Question Corner by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 12, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 53.

Question Corner.

By Editor

"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." "But avoid foolish questions."

157. THE SABBATH AND THE FIRST DAY.

Please harmonize Matt. 28:1 with Mark 16:1, also with Luke 24:1. W. H. E.

There is no inharmony expressed in the texts. In fact, God's word is all harmony. We may not be able to see it always, but it is there. Simply because the ear of the student cannot discern the harmony in the most difficult piece of music, he does not reject it and say there is nothing whatever in music. He appreciates the harmony which he can discern, and labors more zealously to train his faculties to discern the higher harmonies. So it is with God's word. We may not be able to discern the harmony between certain classes of texts, but there are many others in which we do see and appreciate the harmony which exists. We should not be discouraged because of the lack of seeming harmony in others, but seek God for more of his Spirit, until our spiritual nature becomes so attuned with the divine that we may be able to see harmony in all his word and work.

However, we will endeavor to show our correspondent that there is no inharmony existing between these texts of Scripture referred to. Certainly there is none between the statement in Luke 24:1 and that in Mark 16:1, 2. Mark says that when the Sabbath was past the women came very early in the morning of the first day of the week to anoint Jesus. The last verse of Luke 23 and the first verse of Luke 24 state practically the same thing. After keeping "the Sabbath day according to the commandment," on the first day they came to the sepulcher to anoint Jesus. Matthew says, "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher." It is thought that this refers to a previous instance to that recorded in Mark and Luke, the women going to the sepulcher on the Sabbath day, or at its close, answering to our Saturday night. But if this were the case, the visit occurred before the resurrection of our Lord; for Mark 16:9 expressly says that Jesus rose on the first day of the week. The Syriac version, by Murdock, reads: "And in the morning of the first day of the week He arose, and appeared first to Mary Magdalene." This would seem to make the expression, "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week," equivalent to that used by Mark, "After the Sabbath was past." So in the Syriac translation Matt. 28:1 reads, "And in the close [or, literally, "evening"] of the Sabbath, as the first of the week began to dawn," etc. That is, the evening after the Sabbath closed. Evidently the expression means just before the dawn of the light part of the first day. The Emphatic Diaglott renders it, "Now after the Sabbath, as it was dawning to the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to see the tomb." The expression is a little different from that used by the other evangelists but the idea is the same. Jesus arose early in the morning of the first day of the week, as stated by Mark.

158. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN SUFFERETH VIOLENCE.

What does Matt. 11:12 mean?

The text reads as follows: "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force." Revised Version. Rotherham translates: "But from the days of John the immerser until even now, the kingdom of the heavens is being invaded and invaders are seizing upon it." The text seems to have reference to the enthusiasm and earnestness with which the people rejoiced to hear John. As we read in Matt. 3:5, "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan." In fact, such a real earnest purpose took hold of the people as induced them to seek so eagerly the teachings of John that it could be likened to an invading army seizing upon a city or kingdom, and those who were earnest were the ones who obtained it. As Luke expresses it, "The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." That is, they were anxious to identify themselves with the great movement.