for it was written, "They shall look on him whom they pierced." (Zech. 12: 10.) No part of the divine plan could be set aside, and no type nor promise could fail.

It may not be possible to understand or explain the great mystery of suffering, why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to die in order to redeem his people. We may not be able to comprehend all the meaning of the prophecy that he was to be wounded for our transgressions, or the declaration of the apostle Paul that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Nevertheless, the great fact is clearly revealed that it was necessary for Jesus to die in order to save sinners. Jesus declared that for this cause he came into the world. He said that, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but should have eternal life. He declared also that, when he was lifted up from the earth, he would become the great center of beneficient attraction for the whole world, and to-day, we see a marvellous fulfillment of this strange prophecy.

LXV

THE RESURRECTION

2 Timothy 2:8. "Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel."

(Matthew 27: 57-28: 20; Mark 15:42-16:20; Luke 23: 50-24: 53; John 19:38-21:25.)

T

HE Pharisees took a prominent, if not the leading

part in persecuting Jesus during his public ministry, and the Sadducees seemed comparatively indifferent. This was probably owing to the fact that Jesus was constantly brought into direct contact with the Pharisees in the synagogues throughout Galilee, while he had but little to do with priests, scribes and sanhedrists, except when he came to Jerusalem. The Pharisees joined with the Sadducees to destroy Jesus; nevertheless, it was the Sadducees rather than the Pharisees that secured his crucifixion. The ordinary Pharisee had some conscience, and cared for religious truth, so that he was only wholly bad when he was thoroughly hypocritical. His peculiar, besetting sin was hypocrisy. There were amongst the Pharisees some sincere men who secretly, if not publicly, were friendly toward Jesus of Nazareth, and from some of the Pharisees Jesus received courteous treatment. The Sadducees, on the other hand, were bitterly hostile whenever they came in contact with him. His indignation was kindled against them when, at the beginning of his public ministry, he saw their covetous, avaricious, sacrilegious traffic in the temple, and drove the money changers from

his Father's house. This interference with a business that yielded the high priest and other Sadducees large revenues incurred their deadly enmity, and they only waited for an opportunity to wreak their vengeance. They were sensual materialists who only professed godliness in order to increase their gains or worldly wealth. Not one of them is ever reported as doing Jesus a kindness or showing him a courtesy. When our Lord cleansed the temple the second time, declaring that the traffickers had made his Father's house a den of robbers, there was an irreconcilable conflict with the chief priests, scribes, sanhedrists and the whole Sadducean party, and this conflict ended in the crucifixion. In the trials of Jesus the Pharisees seemed to drop out of sight. They had helped to prepare the way for it, and had their responsibility, but they were no longer leaders.

Jesus died on the cross at the ninth hour, or three o'clock in the afternoon, and the Sabbath would be ushered in by sunset. The Jews had provided against ceremonial pollution by having so arranged that the bodies should be taken from the cross, but they had not troubled themselves about the burial. It had been written that Jesus should make his grave "with the rich in his death"; but how was this to be accomplished? Who amongst the disciples of Jesus was rich? Or what rich man would accept the odium of identifying himself with the crucified one?

These questions are answered as we read of Joseph of Arimathea, a rich Pharisee, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly up to this time for fear of the Jews. This man came to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus that he might bury it in his own new tomb. When Pilate ascertained from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he granted Joseph's request, and Joseph, together with Nicodemus, an

other Pharisee, took the body, wrapped it in fine linen, using a hundred pounds of a mixture of myrrh and aloes, and laid it in Joseph's new rock-hewn tomb, in which no man had ever yet been laid. This noble act does not warrant us in excusing Joseph and Nicodemus for not giving Jesus their open and hearty support while he was living; but it touches every Christian heart, and will ever be regarded as one of the profoundly pathetic incidents connected with the death of our Lord. As we read of the burial of Jesus, our indignation against Pharisees gives place to pity and compassion.

When the body of Jesus was laid in the tomb, a great stone was rolled to the door. This completed the burial, but Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and others, who had followed Jesus out of Galilee, had witnessed the acts of Joseph and Nicodemus, and, having marked the place, went home to prepare spices, so that after the Sabbath they might bring their tributes of affection and complete the embalming of the body of their Lord.

When the enemies of Jesus secured his crucifixion, instead of resting on the Sabbath, for which they professed to have so great reverence, they went to Pilate on the Sabbath, saying, "Sir, we remember that this deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day."

There is no record of Jesus ever having said this to the Jews, and they probably referred to his declaration concerning the temple of his body, when he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rear it up." When Jesus was on trial, false witnesses had testified. that he had threatened to destroy the temple and rear it up in three days, and the rulers then gave no hint that

they had understood him to speak of the temple of his body; but, now, they incidentally reveal the fact that they knew he was speaking of his own body.

The chief priests and Pharisees did not profess to fear that Jesus would rise, but they did profess to fear that his disciples might come and steal his body and then proclaim that he had risen. Pilate's contempt appeared in his curt answer, as he said, "Ye have a guard; go your way and make it as sure as ye can." If the Jews really feared that the disciples would steal the body of Jesus they should have been satisfied when they affixed the Roman seal and placed the guard of soldiers. The disciples, who had forsaken their Master while he was alive, could not be expected to overcome the Roman soldiers, break the Roman seal and carry away the dead body.

The friends of Jesus rested on the Sabbath, according to the commandment. Whether they cherished any hope of his resurrection as they communed with their own hearts and with each other on that sad day of sacred rest, we do not know, but we have good reasons for believing that they did not. Their only source of comfort was in the thought that the awful agony of the crucifixion had been succeeded by rest in the tomb, that their friend had gone where the wicked cease from troubling.

On the first day of the week, the women, who had been last at the cross, were the first at the tomb of their beloved Lord. At early dawn, while it was yet dark, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and other women, in different groups, came bringing their spices to complete the embalming of the body. They knew not that a guard of Roman soldiers had been stationed there and that the tomb was sealed; for, as they drew near, they were saying amongst themselves, "Who shall roll us away the stone from the tomb?" There were greater obstacles in