ain credence that Christ had
risen from the dead; when Peter and John stood up and affirmed that He
was living at the right hand of God; if it had been a mere surmise, the
fond delusion of loyal and faithful hearts, an hallucination of two or
three hysterical women--would it not have been easy for the enemies of
Christianity to go forthwith to the grave in the garden of Joseph, and
produce the body of the Crucified, with the marks of the nails in hands
and feet? Why did they not do it? If it be said that it could not be
produced, because it had been taken away, let this further question be
answered: Who had taken it away? Not his friends; for they would have
taken the cerements and wrappings with which Joseph and Nicodemus had
enswathed it. Not his enemies; for they would have been only too glad
to produce it. What glee in the grim faces of Caiaphas and Annas, if
at the meeting of the Sanhedrim, called to deal with the new heresy,
there could have been given some irrefragable proof that the body of
Jesus was still sepulchred, if not in Joseph's tomb, yet somewhere
else, to which their emissaries had conveyed it!

It is difficult to exaggerate the significance and force of this
contrast. And the devout soul cannot but derive comfort from comparing
the allegation of the superstitious king, which could have been so
easily refuted by the production of the Baptist's body, with that of
the disciples, which was confirmed and attested by the condition of the
grave which, in spite of the watch and ward of the Roman soldiers, had
been despoiled of its prey on the morning of the third day. Herod
expected John to rise, and gave his royal authority to the rumour of
his resurrection; but it fell to the ground still-born. The disciples
did not expect Jesus to rise. They stoutly held that the women were
mistaken, when they brought to them the assurance that it was even so.
But as the hours passed, the tidings of the empty grave were
corroborated by the vision of the Risen Lord, and they were convinced
that He who was crucified in weakness was living by the power of God.
There could, henceforth, be no hesitation in their message to the
world. "The God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye
denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him
go.... But ye killed the Prince of Life, whom God raised from the
dead." Thank God, we have not followed cunningly-devised fables. "Now
is Christ risen from