The Sabbath-School by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Nov 30, 1882

The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

Notes on Lesson for Nov. 9.

"AND, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." This was at the ninth hour, "the hour of prayer." Acts 3:1. At this time the priests were performing their work in the temple. Suddenly, the large curtain which hid the most holy place from view, was torn from top to bottom by unseen hands. It could not have been caused by the earthquake, for the curtain hung loosely. There was no room to doubt that supernatural agency was employed. God thus showed that the place which had hitherto been made sacred by his presence, would henceforth be no different from common ground. Type had met antitype, and the service was to be carried forward in the "true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man."

"AND the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." These saints were doubtless those who had not been long dead, and who were known to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus they were additional proofs of his resurrection, and also pledges of the future resurrection of all the righteous; their resurrection was proof that Christ had indeed obtained the keys of the grave, and of death. Rev. 1:18. From Ps. 68:18, and Eph. 4:8 (margin), we understand that these saints accompanied Christ when he ascended to Heaven.

GOD always has a man for every work. Jesus had been crucified as a criminal, and, if left to the care of his persecutors, would have been rudely buried with the two thieves, with no ceremony whatever. But it was not designed so to be. It was necessary that he should be buried by himself, so that his resurrection might be the more surely attested. Besides, it had been prophesied of him that he should make his grave "with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." Isa. 53:9. No more indignities were to be heaped upon him after death. The disciples, however, had no influence with the authorities, even if they had dared to ask for his body. But now comes forward Joseph. He was a rich Jew, "an honorable counsellor," "a good man, and a just." He had the influence necessary to get the body of Jesus, and the means to care for it in a proper manner.

How unconsciously men act their part in the fulfillment of prophecy. The Jews were strictly commanded not to break a bone of the paschal lamb. Christ was the antitype of that lamb, and it was necessary, in order to fulfill the prophecy, that none of his bones should be broken. The thieves' legs were broken, not from wanton cruelty, but to hasten their death. Christ's speedy death made this unnecessary in his case; but, to make sure, the soldier inflicted a wound with his spear, that would of itself have caused death. And thus provision was made for the prophecy of Zechariah to be fulfilled, "They shall look upon me whom they have pierced." Zech. 12:10. John, in writing the Revelation, tells us that this will be fulfilled when Christ comes the second time, in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

"AND they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Here we have an example of the sacredness with which the Sabbath was observed by the disciples of Christ. They would not complete the work of love which they were doing for their Master. He had taught that it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, and was always ready to perform acts of mercy; but the embalming of Jesus, although an act of love, was not an act of necessity. It was not absolutely necessary that it should be done that day, hence they left it, intending to complete their work on the first day of the week, as soon as possible after the close of the Sabbath.

By this action of the disciples, we can also learn how strictly Jesus himself kept the Sabbath. They were his faithful followers; they had been closely connected with him during the whole of his earthly ministry. Surely if they had ever seen him do an unnecessary act on the Sabbath, or if he had been accustomed to lightly regard it, they would not have been so scrupulous on this occasion. But Jesus had never given any warrant for violating the Sabbath. The law of God was enshrined in his heart. He came to do his Father's will; to present an example of perfect obedience to God's law. This incident is preserved by Luke as an example of Sabbath observance, for Christ's disciples in all coming time to follow.

BUT although Christ's disciples were careful not to break the Sabbath, the chief priests and Pharisees, who had often sought to kill Jesus for performing acts of mercy on that day, were not so careful. Not content with having put him to death, they were determined to prove him to be an impostor. Their hatred caused them to remember what the disciples, with all their love, had forgotten. After the excitement of the crucifixion, they remembered Christ's saying, that he would rise in three days after his death. So they came to Pilate on the Sabbath, to beg that the sepulcher might be secured, so that his disciples might not come by night and take him away. Probably they had not thought of it the night before, or, if they had, they did not fear the removal of the body before the appointed time, as that would have proved his prediction untrue. In their hatred they would not speak of Jesus by name, but characterized him as "that deceiver." But the very means that they took to prove that Christ was a deceiver, only made their own defeat the more marked. How impotent is man, and how weak are all his endeavors, when opposed to the decrees of God. The words of the psalmist are appropriate here. "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" E. J. W.