57

Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. 58 He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate 59 commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had 60 taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and 61 departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

James the less, or the younger, says Mark, to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee, and the wife of Alphæus or Clopas; see John xix. 25, and com. on Matt. xiii. 53 – 58.

and the mother of Zebedee's children] Salome, Mark

XV. 40.

57. there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph] "A disciple of Jesus," says John (xix. 38), "but secretly, through fear of the Jews."

have his grave "with the rich in
his death." Had he been placed
with others in the common burying-
ground for malefactors, it would have
been impossible to obtain the cir-
cumstantial evidence that we now
have of his resurrection. The chief
priests would not have thought of
sealing the stone, or setting a watch
there.
59. Wrapped it

in a clean linen cloth] "The Jews, as well as the Egyptians, A counsellor," i. e. a member of the added spices to keep the body Sanhedrim, says Luke (xxiii. 50, from putrefaction, and the linen 51), "and he was a good and right- was wrapped about every part to eous man (this man had not con- keep the aromatics in contact with sented to their counsel and their the flesh. From John xix. 39, 40, deed) from Arimathea, a city of the we learn that a mixture of myrrh Jews, who also himself was waiting and aloes, of one hundred pounds' for the kingdom of God." This is This is weight, had been applied to the all that is known, nor can it be body of Jesus when he was buried. determined now precisely where And that a second embalmment Arimathea was. He was evidently was intended, we learn from Luke a man (Mark xv. 43) of great re- xxiii. 56 and xxiv. 1, as the hurry spectability of character as well as to get the body interred before the a man of wealth. 58. He Sabbath did not permit them to went to Pilate, and begged complete the embalming in the first the body of Jesus] The Roman instance.' Adam Clarke. custom was to leave the bodies exposed on the crosses till devoured by birds of prey. Horace, Epis. I. 16. 48. The Jewish custom, on the other hand, (Josephus, Jewish Wars, IV. 5. 2,) was to take them down before sunset and bury them. If no one had come to ask for the body of Jesus, it would have been buried in the common place appointed for the burial of executed criminals. He has been "numbered with the transgressors," and now he is

to

60. And laid it in his own new tomb] Matthew alone relates that it was Joseph's own tomb. John relates that it was in a garden, and in the place where he was crucified. "All that we can determine respecting the sepulchre from the data here furnished is: 1. That it was not a natural cave, but an artificial excavation in the rock. 2. That it was not cut downwards, after the manner of a grave with us, but horizontally, or nearly so,

Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, 62 the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, say- 63 ing, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command 64 therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead; so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have 65 a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they 66 went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

into the face of the rock.

3. That it was in the spot where the
crucifixion took place." Alford.
62. the next day,
that followed the day of the
preparation] More exactly, On
the next day, i. e. the day that
came after the preparation. The
preparation was the day before the
Jewish Sabbath. Why should it
be mentioned here? Because to
Matthew, when he recorded these
events, that preparation day on
which Jesus had been crucified
was the day from which to reckon
even the Sabbath which came im-
mediately after it. It was as if he
had said, The day after the cruci-

fixion.

Sir] Kúpte, Lord. The title of respect usually applied to Jesus, and to persons of distinction, but not implying the homage or reverence due to a divine being. 66. sealing the stone, and setting a watch] "The sealing was by means of a cord or string passing across the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre, and fastened at either end to the rock by sealing-clay." The watch or guard was probably a small detachment of Roman soldiers which the governor placed at the disposal of the priests, and of course subject to their orders.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES OF THE RESURRECTION.

"THE independence and distinctness of the four narratives in this part," says Alford, "have never been questioned, and indeed herein lie its principal difficulties. With regard to them, I refer to what I have said in the Prolegomena, that supposing us to be acquainted with everything said and done, in its order and exactness, we should doubtless be able to reconcile, or account for, the present forms of the narratives: but not having this key to the harmonizing of them, all attempts to do so in minute particulars must be full of arbitrary assumptions, and carry no certainty with them. And I may remark, that, of all harmonies, those of the incidents of these chapters are to me the most unsatisfactory." After a very careful comparison of the different narratives, without reference to any commentator or harmonist, we do not find the difficulties so great as Alford supposes them to be. The result to which we have been led by our own independent inquiries agrees substantially with the conclusions of Dr. Carpenter, and is in most particulars nearly the same as that in Dr. Robinson's Harmony, which we did not read till after we had satisfied our minds in regard to the true succession of events. In order to study the matter to advantage, it is necessary that the reader should thoroughly master the different accounts, so as to carry clearly and distinctly in his mind all the details as they are given by each separate Evangelist.

In the first place, we have no reason to suppose that all the women mentioned by the Evangelists set out from the same place or at the same moment. It is not improbable

that Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" had spent the Sabbath at Bethany, and there prepared the spices with which to anoint the body of Jesus. Salome, on the other hand, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza (Luke viii. 3), were probably in the city. It would appear also, from Luke xxiv. 33, that the eleven had a place of meeting in the city, and from John xx. 2, that Peter and John at least had their places of abode in Jerusalem.

We may suppose then that "very early in the morning' (Mark xvi. 2), "while it was yet dark” (John xx. 1), Mary Magdalene and the women who were with her set out from Bethany, which was nearly two miles from Jerusalem, talking by the way of what had taken place, and questioning among themselves how they should roll away the heavy stone from the mouth of the sepulchre. When they reached the spot, the sun had already risen (Mark xvi. 2). Mary Magdalene, the moment she saw that the stone had been removed, supposing that the body had been taken away, ran swiftly into the city to Peter and John, who, excited by her words, ran as rapidly as possible to the sepulchre. During this interval, which must have taken up from fifteen to thirty minutes, the other women come nearer to the tomb, see the angel (one angel, Matthew and Mark), and hear from him that Jesus has risen, and that he would meet his disciples in Galilee. They depart to find the disciples, and while on their way are met by Jesus, who has already shown himself to Mary Magdalene at the sepulchre. They tell what they have heard and seen to the disciples, but are not believed. Immediately after they had left the sepulchre, the women from the city, Salome, Joanna, and perhaps others, came with their spices, as by previous agreement, and while they stood there amazed and perplexed (Luke xxiv. 1–7), two men stood by them in shining garments, and said, "Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen" (is raised). They hastily departed, and now, or perhaps before their arrival, Peter and

John reached the spot, and having entered the tomb, and seen precisely how the grave-clothes were laid, they went away, leaving Mary Magdalene behind. She stood weeping by the sepulchre (John xx. 11-18) when two angels appeared to her, and afterwards Jesus himself addressed her.

There is no certain evidence that this was the precise order of events. Nor is there any necessity for supposing that any of the women came from Bethany that morning. They may all of them have been spending the Sabbath in Jerusalem, and by a previous agreement may have left their homes in different parts of the city at about the same time to go to the sepulchre. In reading such narratives we should not forget the haste, surprise, and astonishment which must have characterized the transactions of that morning, and prevented any one person from getting at all the details in their precise order of succession or their exact relations to one another. Traces of this state of mind and the apparent inconsistencies growing out of it must be expected, and are to be found, in the Gospels.

THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS NOT CONTRADICTORY.

But are there any important contradictions? 1. As to the persons. According to Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came very early, &c. Mark mentions Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke speaks of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Joanna, and the other women who were with them, while John makes mention only of Mary Magdalene. But no one professes to mention all the women who were there, and it would be natural for each writer to call by name only those who were uppermost in his own mind. John does not say that Mary Magdalene was the only woman. On the contrary, the words which he represents her as using, "we know not where they have laid him," imply that others had been with her, especially as after her return