The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-06
THE sUNDAY-SCHOOL LESSON.
April :, The Resurrection OF
J~esus-Luke xiv, 1-12.

WIN CtItCltlH anu bohA
For the grave We arrayed him;
But Oh. He is gone
From the place where we laid him.
-Goethe: Scene of Easter Bells. in Faust.
When the facile pen of Charles Dickens drop
ped from his hand in the midst of the writing OF
his Mystery OF Edwin Brood" a sensation Of
regret was felt by his admirers that he had left
a story half told. Had the evangelists laid down
their pens before narrating the resurrection. IL
would not have been a passing sensation OF re-
gret. but the universal human heart would have
been torn asunder between faith and doubt.
There is so much upon the sacred page &c indi-
cate divinity, but the glorious seal to it would
be lacking. The unfinished mystery Of Jesus
Christ would have plunged each succeeding gen.
Grafton of readers into grief and despair. The
lament Of the disciples on the way to Emmaus
would have been the worlds refrain: I'VE
thought il had been He who should have re-
deemed us. But how can an unrisen Savior
save?' . . . Hail. o hail, to the day which
saw the Lord arise,
30 day of days! shall hearts set free
No minstrel rapture find in thee?
Thou art the sun of other days;
They shine by giving back thy rays
With Joy and confidence we turn to the four
fold narrative of the resurrection. No unfinished
mystery is here. That last event essential TO the
symmetry of the divine person is told with in
contestable truth. Each evangelist. from his own
IOlut " Il NAt0 q hHN ARAAAh - ahF1
p~endently of the rest. What one lacks. the
others supply. Each gives ONE minor touch
caught upon the sensitive plate Of his own in
dividuality. So from the four pencils groweth
the everything picture of the soul-the rising
Christi . From the four gospels the cir
cumstantial evidences Of the resurrection of
Jesus may be CLEANED and arranged as follows:
1. The reality of Jesus's death.
Insured by
I'd Discipline Of the Roman soldiers,
Cd Malice Of the Jews.
go Body not taken by friends:
Proved by their transparent ingenious
ness.
Their surprise and grief at finding the
grave. as they supposed. rihed.
Cd Body could not have been taken by any
one. friend or foe.
(a) Because of the absolute and proven
bal discipline Of Roman soldiers.
whose lives were the forfeit.
CO. Because the position OF the grave
clothes-unwrapped. folded. laid in
separate heaps and in orderly manner
is utterly inconsistent with a theft OF
the body.
90 Formal report of centurion.
Hence the temperance of Jesus not the
result Of recovery from swoon or collapse.
ii. Jesus tomb empty on third day.
Cd Fact admitted by friend and foe.
CD Mistake impossible. One body only in
tomb.
That body gone.
CD Body not taken by enemies.
No object IN removing it.
Their purpose to keep it in the tomb.
Had they removed it. could have refuted
story of resurrection by reproducing the
body.
O. e. ID. Jesus Christ arose and came forth
from His tomb of His own power and Will.
No event Of human history is more completely
verified. more incontestably authenticated. than
the resurrection Of Jesus from the tomb Of
Joseph Of Arimathea. in the garden near to Cal
vary. If that circumstance, as related by the
evangelists. can be impeached. then any page Of
history can be impeached by the same methods.
. . . In this circumstantial narrative-full Of
incidents that at first glance seem trivial, but
soon appear each in it's proper pIace-an irref-
ragable link in the mightiest chain OF evidence
ever forged, it is as IL one hears the Masters
voice to His doubling Disciples i'm each genera
ton. Reach hither thy finger. and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand. and thrust
it into my side. and be not ~faithless. but be-
lieving."
II TEACHERS LANTERN
The absolute righteousness OF the apostolic
company is manifest in the women's errand.
They were no party TO the opening OF the tomb
or removal Of the body. What they had in their
hands was striking and material testimony OF
their unfeigned openness. They came TO minis
ter TO the dead. TO complete embalmment. Their
perpIexity and grief at finding the tomb appar-
entity rihed completes the evidence OF their can
dor and truth. " . The evidence OF the in
genuousness OF the apostles themselves is equally
strong. The womens report seemed idle talk.
They were not inclined to receive il: rather the
contrary. In the Had Of woes attendant upon
the crucihxion they had forgotten Jesus as
surance that he would rise the third day. II re-
membered. a spiritual significance was attracted
TO II. Here was no hasty and credulous accept
ance Of an agreeable hypothesis. IL required re-
peated appearances. under the greatest possible
variety Of conditions. 10 establish the fact OF the
resurrection in the apostles mind. . . > The
testimony OF such witnesses. given under condi-
lions like these. and OF record In form. the au-
thenticity and genuineness OF which is unim-
peachabie, has had overwhelming weight In each
generation. and as widely as published. . . :
The resurrection Of Jesus is the confessed corner
stone of the Christian system. II He be nc: