The Risen Saviour

The Sabbath is passed; and early in the morning of the first day of the week, while it is yet dark, Mary Magdalene is at the sepulcher. Other women are to meet her there, but Mary is the first at the tomb. Weeping, she draws near to the place where the body of Jesus had been laid, «and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon, Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulcher, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulcher, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture.» «Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.» «But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me.»

«Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.»

Feeling that she must find some one who will tell her what has been done with Jesus, Mary turns away even from the words of the angels. As she does so, another voice addresses her: «Woman, why weepest thou?» Through her tear-dimmed eyes, Mary sees one whom she supposes to be the gardener. «Sir,» she says, «If thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary.» At the familiar voice, she turns to him. She knows now that it is no stranger who speaks. Before her she sees the living Saviour. She springs toward him, as if to embrace his feet, saying, «Rabboni.» But the Saviour raises his hand and says, «Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.»

There was no more weeping for Mary. Her heart was filled with rejoicing. She «came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.» «And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.» While Mary was absent, Jesus appeared to the women who had come to the sepulcher from another direction. These women had prepared sweet spices with which to anoint the body of their Lord. On the way to the sepulcher they had said, among themselves, «Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?» When they reached the place, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment.

The women were greatly terrified, and bowed their faces to the earth; for the sight of the heavenly being was more than they could endure. The angel was compelled to hide his glory still more before he could converse with them. «And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.»

As yet there had been no revelation of Christ to the eleven, and the women went to tell the disciples the wondrous news. «And as they went to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshiped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.» Thus Christ made an appointment for a public meeting with his brethren in Galilee.

«It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the Mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.»

«Go your way,» said the angel to the women; «tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee.» What a comforting message was thus given to Peter! The last look Jesus had given Peter was after the disciple’s thrice-uttered denial. Peter was not forgotten by Christ, and this mention of his name signified to the repentant disciple that he was forgiven.

Said the angel: «Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but he 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.»

The wonderful instruction that Christ had given his disciples was never to lose its force, but they had to be reminded of the lessons which he had repeatedly given them while he was yet with them.

«Remember,» said the angel, «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.» The disciples were surprised that they had not thought of these things before. Why had his words been forgotten?

Christ had spoken to them in regard to his future. He had declared, «All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.» He had shown them «how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed.» When going up to Jerusalem, he had taken the twelve apart by the way, and said to them» «Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify him.» If he had left the matter here, there would indeed have been cause for the disciples to be hopeless. But he added, «And be raised again the third day.» «After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.»

Why, then, did the disciples look on the dark side, and feel so wholly discouraged? Had not Christ anticipated their disappointment? Had not given precious instruction? «Let not your heart be troubled,» he had said; «ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also . . . Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.»

Christ had said everything encouraging that he could, in order that the faith of his disciples might not fail when he hung upon the cross. If, after his crucifixion and burial, in the place of giving way to their sorrow, the disciples had carefully reviewed what Christ had told them to prepare them for this time, they would not have been so wholly discouraged. They would have seen light amid the darkness. Mrs. E. G. White.

After the crucifixion of Christ, the priests and rulers did not feel the sense of victory which they had expected. They did not rejoice at their success in silencing the voice of the Great Teacher. They were afraid. Already his death was calling attention to his life and character. The priests were convicted that their attempts at revenge had failed; and they dreaded a dead Christ more, far more, than they had ever feared a living Christ.

At the time of the Passover, many had come from far-distant lands to see and hear Christ; and they were shocked at hearing of the work which had been done by the priests and rulers. Many had brought their sick and suffering to the temple; but when they applied to the priests and rulers for help and sympathy, they were sent empty away. The people were apparently determined to have the living Saviour with them again. But they were driven from the temple courts, and soldiers were stationed at its gates to keep back the crowds who came with their sufferings ones demanding entrance.

On his last journey to Jerusalem, Jesus had spoken to his disciples saying, «Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.»

These words had come to the priests and rulers through Judas. When they had first heard them, they had mocked and ridiculed; but now, as they heard the clamor for Christ, the Healer,—he who had healed the sick and had raised Lazarus from the dead,—they were ill at ease. Had not Christ declared, «Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up»? While the rulers had affected to regard these words as a mere boast, and had spoken of Christ as a deceiver, the rent veil of the temple, laying open to the gaze of all the sacred enclosure, had filled them with fears that were almost unendurable. Would Christ rise from the dead? What would he do if he should rise? Such were the questions that passed from lip to lip.

