I. The party of women consisted of Mary of Magdala, CHAP. a town near the lake of Tiberias; Mary, the wife of Alpheus, mother of James and Joses; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod's steward; and Salome "the mother of Zebedee's children." They were all Galileans, and from the same neighbourhood; all faithful attendants on Jesus, and related to some of the leading disciples. They set out very early; and as perhaps they had to meet from different quarters, some not unlikely from Bethany, the sun was rising before they reached the garden. Before their arrival, the earthquake or atmospheric commotion had taken place; the tomb had burst open; and the terrified guard had fled to the city. Of the sealing of the stone, and the placing of the guard, they appear to have been ignorant, as, in the most natural manner, they seem suddenly to remember the difficulty of removing the ponderous stone which closed the sepulchre, and which would require the strength of several men to raise it from its place. Sepulchres in the East, those at least belonging to men of rank and opulence, were formed of an outward small court or enclosure, the entrance to which was covered by a huge stone; * women collectively that communi- disciples, derived his information BOOK and within were cells or chambers, often hewn in the solid rock, for the deposit of the dead. As the women drew near, they saw that the stone had been removed, and the first glance into the open sepulchre discovered that the body was no longer there. At this sight Mary Magdalene appears to have hurried back to the city, to give information to Peter and John. These disciples, it may be remembered, were the only two who followed Jesus to his trial; and it is likely that they were together in some part of the city, while the rest were scattered in different quarters, or perhaps had retired to Bethany. During the absence of Mary, the other women made a closer inspection; they entered the inner chamber, they saw the graveclothes lying in an orderly manner, the bandage or covering of the head rolled up, and placed on one side; this circumstance would appear incompatible with the haste of a surreptitious, or the carelessness of a violent, removal. To their minds thus highly excited, and bewildered with astonishment, with terror, and with grief, appeared, what is described by the Evangelist as "a vision of angels." One or more beings in human form seated in the shadowy twilight within the sepulchre, and addressing them with human voices, told them that their Master had risen from the grave, that he was to go before them into Galilee. They had departed to communicate these wonderful tidings to the other disciples, before the two summoned by Mary Arrival of Magdalene arrived; of these the younger and Peter and Jolin. more active, John, outran the older, Peter. But he only entered the outer chamber, from whence he could see the state in which the grave-clothes were lying; but before he entered the inner chamber, he awaited the arrival of his companion. Peter went in first, and afterwards John, who, as he states, not till then, believed that the body had been taken away, for, up to that time, the Apostles themselves had no thought or expectation of the resurrection. These two Apostles returned home, leaving Mary Magdalene, who probably wearied by her walk to the city and her return, had not come up with them till they had completed their search. The other women, meantime, had fled in haste, and in the silence of terror, through the hostile city; and until, later in the day, they found the Apostles assembled together, did not unburthen their hearts of this extraordinary secret. Mary Magdalenet was left alone; she had seen and heard nothing of the angelic vision which had appeared to the others; but on looking down into the sepulchre, she saw the same vision which had appeared to the others, and was in her turn addressed by the angels; and it seems that her feelings were those of unmitigated sorrow. She stood near the sepulchre, weeping. To her Jesus then first appeared. So little was she prepared for his presence, that she at first mistook him for the person who had the charge of the garden. Her language is that of grief, because unfriendly hands have removed the body, and carried it away to some unknown place. Nor was it till he again * John, xx. 8-9. Mark, xvi. 9—11.; John, xx. 11-18. CHAP. I. First ap pearance of Jesus to Mary Mag BOOK Later appearances. addressed her, that she recognised his familiar form and voice. * The second appearance of Jesus was to the other party of women, as they returned to the city, and, perhaps, separated to find out the different Apostles, to whom, when assembled, they related the whole of their adventure. In the mean time a third appearance† had taken place to two disciples who had made an excursion to Emmaus, a village between seven and eight miles from Jerusalem: a fourth to the Apostle Peter; this apparition is not noticed by the Evangelists; it rests on the authority of St Paul. The intelligence of the women had been received with the utmost incredulity by the assembled Apostles. The arrival of the two disciples from Emmaus, with their more particular relation of his conversing with them; his explaining the Scriptures; his breaking bread with them; made a deeper impression. Still mistrust seems to have predominated; and when Jesus appeared in the chamber, the doors of which had been closed from fear lest their meeting should be interrupted by the hostile rulers, the first sensation was terror rather than joy. It was not till Jesus conversed with them, and permitted them to ascertain by actual touch the identity of his body, that they yielded to emotions of gladness. Jesus appeared *Matt. xxviii. 9-10. xxiv. 13-32. It does not appear possible that Peter could be one of the disciples near Emmaus. It would harmonise the accounts if we could suppose that St.Paul (1 Cor. xv.5.) originally dictated Κλέοπα, which was changed for the more familiar name Κῆφα. I. a second time, eight days after*, in the public CHAP. assembly of the disciples, and condescended to remove the doubts of one Apostle, who had not been present at the former meeting, by permitting him to inspect and touch his wounds. of the A pos This incredulity of the Apostles, related with so Incredulity much simplicity, is, on many accounts, most re- tles:markable, considering the apparent distinctness its cause. with which Jesus appears to have predicted both his death and resurrection, and the rumour which put the Sanhedrin on their guard against any clandestine removal of the body. The key to this difficulty is to be sought in the opinions of the time. The notion of a resurrection was intimately connected with the coming of the Messiah, but that resurrection was of a character very different from the secret, the peaceful, the unimposing reappearance of Jesus after his death. It was an integral, an essential part of that splendid vision which represented the Messiah as summoning all the fathers of the chosen race from their graves to share in the glories of his kingdom. Even after the resurrection the bewildered Apostles inquire whether that kingdom, the only sovereignty of which they yet dreamed, was about to commence.‡ The death of Jesus, notwithstanding his care to prepare their minds for that appalling event, took them by surprise: they seem to have been stunned and confounded. It had shaken their faith by its *Mark, xvi. 14-18.; Luke, xxiv. 36-49.; John, xx. 19-29. † See ch. ii. p. 78. Acts, i. 6. Compare Luke, xxiv. 21. |