wean her from all imperfect views of His incarnation. She thinks that He is come back to be with them as before, to be seen always with the bodily eye, to be heard by the outward ear. But now He intimates to her that He is about to ascend up where He was before, and that thenceforth they must approach Him with more spiritual senses, the organs of the soul. It is as though He should say,-Do not so, Mary, for I am not so restored to you as you suppose. Not now am I to be with you as before.1 But I am shortly ascending to my Father; and ever hereafter ye shall touch me with a truer touch, even the touch of faith." He chose "to be made known by the ear rather than by the eye." He "opens her ears first, and her eyes after . . . . Hearing . . . . is the sense of faith." And this teaching He bids her go and communicate unto His "brethren;" to remind the Disciples of His former words, and let them know that now is the season of their accomplishment. Like Joseph in his glory, "He is not ashamed to call them brethren." Yet He says not, Our Father, Our God; for in a distinct and inferior sense must 4 1 Justin Martyr, Quæst. et Respons. ad Orthodox. xlviii. 2 Augustine (Ser. ccxliii. 2) says, "That touch signifies faith. He touches Christ, who believes in Christ." 2 Cor. v. 16. 3 Bp. Andrewes, Ser. xiv. Of the Resurrection. "There may be a kind of carnality in spiritual actions . . . That Thou livedst here in this shape, that colour, this stature, that habit, I should be glad to know. Nothing that concerns Thee can be unuseful. Could I say, here Thou satest, here Thou layedst, here and thus Thou wert crucified, here buried, here settedst Thy last foot,-I should with much contentment see and recount these memories of Thy presence. But if I shall so fasten my thoughts upon these, as not to look higher to the spiritual part of Thine achievements I am never the better."-Bp. Hall. Compare The Christian Year, Monday before Easter, "There is a spot within this sacred dale, &c." He “ .... St. John xvi. 16, 17, 25-28. 5 Heb. ii. 11, 12. The author of A Plain Commentary remarks that the 22nd Psalm, appointed to be said on Good Friday, consists of two parts: the former (vv. 1-21) prophetical of our Saviour's Passion, the latter (vv. 22-31) of His Resurrection; and the strain changes to a tone of triumph with these words, "I will declare Thy name unto my brethren." "Can we doubt," he asks," that our risen Lord, by the use of this word here, lays His finger on that very place in ancient prophecy?" And so Grotius. "Blessed Jesus, who are these? Were they not Thy followers? Yea, were they not Thy forsakers? Yet still Thou stylest them, My brethren . . . How dost Thou raise their titles with Thyself? At first they were Thy servants, then Disciples; a little before Thy death they were Thy friends; now after Thy resurrection they are Thy brethren."-Bp. Hall. 2 the adopted employ these titles to that in which the Onlybegotten alone could do so. But now we are reminded of that mystic Psalm, which in our Lord's resurrection received its great accomplishment, "Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten Thee." Yet is He "the first-born among many brethren;" being, as an Apostle teaches us, "the firstbegotten from the dead." That we are in any sense associated with Christ, bound in the bundle of life with the Lord our God; that He is our elder Brother; that God is a Father to us, and we the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, must be a message very full of comfort, a true Gospel. Mary had called Him Master, implying thus that she was His servant. He in effect calls her Sister, for His saying here implies as much. Very simply and characteristically does our Evangelist now record that Mary conveyed the Lord's message, while another of the Evangelists records their attitude. "She went and told them that had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that He was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not." Whatever they were, they were not credulous. 3 4 DLXV. THE OTHER WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE. St. Mark xvi. 1-7. And Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto The omission of the article in the latter part of the former clause, and its absence from both members of the other clause, is very remarkable. See Augustine in S. Jo. Tr. cxxi. 3; Ser. ccxlvi. 5. 21 Sam. xxv. 29. 