The Newtown bee., 1906-05-18

and . comparison for the children. And not alone do the children see the application of this most welcome les. con, they with us feel the presence of . new elem ent, they too are influenced in fashion that
 CANNOT BE DESCRIBED OR EXPLAINED.
 Christ rose from the dead on Easter day. How beautiful the story of His resurrection! Condemned to die by the insane mob, rejected by those who ought to have accepted Him, who ought to have loved Him, buried in new tomb hewn out of the solid rock, a great stone rolled across the entrance of the tomb and we'll guarded by sol diers, apparently defeated and thus put out of the way. He escaped His captors and gave last and a greatest proof of His excellence; He rose from be handling a human body all this time; what 8 surprise that at last this underestimated and misunderstood be- ing should vindicate himself. And yet no one seems convinced, in fact l think no one Is convinced until superior power brushes or exalts. The world is not different to-day from what it was in the day of the crucifixion, for men do not accept Christ any more readily than was the custom when Christ was hung on the tree. Nor are non-C Chris tians alone guilty here; Christians deny Christ and put Him to death, as 1t were, repeatedly with every sin or ignoble thought or deed. The world was under the impression that it had rid itself of one whom 1t did not like. that aroused the forces of evil. From the beginning 1t was ordained that man should show his unworthiness and at the same time carry out the plans of God concerning the way of forgiveness, which was to be offered to Gentle as we'll as Jew. His friends and disciples were sorrowful, they waited at the tomb, they thought Him defeated, and though they had not lost affection for Him, yet they had lost no doubt all belief in His the opinion that they had never lis and resurrection. In spite of protes- tations to the contrary we look at death as did the disciples look at the sbut tomb: place which had opened to engulf the last vestige of personal ity.
 But what a grand surprise was in store for the world! Out of defeat came the most magnificent victory of the ages! At last God had compelled men to see that in Christ was the appoint cd way, that in Him was the embody- ment of all His principles, that in Him was to be seen His own self and Ills desire for us. The soldiers were triumphant until the patience of the Eternal was exhausted. At last then the stone is rolled away, and at last has escaped from the hands of un- thinking men the form of one so un- )ustly treated. The world was har- dened and blind-of course 1t could not accept the fact of resurrection, Mary and the Apostles were sad-of course the one they leved was gone forever, for indeed His body even had been taken away. Across the eastern sky had dawned 8 perfect eastern morning.
 ALL WAS BRIGHT AND HOPEFUL
 save the face of man, the soldiers fear ed death for apparently they had slept while the tomb was robbed of its dead, the friend of Jesus stood alone for the first time, for the strong staff of support was gone. We have travel ed fG from the morn of the resurrec- tion and the vividness and the intens- ity of that morning have both been dulled by the intervening centuries, yet we cant ook back and make vivid again the events of that significant day. God meant the resurrection to be of great moment for the world. Therefore he exercised an influence to make men feel the importance of the occasion. If the accounts are accur- ate, that Is why the Jews took such precautions that the tomb be we'll guarded, that is why the disciples came several of them to visit the tomb three days after. There was to be suretyship in regard to this event, for in later years men would try to per- vert the truth. They did not accept Christ, they did not love him, they could not understand so great a mys- tery, how could they spread abroad good report. Even the disciples so long taught of the Master concerning his manner of death, even these did not understand the things that had happened. God influenced, I am sure, Pilate, the Jews, the soldiers. He made them to come under the haunting con- viction that something awful had hap. pened. They could not define their feelings, yet like 8 premOnitiOn or a haunting fear the terribleness of their deed appalled, them. The Apostles had forgotten or rather had never paid attention, yet these, too, unconsciously, fingered near the tomb. AS men and women often have convictions of deaths approach, so the participants