Carrying the Cross
John is the only evangelist who tells us that Jesus had to carry himself the instrument for His execution to mount Calvary (John 19 verse 17). The other evangelists tell us that the Cross was carried by Simon of Ciren, since the soldier saw that Jesus was too weak after the flagellation and the coronation with the crown of thorns. (Mt 27:32; Mk 15:21; Lk 23:26). It is thought that usually the convicted had to carry the horizontal part of the Cross, which, once he was nailed to it, was then lifted and fixed to the vertical beam, already embedded into the ground.