166
March 1927
T h e
K i n g ’ s
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tion? It was the scene of their common labors. To all nations they were to be sent with the glad tidings. There they received the great commission. There they were called and set to work on a world task. — -o —— P it h a n d P o in t The resurrection is-i; the Father’s "Amen” to Jesus’ "It is finished." We can come to the vacant sepulchre and sing for joy. Death is abolished. “Joy cometh in the morning.” As empty as was Christ’s tomb will be every Christian’s grave when another an gel comes to sound the trump. If it was a glorious morn that dawned upoh the empty tomb at Calvary, more blessed will be that coming morn, when the graves of all who died in Christ open up. . . . The first office of the risen Saviour was to wipe away the tears of a penitent. It was the resurrection that put GO in GOSPEL. The light which is the life of the cre ated world now has a birthday correspond ing to the Light which is the life of the redeemed world— the first day of the week. — o — S u g g e st iv e Q u e s t io n s What detail do we have in Matthew’s account of the resurrection not found in the other accounts? (28:2). . Will angels have anything to do with the resurrection of saints ? (24:30; 25: 31; Jude 14:15; Rev. 1:7). What did the resurrection of , Christ prove? (Rom. 1:4).-; How does God show us that He has ac cepted the sacrifice Christ made on Cal vary as atonement for sin? (Rom. 4:25). How are we assured that death, the last great enemy, will be finally conquer ed? (1 Cor. 15:55-57). When, will the resurrection of saints take place? (1 Thess. 4:14-18)., When did Jesus first call His disciples “brethren,” and why? (v 10; Heb. 2:11). — o— G o ld en T e x t I l l u s t r a t io n “He is risen, as He said” (Matt. 28:6). A traveler stood one day beside the costly tomb of Napoleon in Paris. There he was buried at his own request among his beloved countrymen. An old man ap proached, and leaning over the balustrade, gazed down into the tomb with eyes filled with tears. “There rests a great con queror,” said he, “but his. work was not abiding. Death stained the glory of his achievements and the tears shed at his grave are but an acknowledgment of his defeat.” How different the work of Christ and His kingdom! His is an abid ing kingdom. He too found a sepulchre on earth, and the Syrian stars look down on the place where He lay; but of Him we can say: “He is not here; He is risen as He said." In contrast with that solitary man weeping at Napoleon’s grave, we may place the names of millions of faithful witnesses who have had the testimony of the Spirit within them that they have a living Saviour, ever making interces sion for them at the right hand of the throne. -' ■, k .v- ..
the strong heavenly and the weak earthly lovers of the risen King meet together, and clasp hands of help, the pledge and first-fruits, of the standing order hence forth, and the inauguration of their office of “ministering'spirits, sent forth to min ister for . . . .heirs of salvation.” ? The risen Christ hath made both one. The ser vants of the same King must needs be friends of one another. ; The angel’s words fall into three parts. First, he calms fears by the assurance that the seekers for Christ are dear to Him. “Fear not ye" glances at the pros trate watchers, and almost acknowledges the reasonableness of their abject terror. To them he could not but be hostile, but to hearts that longed for their and his Lord, he and all his mighty fellows were brethren: Let us learn that all God’s an gels are our lovers and helpers, if we love and seek for Jesus. Superstition has peo pled the gulf between God and man with crowds of beings; revelation assures us that it is' full of creatures who excel in strength. Men have cowered before them, but “whether they be thrones, or domin ions, or principalities, or powers,” our King was their Creator, and is their Sov ereign, and, if we serve Him, all these are on our side. The true deliverer from superstitious terrors is the risen Christ. Again, the angel announces in simplest words the glorious fact, '‘He is risen,” and helps them to receive it by a double way. He reminds them of Christ’s own words which had seemed so mysterious and had turned out so simple, so incredible, and now had proved so true. He calls them with a smile of welcome to draw near, and with him to look into the empty place. The invitation extends to us all,' for the one assurance of immortality; and the only answer to the despairing question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” which is , solid enough to resist the corrosion of modern doubt as of an cient ignorance, is that empty grave, and the filled throne, which was its necessary consequence. By it we measure the love that stooped so low, we school our hearts to anticipate without dread or reluctance our own lying down there, we fasten our faith on the risen Forerunner, and re joice in the triumphant assurance of a liv ing Christ. If the wonder of the women’s sfunned gaze is no more ours, our calm acceptance of the familiar fact need be none the less glad, and our estimate of its far-reaching results more complete than their tumult of feeling permitted to them. No wonder that, swiftly, new duty which was privilege followed on the new, glad knowledge. It was emphatically a “day of good tidings,” and they- could not hold their peace. A brief glance, enough for certitude and joy, was permit ted ; and then, with urgent haste, they are sent to be apostles to the Apostles. The possession of the news of a risen Saviour binds the possessors to be its preachers. Where it is received in any power, it will impel to utterance. He who can keep silence has never felt, as he ought, the worth of the word, nor realized the reason why he has seen the Cross or the empty grave. “He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see.”' Christ had said to the disciples that He would rise again, and, as the Shepherd of the scattered flock, go- before them into Galilee. How long ago since that saying it would seem!
Have You Heard queer tales about the Bible Institute of Los Angeles? Read Dr. Riley’s statement opposite editorial page. I f he doesn’t know who the Fun damentalists are-—who does?
Taken from Alexander Maclaren 'T'HE attempts at harmonizing the resur rection narratives are not only unsat isfactory, but they tend to blur the dis tinctive characteristics of each account. We shall therefore confine ourselves
entirely to Mat thew’s version, and leave the o t h e r s alone, with the sim ple remark that a condensed report of a series of events does not-deny what it omits, nor con tradict a fuller one. ..
Matthew notices the angel ministrant and herald. His narrative leaves the im pression that the earthquake and appear ance of the angel immediately preceded the arrival of the women, and the “Be hold!” suggests that they felt sind saw both. The other narratives tell of two angels. Matthew’s mention of one only may be due either to the fact that one was speaker, or to the subjective impres sions of his informant, who saw but the one, or to variation in the number visible at different times. We know too little of the laws which determine their appear ances td-'-be warranted in finding contra diction or difficulty here. The power of seeing may depend upon the condition of the beholder. It may depend, not as with gross material bodies, on optics, but on the- volition of the radiant beings seen. They may pass from visibility to its oppo site, lightly and repeatedly, flickering into and out of sight, as the Pleiades seem to do. Where thefd, is such store of pos sibilities, he is rash who'talks glibly about contradictions. Of far more value is it to note the pur pose served by this waiting angel. We heard much of a herald angel of the Lord in the story of the Nativity. We hear no thing of him during the life of Christ. Now again he appears, as the stars, quenched in the noontide, shine again when the sun is out of the sky. He at tends as humble servitor, in token that the highest beings gazed on that empty grave with reverent adoration, and were hon ored by being allowed to guard the sacred place. Death was an undreaded thing to them, and no hopes for themselves blos somed from Christ’s grave; but He who had lain in it was their King as well as ours, and new lessons of divine love were taught them, as they wondered and watch ed. They come to minister by act and word to the weeping women’s faith and joy. Their appearance paralyzes the guards, who would have kept the Marys from the grave. They roll away the great circular stone, which women’s hands, however nerved by love, could not have moved in its grooves. They speak tender words to them. There by the empty tomb,
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