyler. Minding his own business. And they laid hold of him. They put a cross on him. I don't know who I'm speaking to. Somebody in this room or God would not have given me this word today. Either you're going through something, or you're going to need this. Brother Simon was in town, Brother Scott just minding his own business. He thought that he was just going to take care of what he needed to, and that he was going to leave, and that he was going to go on about his life, and all of a sudden. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, unexpectedly. Don't think you're getting in this thing easy. You know what I love about preaching? Not to my company. And it's gonna sound, but it just gotta know it. I love the fact that you have to go through things before you can preach them, Brother Scott, and I know that sounds so true. Because human mind says we we shouldn't want bad things to happen to us, and I'm not truly my flesh at all. But do you know what I love so much about preaching is those hardships because I'm able to see the hand of God bringing me out again and again and again and again and I'm no singer, but I may just bust that one out this morning. Because he's gonna do it again, and again, and again. Brother Simon was called into service. He was minding his own business. He was called into service. He was needed for such a time as this. Sometimes your calling and your place of calling might not be ideal. It might catch you unexpected and off guard, but you have to be ready. I can't close you without hitting it properly. See, Simon. He done exactly what he was supposed to do. He took up his cross. It truly belonged to him, right? This truly, the cross really belonged to me. It did not belong to Jesus. He done nothing to deserve. But Simon, come on. Doing exactly oh, that's the hardships of the cross, brother. Doing exactly what he was meant to do. And I'm sure it got heavy. I'm sure it weighed him down. I'm sure it was uncomfortable. Georgina, go to the next verse in twenty two. I believe it's thirty-six, thirty-three, something. I give it to you. When they came to the place which is called Calvary, Simon was relieved of his duties. And they crucified him. If you'll just pack it, if you'll just carry it, he says he is the author. He's the author and the quitter.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

If you'll just pack it, if you'll just carry it, it may be hard, it may be uncomfortable, you may have to do it without friends.

Simon Relieved, Jesus Finishes The Work

SPEAKER_03 38:04

If you'll just pack it. Simon carried the cross before the most significant event occurred in Christianity. He carried the cross right before the crucifixion. Do you know what God is looking for in this season? Before the next most significant event in Christianity? He's looking for somebody who will help carry a cross. Maybe I need to put it in more layman's terms for you to come here, Brother Danny, one more time, and I'm gonna get out of the way. Can I be honest with you? I did not want to go get that this morning from the fellowship hall. I did not want to go and do it. I'm just being open officer. I said, Oh, I'll get everything ready and I'll ask somebody if they mind to go back there. And the Lord spoke to me and said, Oh no, baby. You're going to get it. Because you're gonna see what it's like when you pack across by everybody. It looked funny, didn't it? It had everybody's attention in the room, did it not? Come on, shame the devil. I got some stink eyes too when I was packing it in, afraid I was really gonna be hard on you. Right? And this is gonna be hard, but you know I love you, right? If I didn't love you, I wouldn't say this. But as I carried that cross through this sanctuary, the Lord spoke to me prior. Remember, I told you, He told me to go get that. And as I carried it through here, and I if I didn't love you, I would not say it. But not one person come up and said, you know what, let me help you get that on another phone. And I didn't, so I'm not jumping on you, I promise I'm not. If I didn't love you, I would not even say that. I wouldn't have the right to. The way he feels. Right now, he's just looking for anybody, somebody. Help carry a cross. When you see Brother Danny down and discouraged because life is hitting him pretty hard, and you see that his load is getting heavy and he's still following Jesus, because just because you follow Jesus don't mean that your load don't get heavy. But he's looking for somebody that'll come along and say, you know what, brother daddy? I see you struggling, brother. I've seen how you've hitched this thing and you're faithfulness and following him. And I'm gonna come along beside you if I can't carry it myself. If it gets too heavy, I'm gonna have you, I'm gonna follow it beside you. And we're gonna drag this thing, we're gonna get it where it's going, we're gonna follow him no matter where he takes us, where he leads us. We're following him because when we get where we're going, he'll finish the work. Don't you give up. You're tired. Will you stay him with me?

unknown 43:10

Thank you, brother.

Who Will Help Carry A Cross

SPEAKER_03 43:19

You're tired. If you'll be honest with yourself, there's times that you even contemplate laying it down. If you're honest, you'll say that cost is too big. If you're honest with yourself, you're saying I should have never picked it up to begin with. It's too heavy, it's hard. I didn't say it'd be easy. But I can tell you this. God knows the load that you carry. Brother Danny, I'm sorry I pick on you today. But sometimes when I get so down and discouraged, and I just get a message from one of my brothers to encourage me. You know what that does? That motivates me to take this cross. We need to. When I'm carrying my cross, and it gets so heavy, and I get so discouraged, and then even so much as my phone vibrates and I pick it up. And it says, Brother Danny Perkins, and I open it up and it says, I'm just thinking of you. I'm praying for you today. You know what God has done at that moment in that time? He sent Brother Danny unknowingly, unexpectedly to help pick this cross up and take it just a little farther. Because when I get where I'm going, and I'm able to finally lay this thing down, Jesus is gonna finish it.

Don’t Quit: Mutual Encouragement

SPEAKER_00 46:40

You've been listening to the Kwood Church of God Sunday morning service. If you're looking for a church to attend, you got nowhere to go. Hey, come and join us at the C With Church of God on Sunday morning, 10 30 for Sunday school, 11 30 for worship. Wednesday nights at 6 30 p.m. Hey, go check out our website for more content and information at HOR421 Show.busbrout.com. And if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal slash HOR421 or you go through our website at HOR421 Show.bussprout.com. Recorded and edited at the 421 Studio. For contact information, you can email at HOR421 Ministries at gmail.com. Phone number is two three nine eight four nine fifteen oh two.