The murderers of Jesus did all that they possibly could to keep his body in the tomb. On the day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate, saying: «Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.» «Ye have a watch,» said Pilate; «go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.»

Lest the prediction of Christ should come to pass, they affixed to the stone of the sepulcher the Roman seal, and stationed around it a guard of soldiers. But little did these murderers know how useless were their efforts to keep the body of Christ hidden in the tomb. The very precautions they had taken were designed by God to establish the facts of the resurrection. The greater the number of the soldiers around the tomb of Christ, the stronger would be the evidence of his resurrection.

Early on the morning of the resurrection, before any one had reached the sepulcher, there was a great earthquake. The mightiest angel from heaven, he who held the position from which Satan fell, received his commission from the Father; and, clothed with the panoply of heaven, he parted the darkness from his track. His face was like the lightning, and his garments white as snow. The Roman guard were keeping their weary watch when this angel came to the earth, and they were enabled to endure the sight; for they had a message to bear as witnesses of the resurrection of Christ.

The light of heaven encircled the tomb, and the whole heaven was lighted by the glory of the angel. The angel approached the grave, and rolling away the stone as if it had been a pebble, he sat upon it. Then his voice was heard, Son of God, come forth; thy Father calls thee; and Jesus came forth from the grave with the step of a mighty conqueror. There was a burst of triumph, for the heavenly family were waiting to receive him; and the mighty angel, followed by the army of heaven, bowed in adoration before him as he, the Monarch of heaven, proclaimed over the rent tomb of Joseph, «I am the resurrection, and the life.» All united in the song, «Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. . . . Thou only art holy. . . . Thy judgments are made manifest.» «Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.» Mrs. E. G. White. —

«I am the resurrection, and the life.» He who had said, «I lay down my life, that I might take it again,» came forth from the grave to life that was in himself. Humanity died: divinity did not die. In his divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that he has life in himself to quicken whom he will.

All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are recipients of the life of the Son of God. However able and talented, however large their capacities, they are replenished with life from the source of all life. He is the spring, the fountain, of life. Only he who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light and life, could say, «I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again.»

The words of Christ, «I am the resurrection, and the life,» were distinctly heard by the Roman guard. The whole army of Satan heard them. And we understand them when we hear. Christ had come to give his life a ransom for many. As the Good Shepherd, he had laid down his life for the sheep. It was the righteousness of God to maintain his law by inflicting the penalty. This was the only way in which the law could be maintained, and pronounced holy, and just, and good. It was the only way by which sin could be made to appear exceeding sinful, and the honor and majesty of divine authority be maintained.

The law of God’s government was to be magnified by the death of God’s only begotten Son. Christ bore the guilt of the sins of the world. Our sufficiency is found only in the incarnation and death of the Son of God. He could suffer, because sustained by divinity. He could endure, because he was without one taint of disloyalty or sin. Christ triumphed in man’s behalf in thus bearing the justice of punishment. He secured eternal life to men, while he exalted the law, and made it honorable.

Christ was invested with the right to give immortality. The life which he had laid down in humanity, he again took up and gave to humanity. «I am come,» he says, «that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.» «Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.» «Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.»

All who are one with Christ through faith in him gain an experience which is life unto eternal life. «As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.» He «dwelleth in me, and I in him.» «I will raise him up at the last day.» «Because I live, ye shall live also.»

Christ became one with humanity, that humanity might become one in Spirit and life with him. By virtue of this union in obedience to the word of God, his life becomes their life. He says to the penitent, «I am the resurrection, and the life.» Death is looked upon by Christ as sleep,—silence, darkness, sleep. He speaks of it as if it were of little moment. «Whosoever liveth and believeth in me,» he says, «shall never die.» «If a man keep my sayings, he shall never taste of death.» «He shall never see death.» And to the believing one, death is but a small matter. With him to die is but to sleep. «Them also which sleep in Jesus God will bring with him.»

While the women were making known their message as witnesses of the risen Saviour, and while Jesus was preparing to reveal himself to a large number of his followers, another scene was taking place. The Roman guard had been enabled to view the mighty angel who sang the song of triumph at the birth of Christ, and hear the angels who now sang the song of redeeming love. At the wonderful scene which they were permitted to behold, they had fainted and become as dead men. When the heavenly train was hidden from their sight, they arose to their feet, and made their way to the gate of the garden as quickly as their tottering limbs would carry them. Staggering like blind or drunken men, their faces pale as the dead, they told those they met of the wonderful scenes they had witnessed. Messengers preceded them quickly to the chief priests and rulers, declaring, as best they could, the remarkable incidents that had taken place.

