Flowers from the Tomb of Jesus

OUR LORD was crucified in the season of early flowers. During the month Nisan (or April) the winter rains made vegetation leap forth into wondrous beauty. The gardens were brilliant with the crocus and the hyacinth, and the plains of Sharon were snowy with the white narcissus, Jesus was buried in a rich man’s garden, and no one can tell how many flowers and odorous vines had been planted by the gardener around Joseph’s family tomb. The spices within and the plants without may have made the spot in which our dear Master slumbered exceeding fragrant

That hallowed tomb was itself buried up centuries ago, and the very spot cannot be

identified. But there are certain flowers of grace which will bloom upon the grave of Jesus to the end of time. Faith grows there in beautiful profusion. A sad company of ignorant doubters were those disciples in regard to their Master’s resurrection; even when the three women came back from the sepulchre and pronounced it empty, and that they had seen the Saviour alive, some of the Apostles treated it as an “idle tale and believed it not.” Thomas stood out until an actual sight of his Lord silenced his unbelief From that day faith in Christ’s victory over death has been a cardinal feature in every Christian’s creed. With it is linked that other faith that if Jesus rose again, so would every one who “sleeps in Jesus” rise also from the dust. This perennial flower of faith, which blooms like certain roses in all seasons, has been set out on innumerable graves all over our deathcursed world. It grows on the little mound that covers my dear boy; I seem to see it

all over among the hillocks of Greenwood.

Hope is another fragrant flower that springs from the burial sod. On one leaf of the plant we read, “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, w shall he live!’ On another leaf is inscribed, “Sorrow not as others that have no hope; for if Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” The expectation of every pastor, that he shall yet “break ground” and ascend with his flock, cheers his soul when he standi beside the grave in which his faithful ones are being laid, dust to dust. This hope is an anchor that has held many a poor heart-broken mother who has moistened her darling’s resting place with her tears. To her Jesus draws nigh and says, “Weep not; this child shall rise again.” And so ‘the tills that little sacred soil until it is ^’overed over with the blossoms of hope

as thick as white lilies of the valley. The original seeds of this fair flower came from Christ’s tomb in the garden. It grows best when it is watered by prayer. That is a desolate grave indeed over which there does not creep out a single sprig or blade of Hope!

Are these all the flowers which thrive in the hallowed mould in which Christ’s successors lie? No! There is one modest lily called Resignation. Jesus Himself declared that it was better that He should have died, for He said that He “otight to have suffered and to enter into His glory.” His road to glory lay through the tomb, and so must ours. Never did our Lord set this world above the better world. He only brought three persons back to life (that we read of), and then only for a high and especial purpose to be gained. There is a legend that the first thing Lazarus said after his resurrection was, “Shall I have to die again?” On being told that he must.

it is said that he never smiled afterward. Truly, if some of the crowned ones in Paradise were driven back to this sin-stained earth, they might well wear mourning for their own bereavement. To die is gain! That is the sweet word which I detect in every bud and leaf on the plant of Resignation. God hath better things in store for us; His will, not ours, be done.

It may seem a strange place to set out the flower of Thankfulness; but that, too, grows and emits its sweetness from Christ’s sepulchre and those of His followers. Paul, standing by that grave over which Jesus had triumphed, shouts aloud, “Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord.” His triumph over death is our triumph. Because He rose and lives again, we shall live also.

Not only on Easter Sabbaths are the?<i flowers to be found on our Lord’s emptied sepulchre, but every day, in every clime, wherever death hollows a grave, these

precious plants of grace may be made to bloom, and to scatter their delicious perfumes. Perhaps some sorrowing child of God may read these lines and inquire, “Where shall I go to find faith and hope, and resignation for yonder freshly piled mound over my dead?” Vc answer, Go to the tomb where Jesus vanquished death, — in the garden.