The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1914-12-04


prehend the note Of his resurrection
which he so frequently sounded. In.
deed, the report of these same women
is by these men considered las idle
tales" Luke PAIL The women APP
pear in better light than the men in
this story The women, especially
Mary Magdalene. loved much because
he had done so much for them The
extent and the genuineness of their
affection is found in that they went to
the tomb to serve Jesus when appar-
emily hope had fled and faith was
blighted, Cor. 1873 r. V. Their visit
was the fulallment of their ministry
of love, yet it reveals the darkness of
their minds This was common to all
Of his followers.
Approaching the tomb they are con-
fronted by a new diffieulty-"Who
shall roll away the stone?" The words
of verse four are significant Look
ing up, they see that the stone is rolled
back" Am r. " This undoubtedly
refers to the situation of the tomb and
their approach thereto, vet the fact
remains that looking up" most of our
difficulties are removed. Let US be
constantly looking unto him" 1t has
been suggested that God rolled away
the stone, not that Jesus might get out,
but rather that the women might get
in. Mary found two angels sitting,
one at the head and one at the foot,
where the body had lain, John 20:11,
IL, and the two disciples to whom she
reported found the linen cloth and the
napkin and believed" John 20:2-9.
The women were overwhelmed with
perplexity and, like Peter and John,
knew not the Scripture that he must
rise again from the dead" The an
gelic message, ''He is risen; he is not
here" was the sounding forth of a
message as great and as glorious as
that sounded by the angels on the
night of his birth
Such experience and such knowledge
entails definite burden of RESPONSE
bility, therefore the logical message
and command of verse seven. This is
also In accord with the Savior's last
earthly message, Mark 1915; Matt.
2S:1S-20 1t is natural for us to lin
ger in silent meditation at the place
of our greatest revelation or Of our
deepest soul experiences, but these
women are urged to "go quickly"
The message of salvation Is too i'm
portant to brook any delay.
Spread False Tale.
II. The Watch at the sepuIcher,
Matt. 27:62-66 and 2s:11-15. Evident
ly the manner of his death and his re-
ported prophecies as to the resurrec-
tion made an impression upon the enc
mics of Jesus. This guard is an ex-
preston of the ultimate antagonlsm
of the priests and rulers. AS this, the
morn Of the first day of the week, APP
preached the guard saw the vision of
the angel and in its presence became
as dead men. When later they had re-
covered they fastened into the city
and reported to the priests the fact of
the coming of the angel and that the
stone, upon which the seal rested, had
been removed. Bribed, they spread
abroad the tale that the disciples had
stolen his body The falseness Of
such a tale is evidenced by the fact
that the rankest infidel has not the
temerity to make such claim today.
The resurrection, as Paul affirms, Is
the declaration that Jesus is the Son
of God. 1t is a vindication of his
supremacy and Of the supremacy Of
the spiritual over the natural We do
well to emphasize his birth, and to
dwell much upon his death, yet both
of these have no essential value apart
from the resurrection. Apart from
this and the cross is no more than
the tragic and aweinspiring end Of
life that failed Connecting the cross
with this demands that every thought
full man should study it carefully. The
resurrection demonstrates that he
finished the work of redemption