_THE VISIT OF MARY MAGDALENE_ ‘The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre.’ John 20:1 Dark without as yet, and dark within. She is in no mood of exalted expectancy, but in the deepest grief. She is pondering a new trouble that has come into her... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE TESTIMONY OF THE GRAVE-CLOTHES_ ‘He beholdeth the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, that was upon His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. John 20:6 (R.V.) The two Apostles went in great haste to the tomb, on the startling report of Mary Magdalene that... [ Continue Reading ]
_EASTER THOUGHTS_ ‘Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.’ John 20:8 We have sung in faith and with joy our Easter hymn, ‘Jesus Christ is risen to-day; our triumphant holy day, Alleluia.’ What, then, are our lessons? I. THE RISEN CHR... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION_ ‘They knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.’ John 20:9 There are two plain reasons why Christ ‘_ must_ rise again from the dead.’ The first was that He might overcome Satan in every part of his dominion over men. The second is that we might... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHAT MARY SAW THROUGH HER TEARS_ ‘But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping.’ John 20:11 Here is the lone figure of Mary Magdalene weeping before the tomb in the early dawn of the first Easter Day. Let us think of what Mary saw through her tears. I. SHE SAW THE STONE ROLLED AWAY.—Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘TOUCH ME NOT’_ Jesus saith unto her, Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father. John 20:17 This is the second word spoken by our Lord after His Resurrection; and it was spoken to the simple womanly penitent. His first word touched her heart, His second informed her spirit. I. THE AC... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE LORD’S DAY_ ‘The same day at evening, being the first day of the week … came Jesus and stood in the midst.’ John 20:19 ‘Very early in the morning, the first day of the week,’ the Lord Jesus by His Resurrection proclaimed His victory over sin and death, and in consequence that first day has b... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE MESSAGE OF PEACE_ ‘Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.’ John 20:19 The disciples’ sad and gloomy meeting was... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE REMISSION OF SINS_ ‘Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’ John 20:23 Twice in the old life before the Passion was this promise made, if not word for word, yet in the exact sense of the words; and if our idea is right, th... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ABSENCE OF THOMAS_ ‘But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.’ John 20:24 There is a very pathetic ring about this verse; Thomas lost an opportunity and missed a blessing. The world seems to be full of lost opportunities, and people never seem to learn... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE APPEARANCE TO THOMAS_ ‘Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My bands; and reach hither thy band, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing.’ John 20:27 What was the nature of Thomas’s doubt? It was, I think, partly constitutional. Thomas was a th... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE BEATITUDE OF FAITH_ ‘Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.’ John 20:29 Let us ask wherein lies the blessedness of faith, and what are the claims that it makes upon us, if we are to share in the promised benediction. I. THERE IS ONE MARKED DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS BLESSI... [ Continue Reading ]