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THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 3, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 14.

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THE SUNDAY SCHOOL

INTERNATIONAL SERIES

LESSON I.—APRIL 7.—THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

Lesson Scripture, Luke 24:1-12, R.V.
1 “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 2 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel; 3 and as they were affrighted, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake 7 unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be 8 crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; and the other women with them told these things unto the apostles. 11 And these words appeared in their sight as idle talk; and they disbelieved them. But Peter arose, and ran unto the tomb; and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths by themselves; and he departed to his home, wondering at that which was come to pass.”
Golden Text: “Now is Christ risen from the dead.” I Cor. 15:20.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) What time is mentioned at the beginning of this lesson? Verse 1. Note 1. (2) Who came to the sepulchre at that time? Note 8. (3) What did these women bring with them? and for what purpose? Same verse, and Mark 16:1, 2. (4) What did they find on coming to the tomb? Verse 2. Note 2. (5) In what were they disappointed? Verse 3. (6) Who appeared to the women at this time? Verse 4. Note 3. (7) How were the women affected by this appearance? Verse 5. What did the men say to them? Verses 5-7. Notes 4 and 5. (8) How did these words affect the memory of the women? Verse 8. Note 6. (9) What then did they do? Verse 9. (10) How did the disciples receive the news? Verse 11. Note 7. (11) Then what did Peter do? Verse 12. (12) Who was with Peter? Note 9.

NOTES.

1. “Upon the first day of the week.”—It was a very careful regard for the Sabbath day that held back these earnest women from the performance of a service which lay so near their hearts. Nothing else could have induced them voluntarily to delay. They came at the earliest moment after the Sabbath in which it was possible for them to do the work. They had kept the Sabbath “according to the commandment,” and certainly according to the example of the Lord. Had they received any other teaching from Him, either by precept or example, the influence would have had weight at this time.
2. The Surprise.—On the way the women were concerned about the great stone at the door of the sepulchre. “Who shall roll us away the stone?” was their query among themselves. Mark 16:3. But the seeming difficulty did not deter them from their mission of love. Evidently they did not know that the stone had been officially sealed. If they had known this, they would not have expected that any man would dare attempt to open the tomb. We may imagine, but we can not realize their surprise to find the stone rolled away, and the tomb empty. The surprise was the result of unbelief of the Master’s words, notwithstanding the feelings of love for His person. See Matt. 16:21. There are yet many surprises in store for unbelieving professors, when it will be too late for remedy.
3. The “men” were angels. John 20:11, 12.
4. The Reproof.—“Why seek ye the living among the dead?” Many times Christians are fearful, and go with their faces bowed down to the earth when a proper appreciation of the Word of God would cause them to rejoice and be glad. Our Saviour is a living Saviour, directly accessible thru faith in this living Word. We do not have to approach Him thru a priest, for He is Himself our priest.
5. The Proof.—The angel offers only the Word of the Lord Himself as proof that Christ was risen: “Remember how He spake unto thee.” To the believer that is always sufficient; to the unbeliever nothing additional could avail. Luke 16:29. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,” and “He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” I Cor. 15:3, 4. The Scriptures are our only proof; the human witnesses are all dead, but the “Word of the Lord endureth forever.” I Peter 1:25.
6. “They remembered,” and believed. Believing the Word inspired confidence, as it always does. Grief was changed to joy; despair was displaced by hope. See Matt. 28:8. “All things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23.
7. Unbelief was general among the disciples. They treated the story of the women as “idle tales.” They “mourned and wept” (Mark 16:10) because they supposed their cause was lost. Jesus afterward upbraided the eleven with their unbelief, “because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen.” Mark 16:14. They did not believe because they did not know the scripture. John 20:9.
8. The women who went to the tomb were recognized as of the company of the disciples (Luke 24:22). From the different Gospels we gather these names: Mary Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils (Mark 16:9), Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses (chapter 15:40), Salome (chapter 16:1), and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward (Luke 24:10). From Matt. 27:55 and Luke 8:2, 3 we learn that these were wont at times to go with the company and minister unto them.
9. Another Disciple.—John states that another disciple “whom Jesus loved” went with Peter, and outran him; but did not go into the tomb until Peter had entered. It is supposed that this disciple was John himself. See John 20:1-10.