90
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
February 1932
when Jesus’ enemies were joining together to put Him to death, His friends and dis ciples were so afraid that they all ran away and left Him. And it is sad to know that Pilate, the ruler, was willing to let Jesus be crucified when he himself knew that Jesus had done no wrong. All Jesus’ life, He had spent His time explaining to the people why He had come into the world
and what the work was which He had to do, but the people were very, slow to un derstand it all. And it is just the same with people today. Some people are too busy to try to understand, and some are too lazy. Most of the people who don’t understand forget to read God’s W ord to find out and to pray to God to make them understand.
gan with this One who is the firstborn from among the dead. Being in the family, all the members can now approach God as Father, which they could not do before. Mary responded to the Saviour’s sum mons with prompt and full obedience. This should characterize all who have a per sonal knowledge o f the Lord’s resurrec tion. How simply the story is told in verse 19: “Mary Magdalene came and told” what she had seen and heard. III. T he C onsequence of the R esurrection (19, 20); Filled with fear, the disciples gathered within closed doors waiting for they knew not what. Suddenly Jesus appeared in their midst, speaking peace to their troubled hearts. Peace supplanted their fear, as surance came in place of their doubt, and gladness replaced their sorrow. “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” Apart from the resurrection, there is no truth in Scripture, hence-no saving gospel, and no hope for the future. The cross had appalled the disciples, and the death of Jesus had shattered all their hopes. When He was crucified, panic seized them, and when He died, consternation reigned among them. Fear and disappointment and despair became their portion. But the res urrection turned their gloom into gladness. Their hope returned, joy came to them, as surance ruled their hearts, and boldness marked them as they went forth to live for Him and to serve Him—and, if need be, to die for Him. The importance o f our Lord’s literal resurrection cannot be overstated. Upon this fact rests His own veracity. To strengthen the faith o f His disciples and to prepare them for the event o f the cross, He told them seven times that He would rise again. Furthermore, when He had been questioned by the Jews in the early part o f His ministry and asked to give proof o f the truth o f H is‘ Claims, He o f fered them, the proof of His literal resur rection (cf. John 2:19). No wonder,then, that His enemies, remembering this word, were so eager to guard the tomb! The truth o f the Old Testament depends upon the literal resurrection o f our Lord. Its pages are filled with declarations which are valueless, if He did not rise (cf. Psa. 2 :7 ; 16:9, 10; Isa. 55:3; Psa. 49:15, etc.). If we look upon the resurrection as being only a spiritual experience, we must re gard the Old Testament as being unworthy of belief. I f we hold to the one, we must consistently hold to the other. Christ died according to the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15 :l-4 ). Peter and Paul preached the resurrection (cf. Acts 2:32, 33; 13:29-37; 26:22, 23). If we accept the gospel as proclaimed by these apostles, we must believe in. the literal resurrection of Christ. The historicity o f the Gospels depends upon it. Each o f the evangelists refers to the resurrection of Christ as an historical event—as much so as any other event which they describe (cf. Matt. 28:6 ; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24:6; John 20:6). If we be lieve that any part o f the life o f Christ, as presented in the Gospels, was literal, then we must believe that His resurrection was also literal. The truthfulness o f the book o f Acts depends upon it. Throughout this book, the literal resurrection o f Christ is not only taken for granted, but, over and over again, direct statements o f the fact are made. Unless these be true, o f course the
MARCH 27, 1932 JESUS RISES FROM THE DEAD (Easter Lesson) J ohn 20:1-31
Lesson Text: John 20:11-20. Golden Text: “Now is Christ risen fronr the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20). The Garden Tomb 'l l - ast week we stood upon that hill, | I “ without the city wall,” upon which ' our Lord was crucified. Today we shall visit the garden that contained the tomb in which He was buried, and from
-sorrow was great when she found that He was gone—so great that even the appear ance of two angels could not relieve it. Twice she was asked the question, “Woman, why weepest thou?” The first time the. angels put the query, the second time the risen Lord Himself. It was a strange question indeed in the face of Mary’s grief: “ They have taken away my Lord.” Here was love without an object, darkness without light, ignorance without a teacher, weakness without strength, hope buried without fulfillment, and death with out life. Why should she not weep? Then suddenly she came to the knowl edge that the Lord had actually risen from among the dead. Overcome with the truth, she could only breathe His title, “ Rabboni,” or Master. Here was satisfac tion for the heart o f love, light for the darkest path, teaching o f eternal truth, strength for all the burdens, forgiveness for all sins, fulfillment for all hopes, and life instead o f death. There was a famous man who taught that the hallucination o f a woman gave to the church its God. But here was no hal lucination, no dream, no vision. It was the literal Lord, now standing before her, whom Mary loved. The truth of Christ’s resurrection does not rest upon the mere testimony of one woman. It is built upon a rock foundation, and all the attempts to prove it false have faded away like mist before the morning sun. The fact that Christian people gather for worship in churches and Sunday-schools proves the truth o f the resurrection. There are so many other proofs of His literal'resurrec tion from among the dead that it has been said—and with perfect truth—that the resurrection is the best attested fact in all history. It would be more difficult to prove to a skeptic that Queen Victoria lived than to prove that Jesus Christ rose from among the dead. II. T he M eaning of the R esurrection (17, 18). _ Mary’s ignorance was now replaced by knowledge, as her sorrow had been re placed by joy. When the Lord commanded her, “ Touch me not,” or “take not hold upon me,” He implied that relationships which had existed while He was upon the earth were now done away. They had given place to higher connections than could be known in the flesh. The Lord Jesus was now possessed with a principle o f life which would go on throughout eter nity, without aging and without decaying. The risen Lord commanded Mary to go to His brethren and tell what she had seen. They were now His brethren — language which He did not often use before His own resurrection. Until that event, they were but pupils sitting at the feet of their great Teacher. But now they were brethren in the same family. The family really be
w h i c h He a r o s e . While standing upon the top o f Golgotha, we turn our gaze to the west. Just below us, not over two hun dred yards distant, is a beautiful garden. It stands upon the same spot that was occu pied by another gar
den nineteen hundred years ago—the gar den o f Joseph o f Arimathaea. In this garden are flowers, shrubs, and olive trees. In the center o f the garden is an ancient winepress. That which interests us most, however, is the tomb. “ Now in the place where he was crucified was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid” (John 19:41). On the north side of the garden, cut out of the solid rock, is the tomb. The face of the rock has been cut down to form a perpendicular wall on the outside. The door, when originally cut, was doubtless the same as the doorways of other tombs in the vicinity. It was about three feet square. This made it necessary for one entering to stoop down, and crawl in on hands and knees. The door in this tomb has been enlarged since it was first cut, and we can easily enter. W e find our selves in a room about twelve by twenty feet in size. The walls, ceiling, and floors are o f the natural rock, because the tomb was made by hewing out the white lime stone o f which the hills of this vicinity are composed. About the sides -of the tomb are ledges, or shelves, upon which the bo dies were originally laid. In one corner is a recess, in which they tell us the body of Christ was laid. Yet the cold stone walls of this tomb could not hold Him, for, on the third day, He arose to bring new life and new hope to every believer until He comes again. Outline and Exposition All the Jews believed in a resurrection of the dead (John 11:23, 24), but to rise from among the dead was something unique. In His resurrection from among the dead, our Lord be'comes the forerunner o f all the saints. I. T he F act of the R esurrection | ¡§ 1 1 Mary went to the tomb expecting to find only the dead body o f her Lord. Her
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