The guard were making their way first to Pilate, but the priests and rulers sent word for them to be brought into their presence. These hardened soldiers presented a strange appearance, as they bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ and also of the multitude whom he brought forth with him. They told the chief priests what they had seen at the sepulcher. They had not time to think or speak anything but the truth. But the rulers were displeased with the report. They knew that great publicity had been given to the trial of Christ, by holding it at the time of the Passover. They knew that the wonderful events which had taken place—the supernatural darkness, the mighty earthquake—could not be without effect, and they at once planned how they might deceive the people. The soldiers were bribed to report a falsehood; and the priests guaranteed that if the matter should come to Pilate’s ears, as it most assuredly would, they would be responsible for the action of the soldiers. They bribed Pilate to silence, and by special messengers sent the report they had prepared to every part of the country. Mrs. E. G. White. —

When Christ cried out while upon the cross, «It is finished,» there was a mighty earthquake, that rent open the graves of many who had been faithful and loyal, bearing their testimony against every evil work, and magnifying the Lord of hosts. As the Life-giver came forth from the sepulcher, proclaiming. «I am the resurrection, and the life,» he summoned these saints from the grave. When alive, they had borne their testimony unflinchingly for the truth; now, they were to be witnesses to him who had raised them from the dead. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan. I have redeemed them; I have brought them from the grave as the first-fruits of my power, to be with me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.

During his ministry, Jesus raised the dead to life. He raised the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus; but these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they continued to be subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ’s resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They were the multitude of captives that ascended with him as trophies of his victory over death and the grave.

After his resurrection, Christ did not show himself to any save his followers; but testimony in regard to his resurrection was not wanting. Those who were raised with Christ «appeared unto many,» declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we are risen with him. They bore testimony in the city to the fulfillment of the scripture, «Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.» These saints contradicted the lie which the Roman guard had been hired to circulate,—that the disciples had come by night and stolen him away. This testimony could not be silenced.

Christ was the first-fruits of them that slept. It was to the glory of God that the Prince of life should be the first-fruits, the antitype of the wave-sheaf. «For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first-born among many brethren.» This very scene, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, had been celebrated in type by the Jews. When the first heads of grain ripened in the field, they were carefully gathered; and when the people went up to Jerusalem, these were presented to the Lord as a thank-offering. The people waved the ripened sheaf before God, acknowledging him as the Lord of the harvest. After this ceremony the sickle could be put to the wheat, and the harvest gathered.

So those who had been raised were to be presented to the universe as a pledge of the resurrection of all who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise his church, and glorify it with Christ, as his bride, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the heavenly courts, the world above. The victory of the sleeping saints will be glorious on the morning of the resurrection. Satan’s triumph will end, while Christ will triumph in glory and honor. The Life-giver will crown with immortality all who come forth from the grave.

The work of the Saviour on earth was finished. The time had come for him to return to his heavenly home. «And he led them [the disciples] out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.»

As Christ ascends while in the act of blessing his disciples, an army of angels encircle him as a cloud. Christ takes with him the multitude of captives. He will himself bring to the Father the first-fruits of them that slept, as an evidence that he is conqueror of death and the grave. At the portals of the city of God, an innumerable company of angels await his coming. As they approach, the escorting angels address the company at the gate in triumphant tones:—

«Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;

And the King of glory shall come in.’

«Who is this King of glory?» the waiting angels inquire.

«The Lord strong and mighty,

The Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

And the King of glory shall come in.»

Again the waiting angels ask, «Who is this King of glory?» and the escorting angels reply, in melodious strains: «The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.» Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, and the angelic throng sweep through.

There is the throne, and around it the rainbow of promise. There are seraphim and cherubim. The angels circle round him, but Christ waves them back. He enters into the presence of his Father. He points to his triumph in this antitype of himself,—the wave-sheaf,—those raised with him, the representatives of the captive dead who shall come forth from their graves when the trump shall sound. He approaches the Father; and if there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, if the Father rejoices over one with singing, let the imagination take in this scene. Christ says: Father, it is finished. I have done thy will, O my God. I have completed the work of redemption. If thy justice is satisfied, «I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.» And the voice of God is heard; justice is satisfied; Satan is vanquished. «Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.» The arms of the Father encircle the Son, and his voice is heard, saying, «Let all the angels of God worship him.» Mrs. E. G. White.