XV. 42-47. thew; the account is, as usual, a little more circum- CHAP. stantial; for example, S. Mark tells us that when application was made for the body of the Lord, Pilate expressed his astonishment that death should have taken place so soon, and made enquiry of the centurion before he granted the request; from which we learn incidentally that the death of our Lord took place earlier than was usual with those crucified, and we find a coincidence with S. John, who tells us that the legs of the two thieves were broken to hasten their death, but that the Lord was passed by because He was dead already. S. Matthew calls Joseph of Arimathea a disciple of Jesus, and S. Mark describes him as one who waited for the kingdom of God. I suppose that the two descriptions are to be regarded as meaning the same thing, and each may be used to throw light upon the other. Also this is to be observed, that if in the early days of the Gospel a disciple of Jesus could properly be described as one who waited for the kingdom of God, then a disciple of Jesus can probably be described in these days as one who has found the kingdom of God, who has been able to recognise God as the king of the whole earth, asserting and exercising His sovereignty through Jesus Christ His Son. This at least is certain, that unless we acknowledge ourselves to be true and loyal subjects of the kingdom of God, we cannot be true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ; the mere belief in our own individual salvation will not establish our right to be called disciples. It may be added that disciples of Christ must even now in a certain sense be waiting for the kingdom of God: the kingdom of God is come, but only partly so; it is still coming; we still pray daily that it may come, and the entire estab CHAP. lishment of the kingdom will be the consummation of our privileges as disciples of the Lord Jesus. XV. 42-47. Joseph went in boldly, or dared to go in, to Pilate. The bold- It was perhaps not a service of actual corporal danger, but it was at least a service from which many would ness of Joseph. have shrunk to declare himself on the side of one who : had just suffered as a malefactor, to go to the ruler and ask as a special favour to be allowed to take away His body, this was a task which few would have undertaken, and I have no doubt that S. Mark expressed the character of the act correctly when he spoke of it as the deed of a bold man. CHAP. I-4. S. Matt. xxviii. 1. S. Luke xxiv. 1, 2. The constancy of the CHAPTER XVI. 1. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. The women here mentioned by name are they who women who were spoken of before as beholding the crucifixion from a distance. They are a very good example of persons came to the sepulchre. acting up to the light vouchsafed to them; they knew not the Scriptures, that Jesus must rise again from the dead, and therefore having seen their Lord crucified and buried they came for the purpose of anointing His body. They shewed that their love was by no means shaken by all that had taken place; even if all their hopes had perished in the tomb they yet could never forget what Christ had done for them, and they would at least do honour to His remains, however much the world might scoff at them and account them fools. It is evident that the thought of a resurrection had never entered the minds of these women; all that they thought of doing was to pay the last sad tribute of affectionate respect to One, whom they had loved and reverenced while living; but having done what they could, God did for them what they could not do for themselves; having believed in the Lord's death, and having not stumbled at the burial, God revealed to them the mystery of the resurrection. They came to the sepulchre at the rising of the Sun: a fit season for such a visit; and typical of the great truth that Jesus Christ is risen to be the Sun of Righteousness, and the source of light and health to all those who awake out of their sleep and arise from the dead. Note also how early the women came to the sepulchre, and how determined they were not to allow any ordinary cares and engagements to stand in the way of their great duty. They did not know how the great stone would be rolled away for them: they knew they could not do it for themselves, but they believed that God would clear all difficulties out of their way and so He did when they looked, the stone was rolled away. So Christ's disciples will ever find it; insuperable CHAP. I-4. XIV. CHAP. difficulties may seem to stand between them and Him, but if they only seek Him early and with earnestness of purpose, God will roll away all the great stones and reveal Christ to their hearts. S. Matt. xxviii. 2-8. S. Luke xxiv. 3-7. A lesson concerning resurrection. 5. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6. And he said unto them, Be not affrighted: ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him. 7. But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you. 8. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. These women may teach us the right way of arriving Christ's at a true knowledge of Christ's resurrection. They had first followed Him in Galilee, and ministered to Him there; then they had come up after Him to Jerusalem ; there they watched the closing scenes of His ministry, and were witnesses of His death on the cross; and lastly, they were first at the sepulchre, and when they found the stone rolled away they went in to pay the only tribute of respect still possible to the body of their Lord and this constancy of affection was rewarded abundantly; they were permitted before others to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and to be messengers concerning the same to His disciples and to Peter. I say that these women may teach us the right way of arriving at a true knowledge of Christ's resurrection, because it is not as a mere prodigy, testified by competent witnesses, that this great fact of the Christian 5-8. dispensation must be regarded, in order that its im- CHAP. portance may be realised. It is necessary to follow XVI. Jesus (as it were) through His ministry, to see Him in His sorrows, to listen to His teaching and acknowledge that no man ever spake such words as He, to look upon Him when crucified, and finally to rejoice in the resurrection as the event which crowns the whole and saves us from being driven to the confession, Our faith is vain, we are yet in our sins. It may be noted that the effect upon the minds of the women of the new revelation, which had been made. to them, was to cause great fear and trembling. This shewed that their knowledge of the resurrection was real. They did not merely repeat the words, "I believe in Jesus Christ, who has risen again from the dead;" they perceived that they were standing upon very awful ground, when they occupied the floor of that tomb in which the body of Christ had been laid. True faith will ever produce something of the nature of fear and trembling: Jacob said, How dreadful is this place! the Lord was in this place and I knew it not! ciples and Tell His disciples and Peter-this was the way in which His disChrist dealt with him, who said he was not a disciple. Peter. I think S. Peter would blush, if he heard any claim laid on his behalf to supremacy over the rest of the Apostles on the ground of this message: the words His disciples and Peter would certainly not suggest to him, that he was so great that he might not be mentioned in the common herd, but rather that he was least of all, and not worthy to be called a disciple, because he had so shamefully and so cruelly denied that Christ was his Lord. 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day |