Evening star., 1925-03-14

Christianity developed from the
historical foundation of our Lord S
resurrection. Wescott has pointed
out that mo single historical Incl
dent Is better or more variously
supported than the resurrection OF
Christ" The existence of the
church, the New Testament and the
observance of the Lords day are
psychological phenomena that are
explicable only by the fact of His
resurrection. Most biographies close
with death. Not so that of the Mas
ter, whose death upon the cross
hlled His disciples with darkness, de-
spair and despondence. His grave
through His resurrection became the
birthplace of an indestructible faith
that has become the greatest moral
force in the history of the world
Paul recognized the Importance of
the resurrection by his argument that
proves conclusively the resurrection
or Christ. His own conversion and
faith rested upon his personal expe-
rience with the risen Lord. Each of
the four gospels contains a record of
the resurrection of Jesus, The dis
crepancies that are apparent on the
surface serve to prove the authentic
ity of the "fragmentary, condensed
and often generalization accounts
that are different in point of view"
The difficulty in fitting them into each
other disappears when through pa
tience the key to each difference is
found and their relation to one an
other recognized, so that a harmo-
NOUS account can be constructed, if
it is required, from the several mar
ratives. The interesting differences
are largely due to the fact that they
'lay stress upon the personal inn
preSSions of the resurrection rather
than its physical phenomena"
All the narratives of the resurrec-
ton imply the apathetic attitude of
the apostles and the other followers
of the Master. When He was buried
there was not single person that be-
lieved that He would rise again.
The Jewish authorities were satisfied
that with His death there was no
further need of considering Him. The
breakdown of His disciples had been
complete. When He was arrested
they all forsook Him and fed" AL
though Jesus had foretold His suffer-
ings, death and resurrection, il is evil
dent that they did not understand
the Lords teachings concerning His
triumph over the grave, so that they
were discouraged and prepared to
disband, return to their homes, as in
their judgment Christ's ministry had
failed with His death upon the cross.
They were not looking for something
to happen when the women. filled
with love for their dead Master,
turned toward His burial place upon
the first day of the week to perform
loves last ministry for the dead.
The Empty Tomb.
When Mary Magdalene, Mary the
mother of James and Joses, Salome,
Joanna and others were on the way
to anoint the body of Jesus they
wondered who would roll away the
cylindrical stone that had been rolled
in its groove over the entrance of the
Lords tomb and sealed. They had no
thought of resurrection. Their
love prompted these women, who had
been the last to leave Him-being
present at His death upon the cross
and having watched them bury the
One they loved-to seek His tomb, while
it was still dark, bringing the spices
which they had prepared" to embalm
His body.
While the women were on their
way there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord descended
from Heaven. and came and rolled
away the stone and sat upon it," His
presence frightened the watchmen,
so that they fed. No human eye saw
the resurrection take place. In the
nature of the case it was q mystery
and always will remain so to men,
until through their faith in Christ's
resurrection and His deity they come
to share the future life promised to
all believers in the risen Lord. Our
principal evidence regarding it is
found in the tremendous change that
it wrough in His disciples. They were
transformed from a discouraged and
disheartened band into a mighty con-
quering force by His resurrection,
which the angel proclaimed to the
women at the empty tomb. They did
not understand the heavenly mes
senger and the apostles considered
that their story appeared to be idle
words. Mary believed that the empty
tomb meant that His enemies had
taken His body away to an unknown
place.
The TOmb's Testimony.
Peter andi John feared the same
thing. They lost no time in their
effort to learn at first hand the facts.
While John arrived at the empty
tomb before Peter, the young man
reverently looked within from the
opening of the grave. Not so with
Peter; he Immediately entered the
sacred place and made a careful In
vestigation of the contents. They
both had noticed the linen cloths,
lying like they had been about the
body of the Christ. They retained
roughly the form of the Lords body.
so that Trumbull has suggested that
'it was like a. chrysalis from which
the insect had departed" Peter saw
that the napkin that was about the
Lords head was folded and in a
place by itself. John is particular to
call them linen bandages, which was
the material provided by Joseph of
Arimathea.
These two disciples saw the condi-
tion of the tomb. and were convinced
that the body of the Lord had not
been removed at all. No friend or
foe could have stripped the grave
cloths from Christ's body like they
were. The body had not been moved
was their first conclusion from a
study of the evidence. Then, under
the Holy Spirits leadership, John
came to believe that Jesus had risen.
Peter came to II later, when he was
influenced by the spiritual penetra-
tion of John. They had approached
the tomb with an open mind, for as
yet they knew not the Scripture that
He must rise from the dead" They
carried the news of their investiga-
ton to their own home, where today
the news is needed to encourage
~ LIT, lao . h C.