Our assigned readings this weekend are again taken from Paul’s Letter to the Romans and St. Matthew’s Gospel. Paul has this very important comment: If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
What is interesting in this quote is that Paul says if you believe in your heart that Jesus rose from the dead, then you will be saved. This phrase, I believe, tells us that our belief in this fundamental story of our faith must be absolute and complete. It must be something that we accept without doubt and without reservation.
When what we believe is also in our heart as well as our head, then it is complete. The things of the heart are also things that we love and cherish.
Accepting the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead also means that we accept the fact that human life is immortal. Why? Because Christ is the revelation that God has given us about human life.
The miracle story that Matthew’s Gospel relates is about Christ casting out the demons that were possessing two men. It is interesting that the entire town was not pleased with the miracle and asked Jesus to leave. Why? Because of several reasons, I believe. First, they were not very concerned with the men who were possessed. If there was true love of neighbor, they would have rejoiced that the men were cured. Second, the pigs were the basis of their economy. Even though the demons went into the herd of swine of their own volition, the town blamed Jesus. Even though the herd belonged to the possessed swine herders the entire town was upset? Why? Perhaps it was because the people didn’t want to accept change. The entire town was possessed by an ungrateful spirit!
This is how I put these two stories together. The only reason people might refrain from completely professing the truth about the Lord’s resurrection is that they are possessed by a spirit of doubt. Further, they aren’t able to believe the Lord’s resurrection from the dead declares the truth that human life is immortal. The spirit of fear about death keeps them from fully embracing this truth. If we truly believe in our hearts the truth about human immortality, why do we allow ourselves to fear death?
Belief in Christ as the revelation of the Father about human life, can cast out the demons that make us fear death and doubt the revelation of God through Jesus. If we don’t fear death, life becomes truly wonderful. What do you think?