Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1923-09-14

VI n AHc9 thou6htf WIN SoAho hA'1
erns, that Jesus had not died on the
cross but had only swooned, and that
He might have revived In the cool air
Of the tomb, and gone forth, would
they not have searched for Him and
minlstered to His needs7 The fact
that they went home shows that they
accepted neither explanation Of the
disappearance Of Christ's body.
The verses preceding the text sug-
gest their reason for coming to some
other conclusion. They seem to have
beep greatly impressed by "the linen
cloths lying" in the seDulchre. Was It
not strange that these cloths were left
behInd2 Usually, If a corpse were
moved we should expect its coverings
to be moved with It, Again, the cloths.
which had encased the body, were ~
ing by themselves and the napkin,
which had been about the head, was
lying in place by Itself. There were
no evidences Of haste, us might have
been expected if the body had been
taken away by either friends or foes
Finally, the cloths do not seem to have
been unwound, but merely to have
sunken down in their place, for we
read nothing of the hundred pounds Of
spices being scattered about the tomb
The situation was such that when
John went into the tomb ''he saw and
believed" He evidently believed that
Jesus had left the tomb without the
assistance of human hands, but by ris-
ing from the dead and escaping super
naturally from the linen cloths. just
as he later appeared in the midst of
His disciples when the door was shut.
Peter was filled with wonder, at least.
and so together they went home.
but Mary stood without at the
sepulchre weeping" She had returned
to the sepulehre, and had not yet ar
rived at the conviction of John. She
would at least stay where the body OF
Jesus had lain. The language implies
that she wept with audible sobs. And
to 'the patient watching of love- the
risen Lord first manifested Himself
Mary etoonad and lookad into tho
sepulchre and saw two angels, sitting
as sentinels where the body of her
Lord had lain Most of us would have
heen mucb excited and awed nv S,ch
= vis,on Rut Mary did NOT seem 70
have been greatly impressed by 1t.
when the angels asked the cause for
her weeping she answered: .aThev
have taken away nv Iordp No baav-
emily visitant could satisfy this woman
who sought her Lord" Some would
discount Mary as a witness of the res
direction on the ground that she was
an excitable woman, subject to hallu-
cinations, but no such tendency ap-
peared here.
Eo. same raosor Mary t,rned ond
sou, Ias,s stondino b,,t nor oros wore
ho,dar ana Che knew Hin moi SIM
noslng Him 10 no friendlv gardener
IN STA ac,r 70 tbou hast horra tI,,,
hanao ~, ~ ,rhara thor -. Iata
Him, and l will take Him away" Five
times she said Him" without telling
to whom she referred. She supposed
everybody would know "Him" whom
her soul loved. And this woman who
wondered who would roll the stone
away. thought that in her arms of love
she could support the weight of the
body Of Him" Hes not heavy.r'
said the child, carrying a baby in her
arms. "he's not heavy; he's nv
brother"
Tben Iesus snoke saving aN,a.Y
Since the voice of every human being
In healthy condition is the expression
of the man within him. we can infer
the impressiyeness of Jesus voice
Mary had heard that voice before.
when 1t uttered word of power which
cast ont seven demons from her How