Evening star., 1931-06-13

Christ's disciples, who were crushed
by His cruciflxicn, were not expecting
His resurrection, although He had
prorhesied that He would rise from the
grave. The first reports that He haE
risen were doubted. The loyal group Of
women who went out to the tomb to
complete the work Of emb2lming, found
the stone rolled away and the tomb
empty. When they reported their dis
coveries to the apostles, only two made
an investigation. The message OF the
women was discredited by the very peo-
pie who ought to have rejoiced in the
Masters triumph over the grave.
Christianity was born the day that
Jesus came forth a conqueror of death.
He had stsked His whole mission upon
the certainty of His resurrection. He
had predicted it and tried to make His
followers to look for His victory, but
they did not grasp His message. We
ought to rejoice at the spirit of doubt
and demand by His followers of ccn-
elusive proofs of the reality of the
Lords resurrection. 1t resulted in cur
faith being established by many infal-
lible proofs that demonstrated the real
ity of Christs resurrection, that is the
historical basis upon which our religious
faith has been built and our churches
established.
Doubling Disciples.
Our lesson tells us of the discussion
that Jesus overheard upon the first
resurrection day, between two of His
followers. who had been crushed by the
crucifixion of the Master, whom they
loved. Although their hopes for the
establishment of a temporal kingdom
had been completely destroyed by the
death of Jesus upon the cross, their
hearts were full of love for Him. They
had lacked the spiritual experience
needed to understand the Savior's suf-
fering5 because they were looking for
a political kingdom. 1t w2S because they
had not grasped the Old Testament
teachings that called for a suffering
Messiah, that we have in our lesson for
today one CT the most interesting ap-
pearances of our Lord to consider.
Two humble disciples of the Master
were walking toward Emmaus, about
eight miles distant from Jerusalem.
The community had completely dis
appeared like the greater part of the
towns and villages of that regicn"
during the reign Of Adrian, when the
Roman legions waged destructive
warfare in that section. They did not
consider that suffering was required
of the Messiah. They discredited the
stories of His resurrection that they
heard just before leaving Jerusalem.
The triumph over the grave was not
the success they had expected. A
stranger joined them and surprised
them by His questions concerning
whom they were discussing. and then
taught them that they were mistaken
in their interpretations of the Old
Testament. Commencing from Moses,
He opened up to them passage after
passage, prophecy and prediction that
taught that Christ should suffer these
things as a prelude to His glory.
1t was evening. when the unknown
stranger was saying farewell to them
at Emmaus, when they almost forced
Him to accept the hospitality Of their
facts and showing how they har-
monized with the prophecy clarified
their minds. so that when they gath
cred around the table to eat their
evening meal they were able to recog-
nize that the stranger who thanked
God for the bread and broke it to
them was the risen Christ. Immedi-
ately upon their discovery OF His pres
ence the Master disappeared and the
two returned TO Jerusalem to tell how
their hearts had burned within them
hllCll NRCllCO NllC WIZ " w NAASiiA eRA-N
made clear the place the cross had
in His life and how in the breaking
of the bread they discovered that their
guest was the risen Lord.
Revealed to the Apostles.
Joy at the fact that they had walked
and talked and seen Jesus alive, SO
that they could testify to His resurrec-
ton, caused the two to hasten back
to Jerusalem. When they entered the
upper room" which was the head
quarters for the eleven, they were in
formed how Jesus had appeared to
Peter. This appearance had removed
all doubts in the minds of the ten
apostles present concerning His resur-
rection, so that they accepted the
statement of the two concerning their
experience with the risen Christ.
While they were talking about the
several appearances that Jesus had
made that day they were startled by
the Masters sudden appearance among
them. John tells us that the doors
were shut when Jesus entered. No one
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