Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1902-08-21

would not let her leave the place where
He had lain. Where He was now she
could not tell; what had become Sf Him
ger, love. made her hon0r the last place
where His precious body had been seen
| by, mortal eyes, and her love reaped a
rich reward. She was the first to see her
Lord after He rose from the dead; the
iirst to hear His voice and the first, to
hold conversation with Him. All believ-
ers have not the same degree OF faith or
hope or knowledge or courage or wisdom,
but it is certainly true that those who
love Christ most feryently and eleave to
/, Him most closely will always enjoy the
most communion with Him. =,
| First---Notice the instruction given to
Us in TINS story concerning love in it's diff
| ferent phases and elements. In Peter it
is subsection, in John it is objection. The
reply of Petaer to the Lord was II love
| Thee" while Johns constant description
bf himself was, ''The disciple whom Jesus
loved" May we not learn, therefore, Of
the apprehension of Jesus love for us in
! stead of being occupied with out poor, fit
full, hickering life, for He is that which
sreate;f6 "a 6s Jog SsctDtss to ns SOUL 8
| yourself in the love Of God:'' In Mary We
discover. these elements properly com
bined. Tracing her. history we find that
Jesus had delivered her from an awful
bondage, ''Now when Jesus was risen
early the first day of the week He ap-
peared first to Mary Magdalene;,, out Of
| whom He had cast seven devils" Mark
l6: 9. Truly she might realize the words
Of Hezekiah, Isaiah ,38i II; "Behold for
peace l had great bitterness, but Thou
hast in love to my soul delivered it from
the pit Of corruption; for Thou hast cast
ali my sins behind Thy back" Marginal
reading, Chou hast loved up my soul
from the pit of corruption" Therefore
That is, Jesus love was, the source and
her love was the inevitable result: There
are, some. elements. Of Mary's love which
ought TO be studied here.
| ta) The vision Of angels did not terrify
her. In Matthews gospel the angels re-
assured the woman by saying "Fear not, :"
of Christ to be any ways afraid of the
sight Of angels. Undoubtedly she was alb
solutely forgetful of her physical weakness,
for she said to Him whom she supposed to
be the gardener, ''Sir, if Thou have borne
Him hence. tell me where Thou hast laid
Him, and I will take Him away; How
would it. have been possible for her to
handle the body Of one who was dead,
and yet doubtless she would have found a
! way. It is certainly true that intense de-
votion to the Lord takes away every
thought of the burden of service, and those
who have an absorbing love for Christ
may perform deeds which would be i'm
possible under ordinary: circumstances.
There are three people whom we may re;
member as representing the three graces,
! faith, hope and love; Mary, of Bethany,
| who believed that He was tc be crucifed
and buried, anointed His body for the BIZ
rial, showing her faith; the penitent thief
upon the cross expected that Christ
would come in His kingdom, revealing
His hope, but this Mary Magdalene is a
beautiful representation of love.
We find again in this story an illustra-
tion Of the fact that fears and sorrows Of
| believers are often quite needless. We
are told that Mary stood at the sepulcher
weeping as if nothing could comfort her
The angels spoke to her and still she
wept. The Lord Himself addressed hel
saying, "Why Weepest thou?" and the
burden Of her complaint was always the
same, "They have taken away my Lord
and [ know not where they have laid
Him." and yet all this time her risen
Master was close to her. Her tears
therefore, were needless, and her sorrow
was groundless. Doubtless Mary failed te
recognize Jesus.
Him, and so we often miss our choicest
blessings for want of looking for them
and have doubtless mistaken them wher
right before us, but doubtless, also, she
failed to recognize Him because of thu
: fact that it was hardly light in the morn
ing. and she saw Him but dimly. Thus
again she is an illustration of ourselve:
as we behold Him, not so much face tt
; face as we realize His presence with tht
: heart. BLESSED are the pure in heart
for they shall see God,' and yet wha
) thoughtful Christian can fail to see tina
: we have a picture of many a believer
} experience. How often we are anxious
frequently we mourn about the absenc
OF things which are really within ou
grasp. Two-thirds of the things we fea
in life never happen at all, and many Q
the tears we shed are shed in vain. I
Mary had found the seal of the tomb un
broken she might well have wept. Th
very absence of the body which made he
weep was token for good and cause o
JOY for herself and for all mankind.
"Jesus saith unto her, Mary! Sh,
turned herself and saith unto Him, Rab
: boni! which is to say, Master" The wa.
= in which Mary addresses her Lord is mos
significant. It is a term often applied t.
Him and always wisely. In Matthew %
+: s, we read, "For one is your Master, eve1
9 Christ" It will be a happy day for tn
: church when we yield to the mastery @
!. Jesus Christ. It is true that men are fire
: quently Indifferent to this claim, as, 70
:, example, in Matthew 26: 25, '"Then Jr
: das, which betrayed Him, answered an
/ said, Master: is it I? He said unto him
/, Thou hast said" Many man has elaine
3 to yield to the mastery of Christ and ye
d has betrayed Him by an inconsistent life
o or again in Matthew 26: 40, when Juda
says vet again, Hail, Master! and kisse
h Him" There can be no baser betrays
r than that which comes from the heart of
n friend, who claims to be Christian an
e not to be such. TO say that you belon
r to Christ and yet to deny Him with you
$ life is an awful thing, and shall merit on
IS day the severest condemnation of Chris
G Himself There are many places in tn
It New Testament where I find that He
y called Master, in addition to the one i
y the text, but three of them I should hk
t. specially to emphasize
!: First-Luke II: ID, And they lifted u
d their voices and said, Jesus, Master, hav
is mercy on u.s. This is a picture of tl
h lepers as Jesus passes through the mid.
# of Samaria and Galilee, and is an illu
n tration for all who would be freed fro
v their bondage. They are hopeless an
!. helpless, dead, according to the law an
h cast out from the presence of men accor,
o ing to the Scriptures. Luke II: Il, can
e when He saw them He said unto then
e Go show yourselves unto the priests. An
L it came to pass, that, as they went, the
T. were cleansed." Let it ever be remembers