Rufus

Biblical Record

The name Rufus appears twice in the New Testament.

• Mark 15:21: As the Roman soldiers led Jesus away to be crucified, they compelled Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, to carry the cross of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark identifies this Simon as "the father of Alexander and Rufus." Matthew and Luke, which record the same scene, do not name the two sons.
• Romans 16:13: In his greetings to the members of the church in Rome, Paul writes, "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine."

Scripture records nothing further about the birth, occupation, activities, or death of Rufus. Rufus is a Latin name meaning "red" and was common throughout the Roman world of the time.

Significance Within Scripture

It is notable that Mark calls Simon "the father of Alexander and Rufus" without further explanation. Many scholars take this to mean that Mark's first readers already knew the two sons. If one follows the traditional view that Mark's Gospel was written for the church in Rome, Rufus may have been a well-known believer in the Roman church.

In Romans 16, Paul describes Rufus as "chosen in the Lord." Since Paul regards all believers as chosen by God, this phrase is sometimes taken to mean that Rufus was a particularly distinguished believer. Paul's reference to Rufus's mother as his own mother is commonly understood to mean that at some point she cared for Paul as a mother would.

Interpretations and Debates

Is the Rufus of Mark the same as the Rufus of Romans? Those who identify them as the same person cite two grounds: the tradition that Mark wrote with Roman readers in mind, and the fact that both texts are connected with Rome. On this view, the family of the Simon who carried the cross later became believers and belonged to the church in Rome. Those who disagree point out that Rufus was a very common name and that there is no direct evidence linking the two texts. Many commentaries treat the identification as a "plausible conjecture."

Distinguishing interpretation from the text. The claims that Simon came to faith through the crucifixion, or that Simon's wife was the "mother" who cared for Paul, are interpretations built on the conjecture above; the biblical text does not state them directly. Some have connected this family with a first-century ossuary discovered near Jerusalem bearing the inscription "Alexander, son of Simon." However, these too were common names, and the connection remains unconfirmed. A martyr named Rufus is also mentioned in the letter of the Apostolic Father Polycarp, but he is generally regarded as a different person from the Rufus of Scripture.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, Rufus is usually mentioned in sermons on the passage about Simon of Cyrene. Such sermons frequently draw the application that "a cross borne under compulsion led an entire household to the gospel." This application, however, depends on the interpretation that the two men named Rufus are the same person. In sermons on the greetings of Romans 16, Rufus is sometimes presented as an example of early Christians who served without renown. He is often mentioned around Holy Week in connection with the Passion narrative.