he Temple was torn in two from
the top to the bottom, as a sign that the Lord Jesus by His death had
opened the way for us into life eternal.

CHAPTER XLIV.

LOVE AND LIFE.

There was a good man of Arimathea named Joseph who was a disciple of
Jesus, but not a fearless one. He had not followed Jesus with the
twelve, but he had loved Him, and when he knew that his Master, who had
not where to lay His head in life, had not a place of burial in death,
he lost all fear and went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. This
Pilate willingly gave him, and he, bringing helpers, took the body from
the cross and tenderly brought it to his own garden in which was a new
tomb hewn out of the rock. In this peaceful garden-room for the dead
they laid Him, wrapped Him in fine linen and spices, for another
disciple who had not dared to follow Jesus openly had come with a
mixture of myrrh and aloes of a hundred pounds weight to embalm the
body of Jesus. This was Nicodemus who had a talk with Jesus by night
among the olive trees about the breath of God in man. So these two
rich men buried Jesus, and a prophecy was fulfilled.

[Illustration: The descent from the Cross]

We do not know that any of the eleven disciples helped to bury Jesus,
but, while John took the mother of Jesus to a place of rest and safety,
his own mother, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James, and Mary
Magdalene stood looking on afar off. There were other women also, who
helped to guard the body of the crucified Lord when it seemed to be
forsaken of all men. They marked the place where He lay and went away,
for the hours of "preparation" and the Sabbath were before them. On
the eve of Friday they prepared spices and ointments, and rested the
Sabbath day (seventh day) according to the commandment. But Roman
soldiers came and set a seal upon the tomb, and watched it night and
day. On the first day of the week (now the Christian Sabbath) very
early in the morning, while the streets were still, and there lay only
a faint streak of rose in the purple east, Mary Magdalene hastened out
of the city to the tomb in the garden, bearing her spices. When she
reached the place she saw no guards there, and the heavy stone was
rolled away from the door of the tomb. A great fear fell upon the
woman who "loved much," and she ran to find Peter and John. "They have
taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre," she said, "and we know not
where they have laid Him."

Th