Joe McKeever

Windows Reflecting The Resurrection

I love to find a story in an old book that stops me in my tracks and provides a great illustration of some spiritual truth. The book may be old, but the story is a fresh insight and any congregation appreciates that.

First, a tiny bit of history which pertains to both stories that follow. At the end, I'll give the sources for the stories.

In June of 1940, when the Nazis took over France, they sealed off the northernmost two-thirds of the country and left the southern one-third to the administration of the French government which was headquartered in the small town of Vichy. Thereafter, Vichy France, while imperfect in a hundred ways, became known as Free France and the longed-for destination of countrymen suffering under Nazi control. The Germans did everything they could to prevent citizens from crossing the borders and escaping.

First story.

"In one village, there was a cemetery whose main gate opened into (Nazi) occupied France. But in the rear wall was an old forgotten door which had not served for years; and that was in unoccupied territory (Free France). Inhabitants of the village at first were surprised to note a sudden increase in the number of mourners at local funerals. But they also noted that fewer mourners returned from the cemetery than went to it; and the old-timers recalled the disused door and realized it was serving once more."

Think of this as an illustration of resurrection. When Jesus died and rose again, He opened a door on the back side of the cemetery. We still make that sad trek into the graveyard, but we don't come back. We keep on walking right out the back side into the land of life and liberty!

Jesus said, "Because I live, you too shall live."

In 1941, when the Nazis began brutalizing the Jews of France, the parents of Maurice,12, and Joseph Joffo,10, announced they were sending their sons to live with relatives in unoccupied France. Each was given 5,000 francs, or about 10 dollars, to pay his way on the train. They would travel to the border town of Dax, then find a way to cross the border into freedom. Thereafter, they would have to locate their kinsmen and remain until the parents were able to join them.

When the boys arrived in Dax, they discovered the fare for hiring a "passeur," someone to lead them through the night across the heavily guarded border was 5,000 francs each, which now was more money than they had left. Eventually, they found a local delivery boy who agreed to lead them across the border for 500 francs or one dollar each.

That night, the delivery boy brought them across the border to a barn where other escapees were gathering. They paid him and he left. The exhausted boys lay back on the hay and went to sleep. Sometime during the night, Joseph discovered Maurice had vanished. A note in his handwriting said, "Don't worry. I'll be back."

The next morning, Maurice walked into the barn and whispered to his little brother that it had occurred to him since he now knew the way across the border, he could help others. He had gone back and led group after group across the border into the barn, which now overflowed with grateful travelers.

One who leads others through the night, crossing the dangerous border into freedom---does that remind you of anyone? Everyone before him had made the journey and then gone on. But this one had turned back to lead others through the night to life and freedom.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep....Even so in Christ all shall be made alive." (I Corinthians 15:20,22)

(The account of the cemetery on the border between Free and Occupied France comes from Etta Shiber's book, "Paris Underground," published in 1943 by Press Alliance. I tweaked the quotation a tad to make it more readable.)

(The story of Maurice and Joseph comes from Joseph Joffo's book, "A Bag of Marbles," published in 1974 by Houghton Mifflin Company.)