THE KING’, detail, but in reality it is one in which there is deep significance. It is not merely a proof that the tomb had not been rifled; leaving disorder behind, but it shows' that Jesus, in the supreme moment o f His life displayed that same Divine serenity and calmness that marked His whole career, and instead o f excitedly snatching the nap kin from His face and tossing it wherever it might fall, He quietly took it off and in an orderly way rolled it up and laid it i down “ in a place by itself .” Some would have us believe that this story is not fact, but fiction. Where is the master artist that was capable o f this minute but sublime touch o f life, and not merely human life, but Divine life? Another interpretation of the napkin lying by itself is, that Jesus in rising had passed out o f His garments just as He passed through walls when doors were shut (cf. v. 19), and thus left the garments lying just as He had passed out o f them. But the exact rendering o f the word translatjed “ rolled up” (literally “ rolled in” ) seems to fit better the other interpretation. But whichever interpreta tion we take, it is clear proof o f the truth fulness o f the story'and o f the actual res urrection o f our Lord. And now John enters and he too sees the linen cloths lying, and realized the significance o f them, “ and believed.” Long before this he had believed on Jesus, but now there was a deeper faith in him as the risen Son o f God. Up to this point it was ignorance o f the Scripture regarding the resurrection (cf. Ps. 16:8- 10 ) that had kept them from believing. They ought to have understood and believed before, and were responsible for not believ ing before their eyes aided their faith (cf. Luke 24:25, 26; John 20:29). Saturday, September p. John 20 : 1 1 - 14 . Having told the disciples about the empty tomb Mary returned to the tomb, but weary with her trip to the tomb and her running back from the tomb, she reaches the tomb after the disciples had left. Here is another incidental indication o f the accuracy o f the narrative. Reaching the tomb she lin-
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83Z gered about it. It was love that kept Mary lingering at the tomb, but it was unbelief that kept her weeping. Again and again Jesus had told His disciples that He was to be crucified, buried and that H e would rise again the third day, but this was so contrary to their preconceived ideas that they could not understand it and it found no lodgment in their minds. However, His enemies remembered it (Matt. 27:63), but His friends did not. No wonder Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief and hard- * ness o f heart (Mark 16:14; Luke 24:25, 26). As she weeps for her supposedly dead Lord whose tomb she supposed had been rifled, she stoops down to look into the tomb again and see if after all there is not some mis take about it, half hoping to see the body of her crucified Lord still lying there. But instead she sees two angels. Blit she has no eyes for angels, it is her Lord Himself she wants. Half in wonder and altogether in protest the angel exclaimed, “Woman, why weepest thou ?” Mary’s answer is-very touching and full o f meaning, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” These words make clear that though her faith was badly shattered her love was firm as ever, and her loyalty, she still speaks o f Jesus as “my Lord.” He was a dead Lord, but she wished to go to Him, even though dead, and right at her back was the living Lord who had come to her. The darkest hour that Mary ever knew will soon give way to the gladdest. And now Mary turns and looks back, and as the Greek word indi cates, looks quite steadfastly at her Lord who stands there, and yet does not recog nize Him. How clear it is. that we are ' reading an actual description o f facts and no skillfully constructed fiction. No one manufacturing a tale o f the resurrection, a resurrection that never occurred, would ever have made it up in this way: he would have pictured Mary recognizing her Lord at once. Here we are dealing with life, not fancy. Sunday, September 10 . John 20 : 15 - 18 . Jesus Himself repeats the question o f the
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