seal on tlie stone wliicli lay at its mouth. The very men who made a boast of the law, through breaking of the law dishon- ored God, and disgraced themselves. The very followers of Him whom they had slain, kept the law more strictly than they did.
[Cometh Mary Magdalene... early. ..dark...sepulchre^ St. John names none bat Mary. Yet it is clear, by examining the account of the other three Gospel writers, that she did not come alone. She was only one among several women from Galilee, — includ- ing Mary the wife of Cleophas, or Alpheus, Salome the mother of John and James, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward. These all appear to have been near our Lord when He was crucified, and to have looked on, if they did not active- ly help, when He was buried. They then probably agreed to come to the tomb early on the morning after the sabbath in or- der to do more for our Lord's body than there was time to do on Friday afternoon. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. They now came as early as they could, even before the sun was up, in order to begin their pious work as soon as they had light to do it. Foremost among the whole party was Mary Magdalene.
Rupertus and Ferus maintain that Mary Magdalene lived at Bethany, and therefore came alone to the sepulchre, from a dif- ferent road to that by which the other women came. But this seems pure conjecture, and probably arises from confounding Mary Magdalene with Mary the sister of Lazarus.
[And 8eeth...stone... sepulchre.] It seems to me, from these words, that Mary Magdalene was the first who detected in the dim twilight that the stone was rolled away from the mouth of the tomb. It may be that she was in advance of the other wo- men, and thus saw it first. It may be that strong feeling and anxiety made her more quick-sighted and keen of observation than her companions. Indeed we do not know for a certainty that all the women came together in a body. For anything I can see they may have come separately, or by twos and threes, and Mary may have been the first of the party. It is quite con- sistent with her character to suppose this. In any case her conduct this memorable morning was so remarkable and promi- nent, that St. John speaks of her alone. All the women showed faith and courage and love, he seems to intimate ; but none so pre-eminently as Mary Magdalene. She was first to come near the tomb, first to discover that the stone was rolled away, first to conjecture that something remarkable had happened, and first to act at once on what she saw.
Let us note Mary's courage, and zeal to honor her huried Lord. Not every woman would have dared to go outside the city while it was yet dark, to a grave, and specially during the passover feast, when thousands of strangers were probably sleeping under any slight shelter near the walls of Jerusalem.