Easter is almost here. Nature is alive again in full bloom. Holy Week church services prepare us for the drama and pageantry of Easter.
Perhaps no greater mystery exists than that of the resurrection of Jesus. The disciples doubted. We do, too. How can we not? Finite minds can’t grasp the reality of resurrection. We try. But, like a phantom, it eludes our efforts.
We’re enraptured by the pomp of Palm Sunday. We prepare for the passion of betrayal. We suffer vicariously the humiliating defeat of The Cross. Easter culminates with The Resurrection. The day concludes, dominated by family dinners and visits by the Easter Bunny. So much for another Resurrection Sunday.
Monday comes. We move on. Easter’s fervor fades into the details of living. Nothing seems to have changed. We want more. We want to touch, to feel the power of the resurrection. But how?
During His ministry Jesus crossed into the land of the Gerasenes. It was a land of renegade Gentile tribes. Moreover, they were pig farmers.
Jesus and his disciples disembark from their small boat. Nearby, an ancient cemetery hangs from the craggy hillside. Legion lives here. He runs maniacally among the tombs, wild, erratic and naked. Iron fetters dangle from his flailing arms. Shackled to his ankles are remnants of rusted manacles, broken asunder by the strength of this demon-possessed man. The sun flings his elongated shadow across the ghastly landscape.
Legion is a dead man. Well, sort of. Ostracized by family, friends and community, he’s as good as dead. An outcast, feared and ridiculed, he’s been abandoned and relegated to a solitary existence.
There are degrees of dead. Life continues, long after the thrill of living is gone. People suffer. They hate, become angry and bitter. Their hearts turn to stone. They wear frowns. They become isolated, rejected, insane. They die inside a little more each day. They are the tomb dwellers of the world.
In Scripture the Greek word for ‘tombs’ is mneme. Its translation means ‘memories.’ Metaphorically, a case could be made that Legion lived among the dead memories of life. He needed a healing of the memories, a resurrection from the ruins of his life.
He sees Jesus. Somehow he knows Him. Runs to meet him, falling at His feet, pleading not to be tortured. Jesus doesn’t move. Then He asks, “What’s your name?” The man answers, “Legion, for we are many” (Roman legions had over 3,000 soldiers).
You know the rest of the story, how Jesus sends the demons into the herd of pigs. They plunge violently into the sea. The herdsmen get hot and assemble a gang of the town vigilantes. They want compensation for the loss of the pigs, their cash crop. But they’re shocked when they approach Jesus.
There sits Legion at His feet, calm, clothed, and in his right mind. He’s been resurrected, a new man with a new nature. The mob fears such power and implores Jesus to depart from their shores. As He leaves, Legion asks to go with Him. Jesus says, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you…” It’s there where his witness is…among those who know him best.
The Apostle Paul writes, “If any person is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself in Christ Jesus.” This is the mystery and the reality of resurrection.
The Lord’s words sum up the mystery: “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” John 11:25, 26.
Perhaps on Easter Sunday we can return to our homes and friends and show them what great things the Lord has done for us…and sing with the Heavenly choir the words of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, “He is risen, indeed!”
Bud Hearn
April 21, 2011
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