85
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
March, 1934
the ,RESURRECTION
TheTower of
B y JOHN BUNYAN SMITH* San Diego, California
blood and makes the blood separate into red corpuscles and white serum. With what awe and humility we enter into this truth, for John’s careful statement proves that our Lord died o f a broken heart— not from the mere pain of the crucifixion. Did Christ die? All who stood about the cross were convinced. The centurion in charge thought Christ was dead, and thus it was not necessary to break His legs in order to dispatch Him, as in the .case of the two men who were crucified ,with Him. But nevertheless, to make the matter certain and beyond challenge, the spear was thrust into His side. His friends thought Christ was dead. Joseph and
^ h r i s t i a n i t y rests upon three miracles: The Cradle .of Christ. The Cross o f Christ. T h e C o r o n a tio n o f Christ. A t the cradle o f Christ, we behold a supernatural birth. At the cross o f Christ, we
find a supernatural redemption. A t the tomb of Christ, we discover a supernatural res urrection. Easter celebrates this third supernatural fact— our Lord’s resurrection. D id -C hrist D ie ? The fact o f our Lord’s actual death is denied. Men have declared that Christ did not experience death upon the cross, but that He only fainted. In a swoon, He was taken from the cross, carried in to the tomb, and buried while in a state o f sus pended animation. In due time, He was resuscitated by the coolness o f the tomb, and since He had never died on the cross, He' was able of His own accord to escape from the tomb by walking out. Others have declared that the women were halluci nated ; that they had never seen our Lord actually in death; or that they merely thought they had seen Christ alive, and then went and spread the story which His followers ac cepted as a historical fact. Over against such denials, Scripture places four essen tial facts: Christ was crucified. Christ was dead. Christ was buried. Christ arose from among the dead. - Those standing around the cross beheld a broken Man / —His head, His hands, His feet, His side.. The actual cause o f Christ’s physical death was the breaking o f His heart. Christ did not die by the hands o f men. He had declared that no man had power to take from Him His life : “ I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” It was this great act o f self-surrender that took place at Calvary and at the tomb. When His task was finished, “ He gave up the ghost.” He released His Spirit from its house of, clay; He ended His life in the “ likeness o f men” which He-had taken in His virgin birth. Even “ Pilate marveled if he were already dead” (Mk. 15 :44). A faithful eyewitness, John the beloved, testifies to all this. “ But one o f the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). A rupture o f the heart causes a release of
N ic od em u s o b ta ined permission to have His, body, .took it down from the cross, and bur ied it. H is enem ies thought Christ was d e a d ; they went a w a y fr om t h e c r o s s fu lly con vinced that H is ea rth ly l i f e had ended”and that He h a d b e e n d u l y buried. D id C hrist R ise ? Jesus had d e - -
dared His own res u r r e c t iom : “ De stroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. . . But he spake o f the temple o f his body.” No event in the Bible is more fully attested than the resurrection of our Lord. Note three out standing proofs. T he R isen C hrist AND THE E mpty T omb The tomb was found empty. Either God raised Christ’s body out o f the tomb or else men stole His body. Who possessed the body o f Jesus? Did His enemies possess it? They rejoiced in His crucifixion and burial and consequently did not desire His body. They bad in sisted that a guard be placed so that His body might remain within the tomb where they knew His friends had buried it. I f His foes had the body o f Jesus when it was declared the tomb was empty, why did they not produce it and thus [Continued on page 120] JO H N T E N E IG H T E E N I fall to trembling when I think o f how H e made the blood-tipped thorns That marred His brow, He made the very cross On which H e died, The cruel, shining steel That pierced His side, And not a man o f all That jeering crew Could draw a breath unless H e willed him to! — M arth a S nell N icholson .
*Pastor, First Baptist Church.
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