Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

XI.

Our Saviour's miraculous resurrection from the

dead.

LUKE Xxiv. 5—7.

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.

SOON after our blessed Lord had yielded up his innocent soul into the hands of his heavenly Father, and had finished his sufferings by his death, it being the day of the preparation for the feast of the passover, which then fell upon the sabbath, and made it a day of greater solemnity than ordinary, the Jews had besought Pilate that the bodies of those that were executed might be taken down from their crosses, and so sad a spectacle not remain in people's view at a time of so great rejoicing. And lest they should not be quite dead, and revive and make their escape, they desired their legs might be broken, the pain of which would either hasten their death, or at least secure them from getting away.

Accordingly the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two malefactors that were crucified with Jesus; but when they were about to do the like to him, perceiving that he was thoroughly dead, they desisted; whereby a prophecy concerning him was

fulfilled, which said, A bone of him shall not be broken a, and that injunction of not breaking any bone of the paschal lamb, which was a lively type of our Saviour, remarkably observed b.

But to make sure work of Jesus, one of the soldiers, at the request of the Jews that stood by, as we may probably conjecture, thrust his spear through his heart, as appears by the blood and water that came out of the wound; whereby another prophecy was fulfilled, that saith, They shall look upon me whom they pierced c.

No sooner was this done, but Joseph of Arimathea, an honourable counsellor, and one that believed in Jesus, having begged his body of Pilate, came and took him down; and having wrapped him in clean linen, he and Nicodemus, who brought a great quantity of spices to embalm him, with great decency and respectful care, carried him to a new sepulchre or burying-place of Joseph's, like our vaults, which was in a garden near at hand, lately made for himself and family.

Now when they had laid him in one of the cells, or graves, that were cut out in the rock for that purpose, and covered it with a stone fitted for it. and closed up the entrance of the sepulchre with a large stone, that was likewise provided for that purpose, they went their way d; the pious women that followed Jesus to his crucifixion having attended his body to the burial, and beheld where and how it was laide. But the chief priests and Pharisees, having heard him say while he was alive, that after three days he would rise again; to prevent that, if

a Psalm xxxiv. 20. d Mark xv. 46.

b Exod. xii. 46. e Ver. 47.

c Zech. xii. 10.

possible, which, as they said rightly, would be of worse consequence to them than all the rest, and mightily confirm the people in their belief in him as the Messias, they went to Pilate, desiring him to set a guard about the sepulchre till the third day was past, lest his disciples should steal him away, and say he was risen from the dead. Which request

Pilate granted, and bid them make it as sure as they could; and they did so, sealing the stone at the mouth of the vault, and setting a watch. Which mighty care of theirs, to prevent any thing that might look like his rising again, proved an unanswerable argument of the reality of it, since there could be no cheat where so much caution was used to prevent it. For as for the soldiers that guarded him saying, as they were hired to do, that his disciples stole him away while they slept, that was so ridiculous, that it manifestly confuted itself.

Now when the first day of the week began to dawn, early in the morning, before the sun was up, Mary Magdalene, and other pious women with her, having so far restrained their zeal as not to go till the rest of the sabbath was over, (and it would be very happy if all that have zeal would govern it as well as they did,) went then with eager haste to perform the last offices of kindness and respect to their dead Master, and fill his grave with spices to preserve his body the longer from putrefaction, and once more to water it with their affectionate tears, and take their last farewell.

But when they came near the place, they were in great care how to remove the heavy stone that they saw placed at the entrance of the sepulchre; when approaching nearer, they saw it was removed to

their hands; and, which was much to their amazement, they saw an angel at the entrance into the sepulchre sitting upon it, whose countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow f And presently after, entering further into the place where Jesus was laid, they saw two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain, (like the two cherubs at each end of the mercy-seat b.) And they said, Why weep you? Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.

And so little did the apostles and our Saviour's other friends expect this joyful news, notwithstanding he had foretold them of it, (much less did they combine together to make the story,) that they were in strange confusion upon it, and scarce knew how to believe one another's reports about it. Their joy was dashed with fear, their hope with distrust, and our Lord was fain, by many infallible arguments, to take pains to convince them of the truth of his resurrection; and which we shall have occasion to take notice of by and by.

Not to insist therefore any further upon the matter of fact, or history of our Saviour's resurrection, which to all unprejudiced people is attested beyond all doubt, and every circumstance of it very affecting, and worthy our devout meditation, and, all things considered, is the greatest of all his miracles; I shall proceed to shew of what great consequence it is to us.

And it is of so great consequence, that St. Paul says, had not Christ risen from the dead, our faith

f Matt. xxviii. 2, 3. Mark xvi. 5. h Exod. xxv. 18, 19, &c.

g John xx. 12.

would be in vain.

His whole argument upon this most important subject is drawn up in one view in ch. xv. of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, where, after he had asserted the matter of fact from the testimony of eyewitnesses, of which himself was one that had seen him alive, after they knew him to have been dead and buried, and those not only his apostles and particular friends, but five hundred persons that saw him at oncek, most of them then living when he wrote that Epistle, which was not many years after after thus establishing the matter of fact, he shews of what mighty importance it is to us, and says directly, If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins1. The reason of which assertion I shall now endeavour to shew, that we may see of what vast consequence our Lord's resurrection is to us, and with what holy joy, consequently, we should celebrate the festival that is ordained by the church in commemoration of it.

And first, if Christ be not risen, our faith is vain; and we are yet in our sins, because he was our representative, substituted in our place and stead, and therefore, by God's dealing with him, we may know both what we had before deserved, and what we may now expect ourselves.

Now, what he suffered for us, what agonies, what shame, what grief, what cruel torments even to the death, we have seen in the preceding Discourse; which gives us a terrible demonstration of what we ourselves had deserved by reason of our sins.

But, had this been all, how should we have known 1 Ver. 17.

I Cor. xv. 8.

[blocks in formation]
« ForrigeFortsett »