Person New Testament
Rufus
Rufus was the son of Simon of Cyrene, who was compelled to carry Jesus' cross on the way to His crucifixion. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Mark 15:21.
Why it matters. Son of Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus' cross
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Rufus
Rufus is mentioned in Mrk.15.21 as the son of Simon of Cyrene, who was compelled by Roman soldiers to carry the cross of Jesus on the way to His crucifixion. Simon was from Cyrene, a city in present-day Libya, and he was visiting Jerusalem, likely for the Passover festival. The fact that Mark specifically names Rufus and his brother Alexander suggests that they were known to the early Christian community and may have become followers of Jesus. In Rom.16.13, Paul sends greetings to a man named Rufus, whom he describes as "chosen in the Lord," and to his mother, who had also been a mother figure to Paul. While it is not certain, some scholars believe that this Rufus could be the same person mentioned in Mark's Gospel, as the sons of Simon of Cyrene. If this is the case, it would indicate that Rufus not only witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus but also became a prominent member of the early church. However, due to the commonness of the name Rufus, this connection remains speculative.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Simon of Cyrene
- Siblings
- Alexander
Appears in Scripture
Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.
Mark (1 verse)