BECAUSE HE LIVES

Luke 8:26-35

INTRODUCTION:   

This morning, I want us to take a mental visit to a cemetery.  It may not be the one of which you are thinking, however.  The story of what happened in this cemetery is told in Luke 8. 

^26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ^27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. ^28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” ^29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.

^30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. ^31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.

^32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. ^33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

^34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, ^35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

This is a marvelous story of transformation.  The old Welsh evangelist, Christmas Evans, said of the demons that there were enough evil spirits in this man to fill a herd of swine and enough swine to fill the sea.  That’s a lot of evil spirits!  The man was so tormented by evil spirits that when Jesus asked him his name, he replied, “Legion”.  “There’s a legion of us in here, a gaggle of us, a mob of us.”  Today, we might describe him as schizophrenic or suffering from multiple personalities.  But Jesus knew that there were evil spirits who were inhabiting the man, oppressing the man and possessing him. 

After Jesus drove out the evil spirits, word got around town and people came out to see the guy.  Here was a man who had lived in solitary places because his condition was repulsive to everyone in the area.  But when Jesus came to his cemetery, a change took place and now people wanted to come see the difference that Jesus made in the life of one man. 

Now let’s go to another cemetery.  This time, the one you were expecting us to visit this morning.  In this one, there is an empty tomb with an open door and a radiant glow emanating from within.  Its occupant had only used it for the weekend.  He’d been tortured, executed and buried.  But three days later, he came back to life and walked out of his grave. 

People in the region of the Gerasenes came to the cemetery to see the change that Jesus had made in the life of one man.  Today, we come to a cemetery to see the changes Jesus has made in the lives of all men.

When Jesus visited the cemetery of the man called “Legion”, it was the end of the beginning for him.  He’d been experiencing the night of the living dead for a very long time but that was just the preface to his real story: a story of healing, wholeness and restoration.

But when Jesus vacated the cemetery in which he had been buried, he made changes for legions of us.  All of humankind had been experiencing the night of the living dead for all of human time but that was just the preface to the real story of man: a story of healing, wholeness and restoration.

I want to propose that when Jesus got up off of the stone slab and walked into the crisp morning air on that resurrection morning, it was the end of the beginning for a lot of things.

Because he lives, his resurrection was the end of the beginning for the tomb.

1. THE TOMB – The first and most obvious difference is that Jesus’ resurrection transformed his tomb.  What had been considered his final resting place wasn’t.  A space that had been silent and still now echoed as sound bounced around the emptiness.  What had been a dark cellar was now an illuminated room, glowing with an unearthly radiance.  The tomb became a womb when new life came forth.

You need to know that when Jesus opened his eyes, sat up and then walked out of his grave, he not only transformed his tomb, he transformed every tomb.  He transformed yours.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus, your grave is not your final resting place; nor is mine.  Jesus said that just as surely as he rose and left that tomb, so one day we all will rise and leave ours.  Some will rise to enjoy the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ while others will leave their graves to go to eternal punishment.  But we are all going to leave our graves – because Jesus left his.

2. THE CROSS - The resurrection of Jesus was also the end of the beginning for the cross as “an emblem of suffering and shame.”  It was an instrument of death and an appliance of capital punishment.  But we sing about the cross.  We sing:

“In the old rugged cross,

stained with blood so divine,

a wondrous beauty I see.”

It is really odd, if you stop to think about it, that we should sing about a tool used for execution.  We would not sing “On a Hill Faraway Stood an Old Firing Squad”; or “When I Survey the Wondrous Noose”; or “I Will Glory in the Electric Chair”.  But we sing that way about the cross because Jesus transformed this symbol of disgrace, despair and death into a symbol of honor, of hope and of life.

 

There are forces that are trying to assert the doctrine of the separation of church and state.  The American Civil Liberties Union has fought to remove all religious symbols from all public property.  But crosses mark every grave in Arlington National Cemetery and that is federal land.  I guess the cross has become so ubiquitous that even the ACLU has come to see it as a mark of honor, a sign of respect and an emblem of reverence.

3. LIFE – Jesus’ resurrection was the end of the beginning for life.  Jesus has previously said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  But that is a fairly empty promise and a pretty brash claim for a man who died a felon’s death at only 33 years of age.  When he died, he was so poor that he left no home, no children and no estate save one scarlet robe.  What has he to tell us about “life to the full”?  If someone is going to tell me about taking it to the max and living to the extreme, I would want it to be someone who has experienced what he is talking about.

