Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-04-28
NO. 20.

coiupfOmtseu. Inc only tninS nave 10 sdN
against women is that they have not enough
mercy for Mary MaSdaiene. Christ put all
pa'hos and AL raminiscenci and ali anticipa-
tion and all pardon and all comfort and all
heaven into one word Of four letters,
MARY" Mark you. Christ did not appear
to some Bible E iZabeth or Bible HInnah OF
Bible Esther or bible Deborah or Bible Wash
ii. but to Mary; not to Mary against whom
nothing was sail; not to Mary the mother OF
Jesus; not to Mary the mother OF James: not
to Mary the sister OF Lazarus, but to seven
devi ed Mary.
There is man sevsn devilad-ieyil OF
avirice. devil of pride. devil of hate devil
OF indoence, devil Of falsehool, devil OF
strong drink, devil OF i'm Ut rity. Col can
take them all away. seven or seventy. Iroie
over the new caDiilever bridge thai spans
Niagara-a bridge 800 feet long. $50 feet of
chasm from bluff to bluH. L passed over 1t
without any anxiety Why? Becruss TWEEN
ty-two locomotives and twenty-five ears
laden with gravel hat testei the bridge,
thousands Of people standing on the Cam
iian side. Thousands standing on the Ameri-
can side 10 app'au1 the achievement. And
however long the train OF our immortal in
teraSts may be. we are to remember that
Gods bridge OF mercy spanning the cha5m
Of sin has been fully tested by the awful ton
mage of all the pardone sin of all the ages,
church militant standing on one bank,
church triumphant standing on the other
bank Oh. it was to the seven davied Mary
that Christ ma ie ais first post mortem a1-
pearance.
There is another thing that tho world and
the church have not observed in regard to
this resurrection. an that Is, II was the
morning twilight.
If the chronometer hal been invented and
Mary had good watch a7 some Of the
Marys of our time have. she wouli have
found it was about half past o'clock a. III.
Matthew says il was in the dawn; Mark says
1t was very early in the morning; John says
1t was while IL was vet dark. In other words,
it was twilight. Ihat was the o'clo X at
which Mary Magialene msrOok Christ for
the gar ienpr What does tina; maan2 1t
means there are shadows over the grave
Hftei-shadows of mystery that are hover
ing. Mary stoOIei down and tried to look
to the other end of the crypt. She gave hys-
teric outcry. She could not see To the other
en- of the crypt. Neither can you see to tn.
other end of the grave OF your dead. Neither
we see TO the other end of our own grave.
Oh, IL there We're shadows over the family
plot belonging TO Joseph OF Arimatnea, IS it
strange that there should be some shadows
over our family lot? Easter dawn. not Easter
noon.
Shadow of unanswered question: Why
were they taken away from Us? Why were
they ever given to us il they We're 10 hc taken
SO soon? Why were they taken 50 suddenly?
Why could they not have uttered some fare
well words2 Why? A short question, but n
Shadow on the graves of good men and
women who seemed TO die before their work
was done. Shadow on all the graves OF
children because We ask ourselves why so
beautiful a craft was launched at all II it was
TO be wrecked one mile outside Of the harborl
But what did Mary Magdalene have to do in
or Ter to get more light on that grave? She
had only to wait. After awhile the Easter
sun rolled up, and the whole place
fioodei with light What have you and L TO
do In order to get more light on our own
graves and light upon the graves of our
dear loved ones? Only 10 wait.
Charles V. of Spain, with his servants and
torches. went down into the vault OF the
metropolis whore his ancestors were buried.
and went deeper, farther on until he came to
a cross around which were arranged the
caskets OF his ancestors. He also found
casket containing the body of one of his own
family. He had that casket opened, and thore
by emf almer's art he found that the body was
perfect eighteen years before when
II was em.ombed But under the explora-
ton his body and mind persisted. Oh,
my friends, do not LET mcrbidly
struggle with the shadows of the sepul-
cher. What are we to do? Wait IL Is
not the evening twilight that gets darker
and darker. 1t is the morning twilight that
gets brighter and brighter into the perfect
day. L preach 1t to-day. Sunrise over
Pere Ia Chaise. sunrise over Greyfriars
churhyard, sunrise over Green wood, over
Woodlawn, over Laurel Hill, over Mount
Auburn, over Congressional burying ground,
sunrise over every country graveyard, sun
rise over the catacomhs, sunrise over tho
sarcophagi where the ships lie buried. Half
past o'clock among the tombs now, but
soon to be the MONDAY of explanation and
beatitude. 1t was in the morning twilight
that Mary Magdalene mistook Christ for
gardener.
Another thing the world aud the church
have not observed-that is, Christ's pathetic
credentials How do you know il was not
a gardener? HIS garments said He was
gardener The flakes of the upturned earth
scattered upon His garments said He was a
gardener. How do you know He was not a
gardener? An! Before Easter had gone by
He gave to some OF His disciples His three
credentials. He showed them His hands and
His side. Three paragraphs written in rigid
or depressed letters A scar in the right
Inlm scar In the left palm, scar amid
the ribs-scars. scars. That is the way they
knew Him. That is the way you and will
know HIM.
After Christ's interment every cellular
tissue broke down, and nerve and artery and
brain were a physiological wreck. and yet
He comes up swarthy, rubicund aud well.
When see after such mortuary silence such
radiant appearance, That settles II that
whatever should become of the bodies of
our Christian dead. they are going to come
up the nerves resIrung. the optic nerve reil
Iumined. the ear drum a-vibrHte. the whole
body iifte 1 up, without its weaknesses and
worldly uses Tor which there ts no rs,urr"c-
ton. Come. is il not almost time for US To-
go out to meet our reanimatet deaa? 'El
you not h ar the lifting OF the rusted latc,t
Oh. the glorious thought, the glorious
consolation of this subject when / ind
Christ coming up without any OF the lacera-
tions-for you must remember He was lac
Grated and wounied fear .uily in the cruci-
iixion-coming up without one. What does
:
get nothing of Us except our wounds and
imperfections. Chri,t went into the grave
exhausted and blood-ss. All the current OF
His lille had poured out from His wounds.
He had lived life OF trouble, sorrow and
privation. and then He did lingering
| death. His entire bo iy hung on four
spikes. No invalid of twenty years suffer
| ing ever went into the grave so white and
| CHASTITY and broken down as Christ and yet
| here He comes up 80 rubicuni ami robust
she supposed Him to be the gardener.
All, ali the sideaches. and the headaches,
/ and the back aches. and the leg aches, and
/ the heart aches we will leave where Christ
! left His. The ear will come up without its
| heaviness, the eye will come up without its
dimness, the lungs will come up without op-
| pressed respiration. Oh, what races We will
run when we become immortal athletes! Oh,
what circuits We will take when all earthly
| impeI fections substracted and all celestial
veiocities added. we shall set up our resi-
| d.nce in that city which, though vaster than
all the cities OF this world, shall never have
one obsequyi
Standing this morning round the shattered
| masonry of our Lords tomb, l point You to
IA world without hearse. without muffied
drum without tumulns, without catafalque
and without Il tear. Amid all the cathedral!
of the blessed no longer ;he Dead Marcel
in Saul" but whole lbretti OF "Halleluiat
Chorus" Oh. put trumpet to lip and linge
10 key and loving forehead against tn
hosom of Il risen CLr.st! Halleluiab, amen
Halleiuiah amen
Too many people are singing, "Sca
ter sunshine" and waiting for SOM
body else to do it.
A blind mans opinion of the sun