The ignorance which evidence dispelled.
I. IT WAS THE DIVINE PURPOSE THAT JESUS SHOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD. Nothing in the ministry of our Lord was unforeseen and accidental. The closing scenes of that ministry were evidently fore-appointed. The expressions "must" and "must needs" occur frequently in connection with these marvelous and memorable events. They are parts of the plan arranged by Infinite Wisdom.
II. THE DIVINE PURPOSE THAT THE CHRIST SHOULD RISE FROM THE DEAD HAD BEEN HINTED IN OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE. The text seems to refer to one passage of Holy Writ especially. This may be Psalms 16:10—a passage quoted by St. Peter (Acts 2:24) and by St. Paul (Acts 13:35) as finding fulfillment in the raising of the Redeemer from the grave. There are other passages in the Old Testament which have their full meaning brought out in the light of the same glorious event. But the light of fulfillment is in these cases needed, in order that we may read the predictive meaning in the words of psalmist and of prophet. It is not to be wondered at that disciples of Christ failed to understand the reference of some Old Testament passages to the Messiah. But the reference was there—after the event itself to be brought out in clearness and beauty.
III. JESUS HAD ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS FORETOLD HIS RESURRECTION IN THE HEARING OF HIS DISCIPLES. Early in his ministry he had spoken of the temple of his body, as to be taken down and to be reared again in three days. He had predicted his resurrection by representing Jonah's history as a type of what should happen to himself. Towards the close of his' ministry, before and after his transfiguration, Jesus had, on three several occasions, declared beforehand to his apostles what was about to occur—how he was to be betrayed, condemned, and crucified, and on the third day to rise again from the dead. It is surprising that so faint an impression should have been made upon their minds by these communications. They seem to have been so absorbed by their own expectations that they did not really receive his express teaching.
IV. OUR LORD'S RESURRECTION WAS NOT EXPECTED BY HIS OWN DISCIPLES. We cannot but admire the candor with which the apostles acknowledged their own failings. There is in this language a confession of ignorance and of a lack of sympathy with the purposes of their Lord. John, the most likely of all to seize the spiritual meaning of Christ's words, admits that he had not until this time had any expectation that his Master would die and then rise again. Mary wept because she regarded her Lord as for ever lost to her. The two who walked to Emmaus were distressed and downcast because of Jesus' death. Thomas would not believe that Jesus had risen. It is remarkable that, whilst the disciples forgot, or failed to believe, what their Lord had said, the priests and rulers who had put him to death remembered the words attributed to him, and guarded, as they thought, against any attempt on the part of his followers to remove his body, and so to give color to a report of his resurrection. They looked coolly at the facts; the friends of Jesus were blinded by overwhelming emotion!
V. THE BELIEF WHICH THE DISCIPLES CAME TO CHERISH IN THE LORD'S RESURRECTION WAS THEREFORE ALL THE MORE AN EVIDENCE OF ITS REALITY. It is certain that the twelve were not predisposed to believe in the rising from the dead; they could not have invented such a story as some attribute to them because it was in harmony with their expectations, for they expected nothing of the kind. Yet they did believe; they became heralds of the Resurrection. Every reader of the Book of the Acts knows that it was upon this that they based all their teaching, all their appeals and admonitions. They preached a risen Savior. What plain and powerful evidence there must have been to overcome their doubts, to reverse the current of their thoughts and feelings! John began to believe, even on the morning of the Resurrection, when he saw the grave empty; and all he heard that day, and the appearance he witnessed in the evening, confirmed his faith. If the doubts of the disciples were gloomy and depressing, those doubts were certainly dispelled. Their faith was all the stronger because of the unbelief it contended with and vanquished. Hence the life they led, the labors they undertook, the persecution they braved, the martyrdom they accepted. To account for these facts—among the most wonderful in the world's history—we must receive the teaching of our Gospels, that Jesus rose from the dead, turned his disciples' sorrow into joy, and gave a new impulse to their life.
VI. THIS CHANGE OF RELIEF, ON THE PART OF THE DISCIPLES, IS FULL OF SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION AND HELPFULNESS TO ALL WHO HEAR THE GOSPEL.
1. It confirms our faith in the veracity of Scripture.
2. And in the Deity of our Lord.
3. And in his mediation.
4. It yields us a ground of acceptance with God, who gave his Son to die for us, and who raised him from the dead that our faith and hope might be in God.
5. It encourages us to trust that it is well with our departed friends; for their life on high is part of the harvest of which the risen Redeemer was the Firstfruits.
6. It justifies the bright hope of personal immortality.—T.