In Romans 6:4, Paul wrote, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  Jesus’ resurrection offers us the promise of new life.

 

In I Peter 1:3, the apostle Peter wrote, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  It is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that we can live with hope.

 

We live in a world of disillusion, a world of despair, a world of disease, a world of death.  Just as surely as one day we took our first breath, one day we will take our last.  Most of us resonate with the outlook of Eliphaz the Temanite, a friend of my old buddy Job.  Eliphaz said, “Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”   Just as surely as birds fly, fish swim, frogs croak and the Cubs choke, just that surely is man born to trouble.  Today’s philosophers publish their insights on the back bumpers of automobiles with messages like “stuff happens”.

 

But Jesus’ resurrection transforms life.  Sin happens but grace abounds.  While others may choose to live lives of randomness, aimlessness and meaninglessness, those who know the truth can see that Jesus’ resurrection has transformed life into a meaningful span during which we are transformed into the image of Christ. 

4. DEATH – Jesus’ resurrection was the end of the beginning for death.  Job first posed the question, “If a man dies, will he live again?”  And from that day to this, men have pondered, wondered. 

In I Corinthians 15:54-55, Paul also asked some questions about death.  Job’s question was that of a terrified man fearful of his own mortality.  But Paul asks the questions of a triumphant man exulting in his own conquest.  Job had asked, “If a man dies, will he live again?”  Paul asked, “Where, Oh death, is your victory?  Where, Oh death is your sting?”

Why could Paul gloat in the face of the grave?  Because Jesus transformed death.  Job had asked the question but he got no answer – until Easter.  Then Jesus answered Job and transformed death into a temporary state, a brief respite between two parts of our lives. 

 

Because he lives, death is swallowed up in victory.

 

There is an ancient story of a lion who waited in a cave and sought to lure passing animals into his lair so he could eat them.  He feigned illness and played on their sympathies.  One day, a rabbit passed by and heard the lion’s pitiful cries for help.  The rabbit replied that he was sympathetic toward the ailing lion but that he had also noticed that many tracks went into the lion’s lair but none came out.

 

The resurrection transforms death because we see the footprints of Jesus going into and coming out of the den of death.  Bluntly speaking, if we follow him, we will die (as he did) but we won’t stay dead.  And that’s the best offer on the table.

5. THE DISCIPLES – Jesus’ resurrection was also the end of the beginning for the disciples.  There were twelve men who had been called out of their daily lives and who were commissioned to be with Jesus.  For three-and-a-half years, the accompanied him.  For three-and-a-half years, they listened to him.  For three-and-a-half years, they watched as he fed the hungry, calmed the storm, healed the sick and even raised the dead. 

They’d seen his wonder-working power.  They’d vowed their loyalty and pledged their lives.  But on the night he was betrayed, not one of them stayed beside him or stood behind him.  One by one, they all fell away until Jesus was forced to face his death all alone.

After his crucifixion, when Jesus rose from the dead and went looking for his friends, he found them huddled behind locked doors, cowering in fear.  What a gutless, spineless, spiritless lot!

But less than two months later, most of these same men were boldly telling crowds about Jesus.  They faced the wrath of the religious rulers and the wrath of the Roman regime.  They became faithful unto death.  Other than Judas, who didn’t survive the night of Jesus’ arrest, not one of them turned his back on Jesus again.  Not one failed the test of his faith a second time.  Not one faltered in the face of the foe after that awful weekend.

What made the difference in the disciples?  The resurrection!

CONCLUSION:

And it is the truth of the resurrection that makes the difference in the followers of Jesus to this day. 

·        Because he lives, the tomb is transformed into a womb where new life begins. 

·        Because he lives, the cross is transformed into a thing of wondrous beauty. 

·        Because he lives, life is transformed into a hopeful, meaningful and purposeful experience.

·        Because he lives, death is transformed into a temporary state before we live again.

·        Because he lives, his followers are transformed into bold witnesses of the life-changing power of the resurrection. 

I want to invite you to turn your eyes upon Jesus – the resurrected Jesus – and just look at the changes he has made because he lives.

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