Pile of Rocks

I stood looking at this pile of rocks. But it obviously was not just a pile of rocks. These were first century carved marble blocks, hundreds of pounds each, that had been transported over a hundred miles to the top of a mountain citadel. At one time, they made up a decorative government building used to protect Roman interest from their nearby enemy threat, the Parthenons.

My mind went back 2,000 years. Who carved these giant building blocks? Who hauled them to their current location? Who worked at placing them together to make a one-time beautiful structure?

The answer? They were slaves. Slaves did the excavation. Slaves hauled these stones up precarious pathways up the mountain. Slaves built the buildings. Many of them died young doing this back-breaking labor. And many fell to their deaths while hauling and building along steep embankments. And the oppressors and rulers who commanded and directed all of this slave labor, cared nothing for the people who did the work, other than for what they could do for them.

Now that civilization and those people, along with everyone who lived in this ancient Roman garrison of Susita, are long gone. Giant memorials, intended to ensure the memory of these ruthless oppressors, are toppled, and no one remembers who these people even were.

It seemed so sad to me.

And while that city was at its height of glory, glistening white towering buildings rising above the highest peak on the cliffs of Gadara, a virtually unknown man and his little posse of twelve, arrived on the shore below. That man, unknown to almost the whole world then, came to deliver one outcast of the region. That outcast, living in his own hell, was then changed by this Jesus, forever.

The slaves living in the city didn’t care. They had their own troubles. The rulers and oppressors in command didn’t care. They were too busy building their “memorials” to themselves. But that one man whose life was changed in a moment by Jesus, became a symbol of what this same Jesus was about to do for everyone who would follow him.

Today, no one knows any of the names of the people who commanded or worked in the enormous task of building Susita. But we all know about Jesus, and Legion, the man he rescued.

It’s too easy for us to get caught up in the things that seem to matter most in the moment. But it’s the mission of Jesus that matters for eternity. If you really want to leave a legacy, turn your life over to Jesus. He is all that really matters.