3 Lampe has an instructive note on the devices of certain Roman commentators, touching the fact that our Lord did not appear first to the Mother of His flesh. He also notices the superfluous, and well-nigh profane conjectures, as to whence our Lord after His resurrection obtained raiment; a point on which we find also Justin Martyr (Quæst. et Respons. ad Orthodox. cxvi.) answering curious and carnal minds of his day. St. Mark xvi. 10, 11. the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 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. Mary of Magdala, as we have already seen, had preceded the rest in their proposed visit to the holy Sepulchre. Later, but not long after, come the other women,-those here mentioned, and, as we learn from St. Luke, the still faithful Joanna,' and others with them,2-bringing the spices which they had prepared.3 On the way they seem to have discussed the question to whom they should apply to roll away the stone, which they suppose still barred the entrance. But when they arrived and looked, they found this obstacle, great as it was, removed. It had needed stronger hands than theirs to roll it away, for it was very great. We sometimes anticipate difficulties, which, to those who stedfastly set out upon the path of duty, a power beyond our own removes. So "they entered in, and found not the Body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass as they were much perplexed thereabout," for they had not as yet met Mary Magdalene, who had returned to tell her strange story to the Disciples1behold, two men stood by them in shining garments; the same two, it may be, that Mary of Magdala had lately seen. This is St. Luke's account. St. Mark here speaks but of one, without however excluding the other. The Evangelists probably had their accounts from one and another of the women who were eye-witnesses, each of whom would dwell upon that point which impressed her most. One would 1 St. Luke xxiv. 10; viii. 3. 2 St. Luke xxiv. 1. 3 St. Luke xxiii. 56. 5 St. Luke xxiv. 3, 4. "5 thus mention the two who stood by them without, while another would rather dwell on the one whom she had particularly noticed as sitting within on the right side of the sepulchre. There might have been several Angels,1 one of whom spoke to the women within the sepulchre, others to the same effect to those of them who remained without. The effect however of the angelic apparition was to fill them with a strange fear. They are more afraid of the servants than they were of the Master. They "bowed down their faces to the earth," showing that sign of reverence as to some superior being. But the Heavenly messengers seek to reassure them, and this is the substance of what by their spokesman they said,-" I know that ye seek Jesus."2 The Angel sympathizes with them in their search. He admires their love to their common Lord. Still he calls Him, even in this hour of His triumph, "Jesus of Nazareth."3 Nazareth cannot degrade Him. He exalts Nazareth. Yet is there the gentle reproof for them of the question, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? 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." He invites them, timidly lingering on the threshold, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 5 See here the signs of His resurrection. And now come back to them, like some forgotten strain, those words of their Lord which made too little impression at the time. So they are dismissed with a message to the Disciples, with especial mention of Peter, who might feel that he was no longer meet to be called a Disciple. "Lo, I have told you," "8 concludes the Angel simply. His duty is done. Let them now go and do theirs. "5 1 St. John xx. 12; St. Luke xxiv. 23. 2 St. Matt. xxviii. 5. 3 So the Lord in His glory styles Himself, Acts xxii. 8. 4 St. Luke xxiv. 5-7. St. Matt. xxviii. 6. 7 St. Matt. xxviii. 7. Not that He was going straight to Galilee. The meeting on the mountain there (St. Matt. xxviii. 16) did not take place for more than a week after the Resurrection (St. John xx. 26). But Galilee was to be the place where He was principally to be seen during the great forty days (Acts i. 3) till the final meeting at Jerusalem (Acts i. 4) just before His Ascension at Bethany (St. Luke xxiv. 50). DLXVI. THE RETURN OF THE WOMEN. St. Mark xvi. 8. St. Matthew xxviii. 9, 10. St. Mark xvi. 8.-And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid. St. Matt. xxviii. 9, 10.-And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. With a strange mixture of "fear and great joy"1 the holy women now hasten from the Sepulchre. They said nothing to any man on the way,—it was not a matter for idle gossip with passers-by,-but went straight to tell these things to the eleven Apostles and all the rest. And on their way, He who had already appeared to Mary Magdalene, Himself meets and greets them. Their first feeling seems to have been that of ecstatic joy. They held Him by the feet, at which they had prostrated themselves, reluctant to let Him go, afraid to let Him again out of their sight.3 But this first feeling, so we infer from His words, seems to have been succeeded by a feeling of awe, as it began to dawn upon them that some mysterious change had come over Him. This feeling now steals over them and fills them with a strange fear. There is that in His resurrection-body which marks the change already anticipated on the Mount of Transfiguration. The fashion of His countenance seems altered as they gaze upon it. He is, and He is not, the same. But He re-assures them, as the rest afterwards." He recalls them to themselves by giving them a work to do; reminding them of His former words, and bidding them (for St. Matt. xxviii. 8. 2 St. Luke xxiv. 9, 10. a2 Ki. iv. 27. 6 4 St. Luke ix. 29. 5 St. Luke xxiv. 39. St. Matt. xxvi. 32; St. Mark xiv. 25. |
