The Third Day He Rose Again

There are other proofs of this central fact of our Religion.

And it should be borne in mind that Christianity is not primarily a system of Philosophy or Theology. It is not, therefore, capable of being proved by argument, but the facts on which it rests are attested by eye-witnesses.

The disciples did not expect Christ to rise. Rénan’s suggestion as to the origin of the belief in the Resurrection would be more worthy of credence if they had done so. It would have been credible that an excited imagination, which was eagerly expecting to see Christ risen from the tomb, might have mistaken a fluttering whiteness in the weird twilight for His presence. Many of the so-called appearances of the Middle Ages were probably due to this. Young girls expected to see an angel or the Mother of our Lord, and the expectation so wrought on their imagination as to assume bodily form and shape.

But with the disciples and friends of Christ the 101 case was far different. Did the women expect Christ to rise? Why then did they prepare their Spiceries and come so early to the tomb? Did Mary expect Jesus to rise? Why then did she mistake Him for the gardener? Did Thomas expect Him to rise? Why, then, did he say, ““Except I see in His hands the print of the nails I will not believe?” Did the disciples as a whole expect to see Him risen? Why then did Jesus upbraid them with their slowness of heart to believe the Scriptures?

The testumony of Paul is of priceless value in this respect. He had the opportunity of knowing all that the Pharisees could say against belief in our Lord’s Resurrection. From his boyhood he had been taught to hate the Nazarenes: to despise their claims. He had investigated the whole case for himself, as the immense sacrifices which he was compelled to make for his belief compelled him to do, but he was willing to surrender everything rather than renounce the faith which had been begotten in his soul by that vision on the road to Damascus.

The Resurrection was witnessed to, not by one lone woman, but by 500 brethren at once, most of whom were living when Paul wrote his first letter to Corinth. They not only saw Him, but ate with Him. They did not see Him at a distance but near, not once or twice but often. They heard from His own lips things touching the Kingdom of God. There is no event in history more thoroughly authenticated. If we refuse to accept this evidence, none would avail to convince us. Notice the emphasis that the Apostle laid on this sublime event. “Yea, rather, is risen again” (Rom. viii. 34). We stand before the cross where Jesus died, and contemplate the infinite love which led Him to that supreme act.” Instead of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the Cross!” We try to estimate the full results of His death in this and other worlds. We ‘endeavour to penetrate the mystery of that cry of forsakenness, and to unravel the secret of His - broken heart. We cry, O miracle of miracles! O mystery of mysteries, O unparalleled love! But Paul cries, ‘‘ Yea, rather.’ It was as though he said, Great and precious as is the death, the Resurrection of the Lord is still greater and more precious, because it is the Father’s ratification of His claims, and the seal of His acceptance as our Mediator and King. The cross tells us much, the open grave tells us more. In the death we realize how near Jesus can come to every soul of man, who is frail as the flower and grass, but in the Resurrection we realize that He who died in weakness lives by the power of God.

Do we sufficiently realize “the power of the Resurrection?”? What a power is exerted on an entire family when the eldest boy leaves the village home for a situation in the great city. The thoughts of the mother and father, of the sisters and brothers are constantly travelling across the intervening distance, and sending wireless messages of love and prayer. They feel that they have a stake in London now. It almost seems as much their city as the nearest market town. If they hear any one speaking of London they listen with a new interest as though they were citizens already.

Thus is it with those who love our Lord Jesus. He has conquered death and the grave. Leading captivity captive, He has gone like another Joseph into the great and awful Palace. And as we are one with Him, we, too, have passed into that strange new life. We died with Him, lay in His tomb, and were raised in Him, when He rose, and in Him we sit enthroned.