Evening star., 1930-06-21

Christ's crucihxion brought death to
the aspirations and hopes of His fol-
lowers. Their ambitions were blasted.
They were discouraged, filled with de-
Spair and disheartened. His resurrec-
ton was not expected by them and
many of His followers doubted the news
when they heard that He was risen.
His resurrection demonstrated the per-
manent saving power of the cross. The
Lords victory over the grave established
the truth of His prophecy, that His
enemies recalled and His followers had
forgotten. 1t settled the problem that
has perpleXed men concerning the fu-
ture life. Christ'S resurrection has be-
come the pivotal truth of Christianitv.
the basic principle about which all the
other fundamental doctrines resolve.
Jesus staked His Messiaship upon His
resurrection. Upon this dynamic fact
the truths of Christianity rise or fall.
No event in all the annals of men has
peen confirmed by such a mass of evi-
dence as has the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus. Nineteen hundred years
effort by hostile critics has failed to de-
stroy the indisputable historical evidence
OF the Masters victory over the grave.
We could not explain the presence of
the church in the world today. the ex-
Stence of the New Testament or the
observance of the Lords day If He had
not risen from the dead. It would have
been impossible for the apostles to have
started movement which eventually
controlled the forces of history unless
they had been witnesses of His reslr-
rection.
The women, whose love and LOYALTY,
caused them to be the last to leave the
cross, were the first to approach His
grave. They started before dawn upon
the first day of the week to complete
the embalming of the body of the one
whom they loved and wished to prepare
completely for His burial. There is
burial place near Jerusalem, close
to the road to Damascus, that gives us
an excellent picture of the conditions
that they faced. The door to this
tombs entrance, is closed by rolling
a huge round stone down in front of
it. The stone, that resembles a grind
ing stone, is rolled along a groove, cut
for that purpose, when they desire to
close the tomb or open it. No wonder
the women, not dreaming about such a
thing as resurrection wondered who
would roll it away for them. An un-
expected earthquake did not stop them
on their journey of love. A heavenly
sent messenger came and rolled away
the stone. The appearance of this
aHSSA AhSu ILle SudluS WIFI Iear, SO
that they acted like dead men. When
the women not to fear, "He is not
here; for He is risen, as He said. Come
and see." He called for the women to
investigate the empty tomb and then go
forth, as preachers of the gospel OF
a future life. They were filled with
joy, as they started back on their
Journey, and had their faith in the
Masters resurrection confirmed by
meeting Him. They worshiped the
risen Lord, who sent them with His
blessings to call His disciples to great
convocation in Galilee.
The GaliIee Meeting.
When the apostles sent out word to
the scattered disciples that Jesus had
risen and desired to meet them in Cali
lee we are not surprised that some
doubted; but they came in small groups
from the various places where the call
had been received. Probably they made
up the more than five hundred breth-
rem" who were present at once that
Paul speaks about in his argument for
the reasonableness of the faith in
Christ's resurrection. Among the num-
Der without doubt were those to whom
He had given power to walk, see. hear
and speak. The number that assembled
in Galilee, probably upon Hermon was
made up of people who would under
stand that they would be free from
being molested by the civil and religious
forces in the section where Jesus had
done His mighty works.
We are not told how Jesus rose or
how He manifested Himself to the as
sembled hosts upon "the mountain" but
there can be no doubt that they were
all thrilled, although some doubted,
even while they worshiped the Lord.
When Jesus drew near to the assem-
bled multitude, He evidently spoke to
them in a conversational manner. No
doubt they asked Him many questions
that we would have asked if we had
been there, for they did not understand
the power of His resurrection" We
can well believe that HE unfolded to
them, in word, the nature of the
gospel, the eternal purpose of Gods
grace, the scope of that grace and the
coming glory" They probably did not
understand the full meaning of all that
He told them until the Holy Spirit came
upon them at Pentecost.
The Great Commission.
During their conference Jesus out
lined His program to win the world In
all probability, He told them of His
purpose to use every disciple in the
work of extending His kingdom. The