out of the temple, you have seen me exercise. To this effect are our Lord's declarations.

II. We come now to the verification of them in the fact this day commemorated.

Both the friends and the foes of Jesus had marked his words, and though neither party understood or believed them thoroughly, both had so much expectation of the possibility of their receiving some sort of accomplishment as sufficed to keep them looking out for it. I mean, the disciples, cast down and desponding as they were, yet cherished some indistinct and feeble hope that they should hear more of Him; as appears from the expression of those who accompanied him to Emmaus: "We trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel; and beside all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done ;"*-as if something extraordinary, though they could scarcely imagine what, was pending at that special moment. And his enemies, though triumphing in his death, had nevertheless their misgivings that his cause might still prevail, through a belief of his resurrection at least, if not through its actually coming to pass as foretold by himself. For "the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, whilst he was yet alive, after three

* Luke xxiv. 21.

days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre 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."* And Pilate having given them leave to take their own measures, they made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone which covered the entrance into it, and setting a watch to keep guard over it.

But now see how the wise are taken in their own craftiness, and how, when men presume to fight against God, their weapons recoil upon themselves. He did rise; and notwithstanding what was plotted afterwards for suppression of the fact, and reported in contradiction of it, that the body was indeed gone out of the sepulchre miraculously, was made notorious to friends and foes even by means of the very precautions taken to ensure a contrary result. Instead of procuring that the body should be safe kept—what the adversaries brought to pass was, to provide a large number of unwilling, and therefore more credible witnesses to the truth. The event, however, cannot be told in any words so good as those of the Evangelist, and therefore take it as it stands in the 28th chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn

VOL. III.

* Matt. xxvii. 62-64.

Q

toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. And, behold, there was a great earthquake for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow : and for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here. He is risen, as he said: Come, see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and behold he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you."

So here were two sets of witnesses-the watch and the women; and each went to announce the tidings to their party-the watch to the chief priests, and the women to the disciples. The watch, of course, told all that they had seen and knew; and it is clear they were not discredited, for the chief priests and elders took counsel; and, as if they were conscious, as no doubt they must have been, that the knowledge of the fact would prove fatal to their own credit, and nothing but the concealment of it could prevent the spreading of the Gospel, they stooped to the meanest of all

expedients to hush the matter up. They gave large money to the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught. And this saying," adds the Evangelist, "is commonly reported among the Jews unto this day;"—that is, it was reported by the antichristian party, and believed perhaps by many prejudiced and careless people. But with thinking, and candid, and honest people, it never could have had any manner of weight, especially when the testimony of the opposite party was made known. For the story carries extreme improbability, if not absolute falsehood, on the very face of it. For these men were either awake, as they ought to have been, or asleep as they pretended. If awake, it was their duty to have prevented the body from being stolen, and being an armed band, they could, and doubtless would, have done so. But if they were asleep, how could they have known what was done in the sepulchre, or who did it ?-But to return to the narrative.

The women, as soon as they had heard the angel's message, departed quickly from the sepulchre with" fear and great joy," and did run to bring his disciples word." But before they

arrived, a further happiness was vouchsafed to them, for Jesus himself met them, "saying, All hail!" and they were permitted to "hold him by the feet and worship him." He was seen also by Mary Magdalene in the garden; by all the apostles except Thomas; then again by all the apostles, including Thomas; by Peter and several others at the sea of Tiberias; by Cleophas and his companion on the way to Emmaus; by St. Paul on his road to Damascus; and at one time by above five hundred brethren at once, the greater part of whom were alive when St. Paul wrote his first Epistle to the Corinthians, so that he could appeal to them, and does, in confirmation of the fact.* And then you will observe, this is not a matter in which the disciples could possibly be deceived themselves, for they knew him personally; and though we are honestly told by one of themselves that, at the first, some doubted, and Thomas would not take the fact upon the report of the rest; all was ordered shortly to the absolute satisfaction of the most hesitating. He ate and drank before them, and Thomas was allowed, as he had required, to put his finger into the print of the nails, and to thrust his hand into his side. And He conversed with them, from time to time, for forty days, showing himself alive after his passion by many

* See 1 Cor. xv. 6.