International S. S. Lessons.
"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."
—Neh. 8:8 LESSON XII.—SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 1894.
[NOTE.—The questions which follow are merely suggestive for the student on the leading points of the lesson; it is presumed that the thorough student will think of many more as he studies the subject. References, where verses alone are given, always refer to the lesson scripture printed above. All other references are given in book, chapter, and verse. The text printed is that of the Revised Version, not because it is especially preferred, but because it is not found in every family, as is the common version.] THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.
- AND when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
- And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen.
- And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb?
- And looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back; for it was exceeding great.
- And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed.
- And he saith unto them, Be not amazed; ye seek Jesus, the Nazarene, which hath been crucified; he is risen; he is not here; behold, the place where they laid him!
- But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
- And they went out, and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.
Golden Text: "Now hath Christ been raised from the dead." 1 Cor. 15:20. - When Jesus was taken down from the cross, where was he laid? Note 1.
- How did the holy women spend the next day, the Sabbath?
"And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment." Luke 23:56.- When the Sabbath was past, what did these women do? Verse 1.
- When did they come to the sepulcher? Verse 2. Note 2.
- What did they say among themselves as they were going to the tomb? Verse 3.
- When they reached there, what did they find? Verse 4.
- Why would it not be an easy task to roll away the stone? Same verse.
- What did they find on entering the tomb? Verse 5. Note 3.
- How did they feel upon seeing the angel?
- What did he say to them? Verse 6. Note 4.
- What did the angel tell the women to do? Verse 7. Note 5.
- How did they obey this injunction of the angel? Verse 8. Note 6.
1. Our lesson has to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Full accounts are given in the gospels of his crucifixion and burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Within the darkest time of Christ's cause upon earth, this Joseph, a counselor of honorable estate, went boldly in unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. This body was wound in a clean linen cloth and laid in a tomb hewn out of a rock; and Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where he was laid. 2. "When the Sabbath was past, . . . very early on the first day of the week."—This lesson will, to the candid student, forever settle at least which day of the week is the Sabbath. It does not leave us any attempt whatever to conjecture or to guess as to what day of the week the Sabbath comes on. When the Sabbath was past, the first day came. The Sabbath is therefore the day before the first day of the week, and as there are seven days in the week, the Sabbath must therefore be the seventh day of the week. Another thought: The term "Sabbath" is never applied to any other day of the week except the seventh. Mark wrote something like thirty years after the resurrection of Christ. Then, in the year 30, the seventh day was the Sabbath still, and there has been no change since that time. 3. Entering the tomb.—This does not mean that14they entered the very sepulcher where the body of Jesus was placed, but a cave. The sepulcher was cut into the rock from the side of the cave. Luke says that there were two angels or two men seen in the sepulcher, while Mark says there was one. There is no contradiction between them. Mark does not say there were not two; he simply mentions only one of them. 4. He is risen.—This is one of the great truths of the plan of salvation. It was the demonstration of the power of righteousness over sin, of life over death, in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ triumphed over death simply and solely because he had no sin. He could not be holden of death (Acts 2:24), because death had no claim upon him. Death comes in consequence of sin. Christ took upon himself the sins of the world, but he had no sins of his own. In him is no sin. He was wholly righteous. There is no unrighteousness in him. But righteousness is life (Rom. 5:17, 18; Prov. 10:16; 11:30), and therefore in the righteousness of God, which was upon Christ, was the life of God, which was in Christ; and that life was eternal life. The resurrection of Christ was therefore a pledge that all those who were his should live again. For he who believes in Christ obtains by that belief the righteousness of God. Rom. 3:22. And as the righteousness of God is found upon him at the last day, eternal life is his also. The great memorial which God has given us of this resurrection is baptism, the union of Christ with the believer, and the power of the new life, which the believer from henceforth manifests in lifting him above sin. Compare Rom. 6:3-5; Gal. 3:27; Rom. 7:4. If the church of God had faithfully carried out baptism as the Lord gave it, they never would have demanded, or even suggested, that the first day of the week be kept as a memorial of the resurrection of Christ. 5. And Peter.—How much is revealed to us by these two words! Jesus said go tell his disciples and Peter, but Peter was one of the disciples, and yet Jesus knows that message is not complete without the mention of the name of Peter. Peter had denied his Lord, and because of this was filled with bitter sorrow and discouragement, but Jesus sends the message to him to cheer his heart and to remind him that he was not forgotten. 6. Said nothing to anyone.—That is, they said nothing to anyone on their way to tell the disciples, because Luke tells us, in the twenty-fourth chapter and ninth verse, that "they returned from the sepulcher and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest." And yet the eleven disciples did not believe the women. Their words seemed to them as idle tales. Still we are told that the disciples had met together to observe the first day of the week, whereas, the simple fact is that the whole of that first day went by before the majority of the disciples would believe that Jesus was risen. The fact of Christ's resurrection is not designed to bring to us particularly the remembrance of any day, but of his mighty power to save us from all sin; and the only day that is a special memorial of that power is the day of the Lord's Sabbath. Those who believe that may really rejoice in the resurrection of Christ.