“He is not Here, but is Risen”
And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment.—Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words. And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.—St. Luke xxiii: 56; xxiv: 1-9.
NOTE BY THE ARTIST
This and the following picture present the chief features of the rock-hewn tomb referred to in Note facing picture No. 71. It is about fifteen feet long by eleven feet wide, and eight feet in height, and it is divided transversely by a flattened arch supporting the roof. The single completed grave is formed by the erection on the floor-level of a limestone slab in notches cut in the rock for its support, thus forming, with the walls, a sort of built sarcophagus, or coffin. An additional hollow, cut in the rock for the reception of the head, explains the meaning of “the napkin that was about his head” being “in a place by itself.” Sepulchres of this type are comparatively rare, and, providing as it does a minimum of accommodation for the labor expended on its construction, this new tomb must obviously have belonged to a man of wealth.
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And in examining the proof of the resurrection of Christ the most important thing to notice is—the number and character of the witnesses.
The first person who saw our blessed Lord, after he rose from the dead, was Mary Magdalene. We read about this in St. Mark xi: 9. St. John xx: 11-18. After this he appeared to certain other women, who were returning from the sepulchre. St. Matt. xxviii: 9, 10. Then he appeared to Simon Peter, alone. St. Luke xxiv: 34, I. Cor. xv: 5. His next appearance was to two of his disciples, as they were walking together from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. He had a long talk with them and stopped and ate bread with them. St. Luke xxiv: 13-32. The fifth appearance of the risen Saviour was to ten of his disciples, Thomas being the only one of them who was not there. This was at Jerusalem, on the evening of the first glad Easter day. St. John xx: 19-32. After this we hear nothing of him for a week. But on the evening of “the first Sunday after Easter,” he made his sixth appearance. On this occasion the eleven disciples were all together. Thomas was with them now. They were sitting in a room, with the door closed, and no doubt fastened, for fear of the Jews. Only one subject could occupy their thoughts—and that was the resurrection of their wonderful Master. Suddenly Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and said, “Peace be unto you.” In spite of all that he had heard from the other disciples, Thomas declared he could not believe it possible that Jesus had risen from the dead. When his brethren told him that it was true, he said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” But on this occasion the loving and gracious Saviour met his doubting disciple in the very way in which he had desired to be met. For we read: “Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands: and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” St. John xx: 26-29.
The seventh appearance of the risen Saviour, was on the shore of the sea of Galilee. A number of the apostles were together on this occasion. It was one of the most touching and impressive of all his interviews with them. The deeply interesting account of what took place at this time is given in full in the twenty-first chapter of St. John’s gospel; but we cannot enlarge on the subject now.
The eighth time that Jesus was seen after his resurrection was by the eleven disciples again. We read in St. Matt. xxviii: 16—“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.” This refers to St. Matt. xxvi: 32, when as they were partaking together of the Lord’s Supper for the first time, after referring to his death he said, “But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” We are not told where this meeting was held, or what took place on that occasion.