The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 642

rection of him whose cross had borne the tiUe which the Wise Men from the East had attributed to the holy Child Jesus. But if that sabbath had been a disturbed and anxious day to the enemies of our Lord, what must it have been to hi8 disciples? They had watched, some few of them, the awful scene on Calvary. Most of them had fled in terror. The Lord had put forth no supernatural powers, as perhaps they had hoped; there had been no armies of angels coming to his help, no display of Divine glory to crush hie foes. He was dead, buried out of their sight. They forgot all that the prophets had spoken, all that the Lord himself had said a.bout his resurrection on the third day. Even the circumstances of his death, its calm majesty, its attendant wonders, did not restore their lost faith. "We were hoping," they said, "that it was he which should redeem Israel" But now their hopes were crushed, their faith was gone. The one terrible fact of his death had overwhelmed them in utter despair. They had expected an earthly kingdom in spite of all his many warnings. That Jewish notion of the Messiah's reign bad taken entire possession of their hearts. And now tbnt hope had vanished altogether. The Lord had not taken the throne of David; he had died upon the cross, the death of extremest ignominy. They were sunk in misery and disappointment and despondency. The chief priests ea.lied to remembrance that they had been told of his predicted resurrection. Hatred is sometimes more keen- sighted than love. The disciples seem to have had no hope at all. That sad sabbath day must have been clouded by many remorseful memories of broken promises and selfish fears-how all, save one, had left him at the last, and forsaken him in his agony who had loved them with so great a love. But the long hours of that sorrowful sabbath were over at last; the first day of the week was dawning-that day which was to be the first day of a new life, which was to be consecrated throughout the great Christian Church as the beginning of new hopes, new aspirations; the first great Easter Day was shedding its faint glimmering light through the surrounding darkness; and the holy women came-Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, and afterwards, it seems from St. Mark and St. Luke, Salome and Joanna. They had watched the burial -some of them, at least. Perhaps they were not allowed to approach at the time ; perhaps only Joseph, who had obtained the governor's leave, and Nicodemus, a man of rank and authority like Joseph, were permitted on that Friday afternoon to touch the body of the Lord. But the women followed after, and beheld where he was laid. They were last at the sepulchre on the first Good Friday; they were the first to see the empty tomb on the first great Easter Day. They came to see the sepulchre-" to anoint," St. Mark says, the body of him whom they had regarded with a love so deep and reverent. They had prepared spices and ointments before the sabba.th; they came as soon as the sabbath rest permitted to fulfil their work of love. But that very love, deep and true as it was, expressed itself in preparations which showed that they understood not the Saviour's words, or at least that the awful events of Friday had shaken their belief and destroyed their hopes. Neither Joseph and Nicodemus nor the holy women seem to have had any thought of seeing the Lord in life again. Joseph willingly gave his own new tomb to receive the dear remains. Perhaps he thought that one day his own bones might rest with the honoured body of him whom he so loved and reverenced. None of the followers of the Lord, not even those apostles who had been nearest to him, seem to have remembered those words of his which ought to have been their greatest comfort in the hour of darkness. The shock had been so great; they were so horrified, terror-stricken, bewildered. So it is with us sometimes in great pain, in overwhelming sorrow. We cannot collect our thoughts; we can scarcely pray; there seems to be no hope, nothing but darkness. It may give us some comfort to think that even saints, even apostles, shared this human weakness. But let us remember that in their despair they still loved the Lord; if they had lost hope, they still came to the sepulchre; if they thought that he could give them no help, that they had a living Lord no more, at least they clung to his sacred memory, and came to watch over and to care for his lifeless body. Let us in our snfferings try to keep the thought of the suffering Lord close to our very hearts. If there are times when we cannot find joy in the thought of his glory and majesty, let us try to find peace in the thought of his cross, his death, his burial. Let us pray that our anguish may be made the means of bringing us into closer sympathy with the suffering Lord, Lnto "the fellowship of his sufferings;" " for if we have become united with him by  G4S THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [cu. xxvm, 1-~