THE KING’S BUSINESS
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three days and three nights in the tomb (Luke 24:31). Friday, September 10. Mark 16:5-8. The women were overwhelmed with per plexity and fear. If they had not forgotten Jesus’ words the true solution would have occurred to them. The angel uttered one of the gladdest messages this old world has ever heard, “He is risen: he is not here.” He first bids them see for themselves and then tell others; definite experience must precede effective testimony. There is a wonderful touch of tenderness in the two words, “and Peter” (v. 7). Why “and Peter” ? Was not Peter one of the dis ciples? Yes, leader of the whole company, but Peter had denied his Lord three times with oaths and curses, and, if the message had just come “disciples,” poor broken hearted, backslidden Peter would have thought that he was not included. It is deeply significant that this little touch is found in only one of the gospels, Mark, which by common consent is Peter’s Gospel, Mark acting as amanuensis. The women should have rejoiced, but were trembling and astonished (thus we all receive God’s messengers) in so far as they said nothing to anyone they met by the way (v. 8), but they did bring His disciples word (Matt. 28:8). There seems to be a contradiction in the accounts of Matthew and Mark. The explanation of the apparent contradiction probably is that some of them kept abso lutely silent but Mary Magdalene and per haps others brought word to His disciples (Jno. 20:2). Saturday, September 11. ' Mark 16:9-20. The facts here recorded are stated very briefly and are given in more detail in Matthew, Luke and John. Perhaps the most noticeable thing is the persistent un belief of the disciples in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Time and again be fore His death the Lord told them that He would rise, and yet now when those who had actually seen Him risen came and told
to the tomb on Saturday night (Matt. 28:1, R. V.). They started for the tomb while it was yet dark (Jno. 20:1). Mary Mag dalene hurried on ahead of the other wo men and reached the tomb at early dawn. The love of these women for their Lord brought them thus early to His sepulchre to perform for Him the last service in their power. Part of their faith was gone, but all their love remained. They ought to have known that He did not need anoint ing (Matt. 16:21; 20:19), but their service though mistaken was acceptable to Jesus and He rewarded it by revealing the glor ious truth through these angelic messen gers. Mary of Bethany was the one who really was on time with her anointing (Matt. 26:6-18) and she was in this com pany. The reason why they did not know He had risen and left the sepulchre was that they had not listened to His own words. This is the reason why we do not know many things about our Lord we ought to know. None of the men were at the tomb, not because of their superior knowl edge but because of their inferior love. The> were at home mourning and weeping, and when told that the Lord had risen they did not believe (Luke 24:10, 11; Mark 16:10, tl). The women appear in a better light than the men in the story. Mary Magda lene was the leader of the women: as she had so much done for her (Luke 8:2), she became the leader in love and in its min istries. As they drew nigh the tomb they recalled the great stone at its mouth. If they had been more “practical” they might have known that before, but a cool headed common-sense disciple who foresees all the difficulties and therefore sits down and does nothing, does not accomplish as much in this world as the uncalculating love that follows its own impulses and plunges ahead and risks the difficulties. God did not roll away the stone for Jesus to get out but for the women to get in. There is reason to suppose that Jesus had been out for hours, arising and leaving the tomb just at the beginning of the first day of the week, at sunset Saturday evening, thus passing just
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