Why Jesus allowed Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross: possibly to display the depth of his physical suffering, and Simon and his sons apparently came to faith — suggesting the encounter introduced him more fully to Jesus.

Mike speculates two possibilities: (1) demonstrating the severity of Christ's suffering so we can identify with it; (2) the providential salvation of Simon and his sons, who appear possibly in Romans 16 as known to the Roman church. He acknowledges this is speculation since the text gives no stated reason.