The Man of the Tombs

May 11, 2009

Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 28-29 and Mark 5

I remember when I first heard this story of the man of the Tombs, I couldn’t help but think it was “neat”. Yeah, I wasn’t really a Christian at the time. I mean, I thought that a guy who has so many demons that he calls himself “Legion” was kind of cool.

I mean, isn’t this why people see horror movies with supernatural things? I mean, I hope that everyone has some interest in the supernatural, even if it may not be healthy.

Oh yeah, there was also this villain that the X-men faced whose name was Legion. He was named after this verse, and he had three separate personalities with three separate powers. He also looked strange and gangly, with long hair that stood up without mousse.

Yeah, comic books and movies give us real wrong images of spiritual things, we all know that. There are some things that I want to know.

What made this guy crazy, seriously? Why was he always hanging around the tombs? Why did he have to be chained up?

Was it his fault that he was crazy? After all, I think we know that Saul made some choices that drove him over the edge, and eventually to take advice from a Witch. I think we all know not to mess with stuff like that.

I go to a church that writes an Easter Production a year, usually with a Bible setting. Sometimes we cover stories in the New Testament, and at one time, I wanted to write a story about this Man of the Tombs.

I hesitate to write what I thought this guy’s backstory was. You know, I don’t want people stealing my idea. My theory is this Man of the Tombs wasn’t crazy per se, but he is a victim of a bad childhood. Maybe he lost his father, and he blamed himself. I think we all know what that kind of pain can do to people.

So what is this guy’s deal? For some odd reason, the Bible doesn’t say what’s up with this guy. Instead, it gets a little weird. I mean, when this guy is healed, Jesus doesn’t want him to follow him.

Well, I don’t know what demons this man had, why he had them, or what needed to do to heal from it. I suppose that we all have our issues, and God has some plan for us to get over them.