[251]These Scriptures clearly foretell the resurrection of Jesus. Besides this, Jesus had told his disciples while in Galilee that he would be put to death and rise from the dead. (Luke 24:6,7) "And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry." (Matthew 17:22,23) But it may not be expected of them that they should understand the meaning of these Old Testament Scriptures as referring to the resurrection of the Lord. They were not men of great learning. They were poor and followed humble occupations. They had doubtless not had the advantage of a great amount of education; but a stronger reason is that the holy spirit had not then been given and their minds had not been illuminated, and it is not to be expected that they would understand then the deep things of God's Word. (1 Corinthians 2:14) Nor is it at all surprising that they had forgotten some of the sayings of Jesus concerning his betrayal, his death and resurrection. We must remember that they loved Jesus very devotedly; and uppermost in their minds was the hope that he would be the deliverer of Israel. Only five days before his death they had joined him in his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the common people hailed him with gladness and joy. (Matthew 21:1-11) His death was so very sudden, so cruel, the shock so terrible, that the minds of these faithful disciples and others who loved him dearly were stunned. They were truly overwhelmed with sorrow and grief. He had been rudely snatched from them; unjustly tried, brutally condemned, and then subjected to the most ignominious death known to man, the death of the cross.

[252]Clearly in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah above noted, Jesus was put to death as an evil one, thereby making his grave with the wicked; and he was laid in the sepulchre of a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph.—Matthew 27:57.

[253]Little is said as to the doings of the disciples and their associates immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus when he was laid away in the tomb. The good women went and "beheld where he was laid". No doubt little else was done. After 6 o'clock p.m. of that day was the beginning of the sabbath day, and under the law the Jews must rest; hence we are not to expect that they did much of anything. Nor could it have been a day of much rest to them. It was a day of great sorrow. They could do no work to divert their minds from the terrible shock caused by the crucifixion of the Lord. The rest must have been one merely of cessation from labor. Surely they had little rest of body or peace of mind. It was a day of sorrowful waiting for them, because tomorrow they would go to the tomb. The sabbath ended at 6 o'clock p.m., but the night followed, which prevented them from visiting the tomb then.

[254]The morning following was the first day of the week; and early that morning, before it became very light, Mary Magdalene and other good women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered unto him, hastened to the Savior's tomb. When they reached there the angel of the Lord appeared unto them, saying: "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word." (Matthew 28:5-8) This news to these faithful women sounded too good to be true. They were dazed and bewildered; yet with joy they hurried away to deliver the message to others who loved the Lord.

[255]Here we have the proof that the resurrection of Jesus is one of the strings upon the harp of God, yielding great joy to those who hear its blessed sound. The first human being who heard of the resurrection rejoiced. How much more joy there must have been in heaven at that hour!

[256]Angel means messenger; that is, one who is sent on a mission as a representative or deputy, or messenger of God. These holy messengers or angels always have access to the Father, Jehovah. (Matthew 18:10) We should expect, of course, that these holy ones of the heavenly host would sing praise and give utterance to joy before the Lord at every progressive step of his plan. These angels inhabit the heavens, the high place. And so the Psalmist writes of them: "Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts". (Psalm 148:1,2) The Bible abounds with many instances wherein God has used these holy angels as messengers. He communicated with Abraham by his angels (Genesis 22:15); also with Jacob. (Genesis 31:11) God appeared unto Moses by his angel. (Exodus 3:2) He also delivered a message to Elijah by his angel. (1 Kings 19:5) These holy messengers of God guarded the interests of Jesus at all times, from the moment he left the heavenly courts to become the man Jesus for the purpose of redeeming the world of mankind. (Zechariah 3:1-7) The angel of the Lord announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of the babe Jesus. (Luke 1:31) When she gave birth to this wonderful child, the angel of the Lord brought the message to the faithful shepherds, and the great multitude of the heavenly hosts joined together with that angel in praising, God.—Luke 2:9-11.

[257]We may be sure that these faithful, holy angels, as God's instruments, were carefully watching every step of Jesus from the time of his birth up to the moment of his resurrection. With eagerness they would watch and wait to see if Jesus fully met all the requirements of God's law. They evidently knew that his full compliance would meet with the marvelous reward of a resurrection from the dead. It was one of these faithful messengers that the Lord sent from heaven to roll back the stone from the door of the tomb at the resurrection of the Master. What great joy must have filled the heavenly courts now when they beheld Jesus, by the power of God, triumphant over death and the grave!

[258]Lucifer, who became Satan, who had once been associated with the holy angels and who had seduced some of their fellow angels, had for centuries opposed Jehovah and specially tried to destroy Jesus. Jesus had been sent into the world that he might destroy the works of Satan; and now, having been raised from the dead, he would ultimately "destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil," which destruction would guarantee the deliverance of the human race. (Hebrews 2:14) Now Jesus had broken the bonds of death, being raised by Jehovah to power and glory, demonstrating the fact that he was fully approved by Jehovah. He now proved that he was worthy to be praised; and without question he received the unlimited praise of all the heavenly host. The Revelator says: "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor and glory, and blessing." —Revelation 5:11,12.

SCRIPTURAL PROOF

[259]It was not their previous knowledge of the Scriptures and their faith in them that Christ Jesus would arise from the dead which induced the disciples to believe that he was risen, but it was what they actually saw and experienced that led them to this conclusion. The knowledge gained by experience, coupled with the knowledge of the Scriptures subsequently acquired by them, not only established beyond a doubt in their own minds the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but it emboldened them to declare the message on every opportune occasion to others and to emphasize this great doctrine of truth in their epistles to the church.