May 1

Why seek ye the living among the dead; he is not here, but is risen.—Luke 24:5—6.

THE resurrection of Jesus, doubtless took place at the instant of the earthquake, when the angel of the Lord descended and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre. Now had been fulfilled all those predictions respecting his burial, and now, according to his own words, it behoved him to build again the temple of his own body, which the Jews had indeed destroyed. As Jonah too, was three days in the belly of the fish, so that signal type, was now realised in Christ, being a portion of three days in the heart of the earth, the last and most striking sign of his Divinity, with which the world should ever be favored. But the resurrection of Jesus has been disputed. The Jews still scorn the doctrine of Christ's resurrection: and the sceptical deist treats it, as a mere priestly invention. The Christian values it as the key-stone, bearing the whole edifice of Christianity. Let us briefly examine the evidence which scripture and reason afford on this important subject. It is certain that Christ died. His death is placed beyond all doubt. His body was secured and guarded by the Roman soldiers, and the mouth of the sepulchre was sealed. Who would dare to break it? Who would oppose the guard? The body was missing—the tomb is empty. What has become of the remains of Christ? If he is not risen, why do not his enemies produce the corpse, and confront his disciples? What account do the guard give of the matter? They say, that while they slept, his disciples stole him away. How came they to sleep? It was death for a soldier to be found asleep on guard. Strange that they should all sleep, at the same time. Still more so, that when asleep, they should observe Christ's body removed, and know that it was his disciples who were stealing him? The ridiculous account furnished by the guard, forms very presumptive evidence in favor of Christ's resurrection from the dead.