The Mystery Man

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Once upon a time there was a desolate land, a land of dust and death and grit and thorns. Anything that lived on the land decayed and died. Plants, animals, people – they all died, and some, in dying, suffered greatly, and some, watching the dying, suffered greatly as well.

During the short time that the people lived on this land, they quickly grew backs that bent way over from them trying to scratch out a living upon the face of the cursed ground and to keep from dying. Most of the time it was only the old ones who died, but sometimes it was a young man, a promising child, or a baby girl.

The people did not like the thought of dying for they had seen what a struggle it was. To keep from being reminded of dying, the people of the land did not think about it much. Whenever someone did die, they dug a hole in the ground or in the side of a hill, and they put the dead man or woman or youth or child or baby into the hole. And if it was a baby, the hole was not very big.

The people often walked about on the surface of the land wringing their hands and crying without any hope. In fact, one of their writers wrote that many of the folks did nothing more than move about on the surface the cursed ground, looking for a suitable place to dig a hole in the ground or in the side of a hill. The writer did not sell many of those books, for people did not want to buy a book that reminded them of what they were doing.

One year a stranger came to this land of death. He was thought strange by the people, not because he had three arms, or anything like that, nor because of how he looked, but rather, because of what he did. For he hiked about the land trying to find something. The strange man walked from the north to the south (+) and traveled from the east to the west, always looking for that something. In the course of his journeys, the strange man found that something he was looking for. The man was very glad to have discovered that something, so overjoyed was he, in fact, that the strange man considered his discovery to be a precious treasure!

So cherished was this treasure, that the man was convinced that there was nothing else in the whole world that he wanted more. There was a problem, however. The treasure was in the possession of a force. However, it was not simply a force; it was The Force. The Force was evil and It was the reason behind why people had to dig holes in the ground or in the side of a hill. The Force owned the people and The Force was always with them.

The strange Man, who knew the hearts of both men and forces, wanted to purchase the entire land, for he reasoned like this, if I own the entire land then I own everything on the land. "I will buy the land and the treasure will be mine," the Man said, giving his word.

"True," moaned The Force, muttering from some dark abyss. "Very true, O Man, for if you own the entire land, then you own everything on the land. But I own the land and I have placed a high price on the land. Do you know the price that I am asking, O Man?"

"Yes," the Man replied, "there has never been a time when I did not know the price. Declare it, Evil One."

The Evil One hissed, "The price is your life, O Man. Pour it out completely upon the cursed ground of this desolate land and let your body be stuffed into one of those holes in the side of a hill. That is the price."

"Done!" declared the Man, stiffening his upper lip and setting his jaw.

"Fool!" shouted The Force, laughing from the depths and gritting his blackened teeth.

"Get thee behind me," ordered the Man, "For I am going forth to purchase the land and own the treasure."

This he did, though very few of those people walking about on the surface of the land looking for a place to dig a hole knew what the Stranger was doing. In fact, not many people paid any attention to him. Part of the reason was that their backs were bent over and that they were looking for a parcel of land – one on which to dig a hole in the ground or in the side of a hill. The other part of the reason was because the Stranger looked like everyone else. If you had put him with other babies, no one but his mother and his foster father could tell you who he was. If you had put him with other children sitting in school or playing outside, he fit right in with them. If he stood in the marketplace with other adults, there was nothing about him that would catch your attention.

For three years, the Man walked from the north to the south (+) and traveled from the east to the west, always preparing to pay the price in order to buy the land, possess the treasure, and declare it his own.

One morning, on a day destined for an earthquake and the darkness of night to cast its shadowy gloom at noon, the Stranger walked up the side of a hill. The Man climbed onto a leafless tree and some of the people who walked on the earth with bent backs, hammered huge spikes through his hands and feet. The strange Man allowed himself to be nailed to the leafless tree as he paid the price to purchase the entire land. The treasure was that important to him and he thought about it as his blood flowed from him, staining both the leafless tree and the thorn-infested ground beneath him.

In the raven night of that dreadful day the purchase price of the land was paid. The strange Man died, and another man, one of those bent-back men who nailed him to the leafless tree, shouted out loudly, Truly this Man was the Son of God!

