The Palatka news and advertiser. [volume] (Palatka, Fla.) 1908-19??, 1914-05-01
!: II Saturday
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+ "Now when Jesus was risen" 1
+ Well, what then? Many things
Well, what then? Many I
+ things. Some of these seem SO /
= trivial as compared with the I
+ greater events that they escape :.
+ emphasis. Yet they are very 1
+ significant. Look, for example, Z
: at the mental state of the friends 1
+ and intimates of the Master that 1
+ morning as they came into the I
+ area of resurrection facts. 1t /
= was state of forecasting ex- I
+ pectancy and certain anticipat- 1
+ ion. Like ourselves, so often, I
+ they had in their minds eye just {
+ what was to be. They expected I
+ that the stone would still be at I
+ the door of the sepulchre; that I
+ the imperial seal upon it would I
+ still be intact; that the body of I
+ their Beloved would still be ly- I
+ ing prone within, wrapped in ITS I
= grave garniture of linen clothes I
+ and its mixture of myrrh and I
+ aloes and spices. They thought 1
+ that, while they kept Sabbath, 1
! all about the tomb would have 1
= been static, still, unchanged. 1
+ They thought they knew how I
+ everything would be. 1
= All this is plainly shown in /
+ their artless behavior detailed in /
;: these simple stories. And all !
+ this shows that there had been i
+ no planning or plotting on their i
J. part to change the status of /
+ things and to frame fraudulent /
+ resurrection story. Every item /
+ of the stories shows that though i
+ Christ had foretold His resur- i
j rection, they had no though of it. !
+ Their very forgetfulness and /
J. faithlessness evidences their in i
= nocence of any design to de- i
y fraud. i
+ But suddenly their expecta- !
J. lions are destroyed. Every i
+ thing had been changed. The +
+ stone, about the rolling away of +
+ which from the door of the sep +
i ulchre they had been alone trou- +
+ bled, was already rolled away. j.
! The door was open. The body +
+ Of Christ was gone. The clothes j.
+ in which it had been wrapped j.
+ were there, not torn as if in i
+ violence from His body, not flung +
; about as if hurriedly discarded; +
+ but laid by themselves and the +
+ napkin folded together in a place +
7 by itself. There was no confu- 4
+ sion. But there was complete +
+ change. The occupancy of the +
+ tomb was changed. Instead of +
+ dead Christ, there was a +
! mighty angel there who spoke to +
, the women, saying, aye seek Je- =
+ sus which was crucifed. He is +
+ not here. He is risen" There +
+ is nothing in the circumstances j.
: of these changed conditions to +
+ suggest body snatching, a steal +
+ ing away of the Beloved Body. +
+ But this external change did +
+ effect marvellous mental +
: change in the disciples Instead 1.
+ of the calm, dignified gravity +
! and solemnity of sorrow, there +
+ suddenly succeeded wild tu- +
! multi of struggling emotions. 1.
! Confusion, dismay, doubt, fear, +
Sllel, LdSIe, nope, Joy, WfeStieQ
: together for the mastery of +
! their minds and hearts. To the I.
: apostles, the women's story of +
the resurrection seemed like +
idle tales and they believed +
: not" +
Now, out of all this comes +
what is tantamount to a de- +
monstration that those simple, !.
strong men and women never +
engaged to defraud the world +
by witnessing to a resurrec- +
ton that was mere frame-up. +
Everything in their conduct be- +
: trays the unstudied sincerity of +
their belief both that Christ +
died and that He did rise again +
from the dead. J. NJ. B. +
+ I. 4. i. j. i. j. ]. i. j. j. + + j. j. j.