The Penn's Grove record., 1913-03-21
AT The OPEN TOMB
Three Faithful Women Who
Came to Mourn Heard That
First Easter Sermon.

On the dark day of the cruc1flY1on
surely Joseph of Arimathea was the
bravest, as well as the most loyal,
man t be found in all Judea! De-
flying not only the ~prejudices of the
synagog, but the suspicious of Caesars
troops, he gave Jesus Of Nazareth in
death what he had SO seldom known
in life-a place to lay his head. For
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,
we may take it, that the Sabbath sue
ceeding the murder on Cavalry had
been one of lamentation, rather than
of worship, for we read that they were
weeping still when, at the rising OF the
sun on the text day, they, with Sa-
lone, made the first pilgrimage to the
Holy Sepulcher, not to find, as do the
pilgrims of today, priest and kneeling
choir engaged in the performance Of
funeral masses, while the air is laden
with perfume from swinging censers.
but ~white-robed visitants from anoth-
er world. The spices and precious
ointment carried by the women were
not sweeter than the roses and lilies
of Joseph's garden in that early norm
ing stiffness. A million times or more
since it had been placed in the heavens
had the sun risen above the hills Of
Judea, but never before had it looked
upon SO wonderful a sight as a tomb
deserted by its occupant of his own
will.
Great Conqueror Conquered.
1t had shone upon uncursed Eden;
it had seen earth drowned in the wa
tiers of the food; it had looked upon
Egypt when the creator was doing bat
tie there for the delivery of Israel;
but never until now had it seer deaths
victim rise up to conquer the great
conqueror. who will roll away the
stone?" the women had asked among
themselves, knowing that the removal
of the sealed barrier was a task too
great for woman's strength. But the
stone-had the earthquake of the
night just PASSED acted as the servant
of the angels?-was not in it's place,
and the watchers, equipped with spear
and sword, were trembling, for they
had a strange story to take to their Of
f1cers, and who could say how, at that
time, a tale Of the supernatural would
be received? How could they admit
that armed men, who had fought the
barbarians in other provinces of
Caesars empire, had retreated before
those swordless strangers at the sep
ulcher? 1t was not only to remove
the guarded stones that these visitants
had come, but to send by the women
a message of hope to the nine dis
ciples who had forsaken their master
and fled, and the two who had fol-
lowed afar off the prisoner in the
hands Of a pagan troop. And we may
be assured that the rising sun glowed
more brightly and the shadows of
earth's darkest day fed farther into
the distance when this message was
spoken:
Go your way; tell his disciples and
Peter that he goeth before you into
Galilee, as he said unto you"
And the sun, now risen higher. Sent
his beams into the place where the
dead had been and the living was not,
and the women, with their eyes now
dried through terror of the supernat-
ural, saw that it was useless to seek
any longer the living among the dead.
They had listened to the first Easter
sermon, and they departed to give the
message, and then ponder upon it in
their hearts