Two other men, also with bent-backs, took the body of the Stranger down from the leafless tree. They carried his body and placed it into a hole in the side of a nearby hill. They pushed a large rock into place and plugged the hole in the side of the hill. They left that hole in the side of the hill, and began walking upon the face of the thorn-infested land, their backs bent still further and their tears being soaked up by the dust of the desolate land.

In the stillness of that night, the Evil Force hissed from his dark prison, "You paid the price, O Man, but, you must be alive to take possession of it. But look, O Man, your body has been stuffed into one of those holes in the side of a hill. You are quite dead. O Man, if you want to own the land and possess the treasure, you must resurrect yourself and come to me."

A rumble rocked that dark prison of the Evil Force and shook the abode of the lost. The Stranger's voice thundered, "I am here and I am alive. I am the Defeater of Death and the Giver of Life. I am the Son of Man and the Son of God. I have bought the land and I possess it. The treasure is mine. Evil One, I leave you here in your prison. It holds you; it can not hold me."

With that, the strange Man left the prison of the lost. He gave the word and the large rock was moved from over the hole in the side of the hill where his body had been, showing everyone that he was no longer dead. Many people lifted up their eyes unto that hill, straightening their bent backs as they did so.

The Man was alive. Many of the people rejoiced, for now, the holes in the ground and the abode of the lost would not be their final and forever places to be. The Man had conquered death forever and was going forth on the face of the land giving away eternal life.

Not all the people walking on the face of the land believed in the Stranger. That made the Man sad and angry at the same time. He had given his very life for them and they were rejecting him. That certainly is not the way he wanted it to be, but it was the way people often wanted it to be, and so, the Man let it be.

But, all the people who heard him speak; ah yes, all those people who loved him and feared him and believed in him and trusted him gathered around him. And when they did, He looked down upon them and said, "Behold, you are my treasure!"

The Man sent his people forth to tell others about him. And so, for many years, the Man's followers walked from the north to the south (+) and traveled from the east to the west, always telling others about the Man. And all those people who loved him and believed in him and feared him and trusted him, gathered before him. And when they did, the Man, who was now no longer a stranger to them, the Man looked down upon them and said, "Behold, you are my treasure!"

Then one day, the true story of that Man came to ... well now, I am not really sure whether it was to a man or to a woman or a child or a baby. What I do know is this, one day the true story of the Man came to someone just like you. That person lived in a house just like your house. That person wore the same kind of clothes that you wear and likes the very same food that you like. That person was walking upon the face of this earth with bent back, looking for a suitable place to dig a hole, when the story of the amazing and wonderful Man was revealed to that person who was just like you.

That person believed in him and feared him and loved him and trusted him. That person, who is just like you, began to understand just how great a thing it was to be the blessed recipient of such a hard won, blood-bought salvation, a salvation freely received from the risen Man who is the Son of God.

That person, who is just like you, would not part with this salvation for anything, because nothing on the face of the entire land could ever compare with it. I mean, what is it like? What in the world could it be compared with?

Oh yes, I remember. It ...

... is like a treasure hidden in a field, which finding, a man hid; and for the joy of it, he goes and sells as many things as he has and buys that field.

Then one fine summer day, a day in July I believe it was, that person, who is just like you, gathered along with a few dozen others who had the same treasure. They congregated to give thanks to the Man, to worship the Son of God, to praise the Defeater of Death, and to receive even more from the Giver of Life.

They came from the north in and the south (+) and from the east and the west. They came from the towns and cities, and from the countryside and the farms.

Oh yes, indeed, they assembled in the place where the Man had promised they could find Him, and they eagerly awaited the Gifts that the Man had promised to give to them. They confessed their need, heard His voice say, “I forgive you all your sins,” and joyfully received the bread of life that lifted the weight of sin and death from their backs and caused them to stand up straight, to redirect their gaze from the tear-stained ground to their neighbors and brethren.

And once again, like so many times in the past, the nail-pierced hands of the Man were extended to his people. He looked at them and said to them, "Behold, you are my treasure!"

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.