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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
April 1924
V. 5. In Matthew 28:3 he is called “the angel of the Lord,” but here he is described as he appeared to the eye in the bloom of a life, that knows no decay. In Mat thew he is represented as sitting on the stone outside the sepulchre; but since even there he says, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay” (2 8 :6 ), he seems, aá Alford says, to have gone in with them from without; only await ing their arrival to accompany them into the hallowed spot, and instruct them about, it. Sitting on the right side. Hav ing respect to the position in which His Lord had lain there. This trait is peculiar to Mark, but cf. Luke 1:11 “clothed in a long white garment”— on its length, see Isaiah 6:1.— J. F. & B. V. 6. There is no cause to fear, absolutely none, for those who have believed on the Lord and are His own. All darkness, all uncertainty, all doubt and fear aré at an end. The whole sin question has been righteously dealt with. The empty tomb, the glorious victory over death and the grave are the everlasting witnesses.—-Gaebelein. “He is not here.” How the heart rejoices that though He may be found everywhere, He cannot be found in the grave. He is not a dead, but a living God. The supreme in terest in the sepulchre is that it is empty, and this fact lies at the foundation of all true Gospel preaching. Instead of the Lord, they found His angel (Matt. 2 0 :2 ); instead of His body they found His clothes (John 20:6-7); instead of the gloom, the glory (Luke 24 :4 ). There was no need for the spies that loving unbelief brought; no need for the worry over the great stone. They might have spared them selves the unnecessary anxiety, had they remembered HiS words, (Matt. 20:19; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; Luke 18:32). — Selected. V.. 7. Peter is not forgotten, although He had failed, as a follower (Luke 22:54 ), and blasphemed the beloved Son (Matt. 2'6:74), yet the Lord loved him and gave a gracious invitation for him to meet Him in Galilee. How tenderly He deals with the backslider! Galilee, was the meeting place; He had promised it long before (Mark 14:2,8). How beautiful it would have been for them to have treasured His words and believed His message, and repaired to Galilee to meet Him! Yet the Lord caused even the unbelief to bring blessing. Now the,Word says He has gone before and will meet us in the sky (John 14:2, 3; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17). Do we believe it— look forward with faith to the joy of that meeting ?—Selected; The lesson on Elisha might very appropriately and profit ably be used for Easter, for his life and ministry fairly throb with resurrection power, even to the extent of raising the dead (2 Ks. 4). But in many ways it will be better to take the distinctively Easter mes- DEVOTIONAL gage from the New Testament. COMMENT To the women at the tomb came this J o h n A. Hubbard marvelous announcement: “Jesus ye seek—--tie Nazarene, the crucified: He arose! He is not here!” (Mk. 16:6, margin Scofield Ref. Bible). The full significance of this statement has not yet been realized. However, something of its tremendous importance has been revealed in the Book, and something of its blessed reality has been experienced in the lives of thousands upon thousands of believers ( “born-again ones” ) down through the centuries. The Book tells us that if Christ was not' raised from the dead (and this certainly must refer to Mis body, for His spirit was not dead) then there is nothing to Christianity -—all our preaching is vain (void), our faith is vain, we are still in our sins, and of all men we Christians are most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:13-19). “But now is Christ risen from the dead” (1 Cor. 15:20). In these words of the Golden Text we have the note of cer tainty and of triumph. We praise God for the Christ who died for our Sins, and in the glory we will sing of the Lamb that was slain for sinners; but, bless His Name, we serve, not a dead, but a living Christ. And the blessed reality of this is seen in the transformation which the Risen One works In the lives of those who really accept Him. Years
whatever he desired. On one occasion when he came to his closest friends, they did not know Him, John 20:14-16, and Mark records his appearance “in another form’’ Mark 16:12. This reveals an important feature of the resurrec tion life, viz. that in it spirit controls matter instead of matter controlling spirit as at present. The spirit has the power to make the body just what it wishes at any given time. In the earthly life we groan being burdened, 2 Cor. 5:4 “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be s a llo w e d up of life,” be cause the physical dominates the spiritual. In the resur rection life the 'spiritual will dominate the physical and then we shall know what real liberty is. Any doubt or denial of the literal and physical nature of Christ’s resur rection is a fatal defect in doctrine. Christianity is more than a code of ethics for the ordering of a mortal life. It is a vital and Divine force to transform men into a blessed and holy immortality. It is summarized and exemplified in the career of its Head and Founder who describes himself in Rev. 1:18 as “He that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore.” Any view of Christianity that ob scures or minimizes the transfiguration and resurrection of Christ falls so far short of the Scriptural type that it loses all claim to be considered Christian. Mark 16:1-15. V. 1. The Jewish Sabbath ended Saturday at sunset. As soon as the day was over, the shops opened and Mary Magdalene and her friends bought spices that they might come at early break of day the next morning to the tomb with the spices they had prepared and COMMENTS anoint the dead body of Jesus. It FROM THE seems from Matthew’s account that they COMMENTARIES also made a brief visit to the tomb on V. V. Morgan Saturday night. (Matt 28:1 R. Y.— Torrey. Order of ten events on the day of which it speaks: (1) The three women, Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of James; and Salome, start for the sepulchre followed by other women bearing spices. (2) These find the stone rolled away and Mary Magdalene, goes to tell the disciples (Luke 23:55-24:9; John 20:1, 2). (3) Mary, the mother of James, draws near the tomb and discovers the angel (Matt. 2 8 :2 ). (4) She returns to meet the other women bearing the spices. (5) Peter and John arrive, look in and go away. (6) Mary Magdalene returns, sees the two an gels and Jesus (John 20:11-18). (7) She goes to tell the disciples. (8) Mary, the mother of James; returns with.the other women, all of whom see the two angels (Luke 24:4, 5; Mark 15:15 ). (9) They receive the angel’s message. (10) While seeking the disciples are met by Jesus (Matt. 28:8-10). Another comment of interest is the order of the appearance of Jesus on this day. (1) To Mary Magda lene (John 20:14-18); (2) To the women returning from the tomb with the angel’s message (Matt. 28:8-10; (3) To Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15 :5 ); (4) To the two on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-31); (5) To the apostles in the absence of Thomas (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-24). —Gray. V. 3. However, the resurrection of the Lord did not take place when the earthquake happened and when the stone was rolled away. Paintings often help along this un- scriptural conception. No angel was needed to open the way for Him from the tomb. God raised Him from the dead and He Himself arose. The stone was rolled away to show that the tomb was empty. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead was God’s mighty and glorious seal upon the atoning work accomplished on the cross. It was God’s answer to His strong crying and tears. (Heb. 5 :7 ).—Gae- belein. On reaching it they find their difficulty gone— the stone already rolled away by an unseen hand. And are there no others who’, when advancing to duty in the face of ap palling difficulties, find their stone also rolled, away?— J. F. & B.
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