05.16. Christ Has Risen!
Christ Has Risen!
"The angel said to the women: Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said!" Matthew 28:5-6
Many a day has dawned in joy and prosperity, that has set in darkness and despair. The unexpected letter, the untimely accident, the unlooked for disappointment — has darkened the sky, and changed in a moment the whole aspect of life. But there is sometimes the reverse of this; the day that has opened in gloom and fear, has closed in gladness and hope. It was thus on the day when Christ arose. When it dawned love and piety were awake and busy, but faith and hope and joy seemed well near dead. The godly women come to the grave. They had gazed on the Cross, they had watched by the sepulcher, they had gone to their homes with hearts still set upon honoring their Lord; and now, awake before sunrise, they come to anoint the body of Him they loved with the spices which they had prepared.
Chief among them came she whom Christ had so marvelously delivered from the tyranny of the powers of darkness. Ah, Mary Magdalene, I admire and would copy, if I might, that holy flame of love which burnt so brightly in your bosom! Your heart is fast bound to your Savior! Whether He is on the cross or in the grave — still you will be there. Like Rizpah so faithfully watching by the bodies of her slain sons — so will you watch by the grave of your Lord.
Yet would I chide you for your unbelief. The very enemies of your Lord remember His words, that He has promised to rise again the third day — and have you forgotten them? Have you forgotten the triumphs of Nain and Bethany? Have you forgotten that thrice at His bidding, death has loosened his iron grasp — and shall it now retain its hold of the Prince of Life?
Truly there was unbelief in Mary — yet what Christian sees not in her, his own photograph? When the crisis of danger approaches, when the clouds hang the heaviest — who remembers as he ought the words of Christ? Who relies as he ought, on His faithfulness and power?
Those godly women hasten to the sepulcher, though they fear whether their journey be not in vain. They remember the large stone, and ask who shall roll it away from the mouth of the sepulcher. Yet they turn not back because of the difficulty that lies in their path. They hold on their way in seeking their Lord. But now a fresh sorrow, a fresh perplexity befalls them. The stone is gone, but the grave is empty! While unbelief reigns, it will always be thus. Fresh impediments will continually arise, and how shall we overcome them unless we can rely upon the word of the Lord? But now the light begins to burst. The Lord does not despise those that are weak in faith — but will surely strengthen and encourage them. Now He sends two messengers from the upper world. They speak to the sorrowing women and bid them not be afraid. Why shall they fear, for their crucified Lord is not there, for He has risen from the dead! And you, seekers after Jesus, why should you fear? You may seek for a while in sorrow, you may find the stone still left to try your faith, you may have to mourn your great temptations or your cold and stubborn heart — yet wait on the Lord and He will guide and comfort you. Some bright angel of mercy, some gracious providence or some sweet promise shall remove the stone; the joy and peace which to your eyes has seemed forever buried and lost beyond all recovery, shall yet live again, and cheer you with its gladness. And while we watch, the light grows brighter. Those angels have been as the morning star, or the first beams of day — but the sun itself now appears. Jesus Himself, that very Jesus whom the women had beheld with their own eyes nailed, pierced, groaning, dying, breathing forth His last breath in prayer — is indeed alive again!
Ah, Christian, think of it! It tells of life, victory, immortality. Without question the happiness of every believer and the salvation of the whole Church is bound up in this glorious fact of our Lord’s resurrection. But who shall first recognize the Lord? To Mary is this honor granted. She knows the voice of the good Shepherd. Its tender, loving tone calling her by name, "Mary" thrills through her inmost soul. Almost unbearable must have been the joy of that moment. I wonder that she did not faint of its intensity. To see again that beloved One, to feel a persuasion that she would never more lose Him as the portion of her soul — what but the joy of the glorified could equal it? May it not have been, among other reasons, to calm her spirit, that Jesus forbade her to touch Him — but sent her forth to tell the disciples of His resurrection, and to foretell His ascension to the Father? The other women also see His face and hear His voice. Faithful above all others when He bore the cross — they are honored in being the first who are permitted to worship Him after His resurrection. Often has woman been pre-eminent in evil or in good. Was not Eve the first who disobeyed the command of God, and from a sinner, became a tempter? Did not the wife of the patriarch of Uz bid him curse God and die? Is there a name in Scripture from which we shrink with greater abhorrence than Jezebel, the woman that stirred up Ahab, her husband, to the commission of such terrible crimes?
And, on the other hand, are there any whose names are more worthy of honor than Ruth and Hannah and Deborah, and the three Marys — each of whom so truly loved the Lord?
Ah, why should not those by nature endowed with tenderest affection, with gentlest feeling, with warmest love — pour it out upon the Savior who best deserves it? But others also behold their risen Lord. He is seen by Simon and the disciples on the way to Emmaus, and the ten in the upper chamber. Beside this, we hear of His appearing to James, and to the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias, and on one occasion to more than five hundred brethren at once.
