Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-03-25

yOtIS illuh SIoCllCA AL "lllIC loD
, The passage in the Psalms may hav
occurred to them "Bless the Lore
We His angels, who excel in strength.
Naturally they were frightened b
this supernatural appearance, whic
could not fail to be recognized as tn
symbol of the Divine Presence. The,
were dumfounded when the ange
said to them: know whom you ar
lseeking-Jesus of Nazareth who wa
crucitied. | am sent to tell you tina
'He is risen. You can see for your
selves that He is not here, for this i:
the place where He was laid. Yol
did not expect this, nor did the
disciples, often as He told you. Gt
and tell them that He will keep His
appointment with them in Galilee.
And these women did just as womer
would do. They ran, trembling
amazed, afraid, so much troubled that
they told no one whom they met or
the way. They did not go and tel
the disciples and apparently, SO far
as we can get the details Of the story,
Mary Magdalene ran by herself to the
house where she knew Peter and
John were stopping, who hearing her
story, Immediately visited the sepulch-
er to see for themselves. And yet
they could not understand it. No
doubt the word circulated that day
among the disciples: for two of them
on their way to Emmaus that after
uoon referred to the tale Of the
women, whom they evidently regard
ed as unnerved and hysterical, and
who had failed to convince them that
He whom they trusted would redeem
Israel had risen from the dead.
1t required forty days of. appearing
at intervals to the disciples, some
times TO small group, sometimes to
the disciples as body, and once when
other believers were assembled with
them, to convince this scattered band
that Jesus had risen from the dead
How complete that conviction was in
the end, when He appeared before
them for the last time on Mount
Olive and gave them directions to
make converts of all nations, but to
tarry at Jerusalem until they received
power from on high, is seen from the
fact that after they had received
that power not one of them doubted
for single moment, but threw him
self into his life work of proclaiming
that the resurrection was the founda-
tion stone of the Christians faith
and the proof of hnn,a.>- :. --.- -o' o,rSii',
made this the very foundatloh Oh
Christian doctrine. When the doc
trine of the resurrection was denied
on philosophic grounds at Corlnth'
Paul gives us the most complete
grouping of these events, and goes on
to demonstrate to these misg guldeo
neople that if Jesus did not rise from
the dead, then the hope of the Chris
tian was a vain hope, his faith vain,
that he is yet in his sins and OF all
linen most pitible. He cites as more
nersonal and conclusive proof the
fact that the risen Jesus had appeared
to him on the way to Damascus, ane
he as "a child hntimely born," "th
I least of the deciples, had recelve'
i in person the qualifications to tit hin
, lfor proclaiming this gospel OF tl
lRedeemer of the world.
i The doctrine of Jesus and IN
\ resurrection, which we observe
l. Easter, thus lies at the very touno
l. tion of Christianity. 1t was u
g preaching of this doctrine that e.
y abled the early Christians to revol
q tionize human thought: and it is we
III worth the while of Christians IN the
le DAYS of skepticism and doubt, whi
IN is creeping into the pupils and G.
n lepes, and sometimes into the Une
lis logical seminaries, to read and STU
lie carefully Paul's statement OF u
he doctrine as they will find 1t In
tn Corinthians Is, and see the pit
ad which the denial Of its truth M
eo Inevitable lead.
-. We might welH ask ourselves WI
o., earthly hope there is that any OF
will ever see our loved and lost,
~ Jesus of Nazareth did not rise II
"So the dead. If He did not rise, as
'1o said He would, then what faith
,;so we have in His teaching beyond
,na of any other wise man? If he
w. mistaken in this, of which He rep
>mn edly warned His disciples, then
~, can we know that He was not
-, taken in other things, in all thl
ood His teachings are then relegate'
~ ~ the level of Plato and Socrates
,na, e good indeed, very lovely, but vine
- '.a,v lie their power? Wherein DO
~ tend to the salvation OF the
arn w. II Jesus did not rise from the
~, ~ az He said He would, If He did
ON ana convince His disciples by the
+h.t infallible proofs, how are W
.hau ~ account for the fact that they D
@ ana ed it at the last so fully that
,,,na were willing to sacrafce every
in order to tell this story to
~ ~ that death did not end at all,
l ~ there was another life in ar
10 world and mansions prepare
.,,,so uho believed teachings