reason on her side. Who would have taken the trouble of roll- ing away the stone, but one who wanted to take away the body ? If the stone was rolled away, she justly concluded the body was gone.
One thing, at any rate, will be observed by every one who carefully compares St. John's narrative with that of the other three Evangelists. Mary Magdalene had evidently not seen " the vision of angels " which the other women saw, or else she would certainly have mentioned it to Peter and John. She does not say a word about it ! She had not heard the comfort- able tidings that the Lord had " risen," or else she would surely have told it. She clearly knew nothing of all this ; and the conclusion is plain to my mind, that she ran off as soon as she saw the stone rolled away, and waited for no companion.
Another thing should be observed. St. John's narrative here lets out the fact that Mary Magdalene did not go to the sepul- chre alone. For what does she say ? She speaks in the plural number : " We know not where they have laid Him." That " we " can only apply to herself and the other women who had gone with her to the grave.
We should notice that Mary's mournful announcement is al- most the same that she made to the angels, when they asked her why she wept. (Verse 13.) Her repeated dwelling on the body being gone, and her wanting to know where it was " laid," should be noticed. May we not suspect that this holy woman, with all her faith and love, had not yet realized the great truth that Jesus was to rise again. She talks of His body, and longs to know where it is laid, and seems to think it must be a cold dead corpse still, and wishes to do it more honor. But she has forgotten altogether His repeated prediction that He would rise again ! Alas, how little of Christ's teaching the best of us take in 1 How much we let fall !
By the word " they " we must suppose Mary meant our Lord's enemies, — the chief priests, or the Roman soldiers. Perhaps we should not press the word too closely. It may be that the good woman, in her excitement and trouble, hardly knew whom she meant, and spoke indefinitely ; — " somebody " has taken away. She can hardly have meant that the chief priests had taken away the body, in order to exhibit it as the dead corpse of a conquered, wicked impostor.
It is fair to say that Ecolampadius actually thinks that Mary saw the angels, talked with them, and received the message for the disciples that Clirist had risen, but quite forgot it ! This, however, seems to me an extremely improbable view.
3. —[Peter therefore went forth, and that other discijyle, etc.'] The announcement of Mary Magdalene was so startling, that the two disciples arose at once, and went to the sepulchre, in order to find out what this rolling aw^y of the stone meant, and to