There should be no room left for doubt, as to the great fact upon which the eternal peace of the whole Church depended. The unbelief of the disciples, the message of the angels, the efforts of His enemies, His many appearances, and that to so many people during a period of forty days — the chain of consequences reaching down to the present hour and which cannot in any reasonable way be separated from the Lord’s resurrection — all these bear a united testimony, than which it is hard to conceive any that could possibly be stronger. And what PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION may we gain from the resurrection of Christ?
It tells us that the words of Jesus are sure and faithful and true. Whether He were a "deceiver," as His enemies affirmed — or whether He were indeed the truth, was the point at outcome. And God plainly declared the latter. He set His seal to every word that Christ had taught when He raised Him from the dead on the third day.
Reader, believe it, Jesus is true. Hearken not to the unbelief that spreads far and wide, denying one by one every precious truth upon which our salvation depends. Hearken not to the suggestions of doubt and uncertainty which would rob you of all solid peace. Read the sayings of Jesus, receive them with all meekness and confidence, and rejoice that while Heaven and earth shall pass away, not one word of His can possibly fail.
It tells also of the complete satisfaction made to the law of God by the death of our Surety. When Jesus undertook to bear our guilt and to pay our ransom, the hand of Divine Justice laid hold upon Him, nailing Him to the cross, and then bringing Him to the silent grave. But now we see Him rising superior to the power of death and the grave! No more is He seen the bleeding, suffering, dying victim, but the glorious Redeemer, who has burst the bonds of the grave and lives to die no more.
What a joyful message does this bring to the self-accusing conscience! In deep self-abasement, do you own and confess your sin? Do you venture into the Lord’s presence with the plea that whatever be your sin — the death of Christ may answer for it, that His wounds may be your healing, His precious blood your cleansing? Then the resurrection of Christ tells you that you stand clear before God. The Father bore witness that the debt was paid, the guilt expiated, the satisfaction made ample and sufficient. Hence you are free. It would be unjust that the same offence should twice receive the punishment allotted. Your sin has once been punished in your Surety — hence it can never be exacted of you. Jesus had no more to suffer, so neither have you. "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." The resurrection of Christ tells also of a final victory over death and the grave. As yet death reigns over mankind. It reigns over the bodies of all living. No sooner do men begin to live, than they begin to die. The seeds of corruption and dissolution abide within us and will one day bring us to the dust. It reigns at ten thousand death-scenes. Could we go the wide world over, what myriads should we continually find passing into the power of the grim foe. It reigns within numberless cities of the dead. Our churchyards and cemeteries still bear witness to its terrible might. It reigns over many a plain where battles have been fought, and beneath which lie the bones of those who fell there. It reigns over the ocean, for within its capacious bosom still remain those that for generations have found a watery grave.
Death reigns, but not forever. The prey shall be taken from the mighty, and the spoil from the strong. If we hearken to the voice of those that know not the story of the resurrection, the lament over the grave is cheerless and painful indeed. A heathen poet could write thus:
The sun that sets again will rise,
And give the day and gild the skies:
But when we lose our little light,
We sleep in everlasting night.
And another in the same strain:
But we, or great, or wise, or brave,
Once dead and silent in the grave,
Senseless remain. One rest we keep;
One long, eternal, unawakened sleep. But not so are we taught in the Gospel of Christ. Blessed be God for the hope of life and immortality! If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces. This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. And then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory!" And what glory awaits the righteous in the risen body. Dark and terrible indeed is the future before those who have died in their sins; no more fearful words are to be found within the compass of Scripture than those of our Lord, "The resurrection of damnation." But very blessed and very glorious will be "the resurrection of life." Two images are given of it — the stars by night and the sun by day. What an idea of calm rest, of fixity and permanence, of distance from all the turmoil and trouble of the present scene, is connected with the former. What surpassing brilliancy do we behold in the latter. And both are employed to set forth, the excellencies of Christ. (See Malachi 4:2, Revelation 22:16.) In the future life of the believer, all this will be combined. It will be a rest, a shining forth in glory, a likeness in body and soul to the glorified Redeemer, and all this abiding as Eternity. (See Daniel 12:3, and Matthew 13:43.)
Reader, may it be your own! And if you would have it so, live now a risen life in Christ. Many dig their own grave and are content to lie in it. They bury themselves in a spirit of worldly carefulness, or in earthly lusts and passions, or in a golden coffin of hoarded wealth, or in a life-long indifference to spiritual religion. And so they live, and so they die, and discover too late that they are forever undone. Oh, be not like such. Be in earnest for the world to come. Come forth from your hiding-place. Seek in Christ the power to live a new life, even the power of His quickening Spirit. "Awake you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ stall give you light."