HE is Risen!!

[This is a chapter from the wonderful book Desire of Ages. This chapter based on Matt. 28:2-4, 11-15.]

The night of the first day of the week had worn slowly away. The darkest
hour, just before daybreak, had come. Christ was still a prisoner in His
narrow tomb. The great stone was in its place; the Roman seal was unbroken;
the Roman guards were keeping their watch. And there were unseen watchers.
Hosts of evil angels were gathered about the place. Had it been possible,
the prince of darkness with his apostate army would have kept forever sealed
the tomb that held the Son of God. But a heavenly host surrounded the
sepulcher. Angels that excel in strength were guarding the tomb, and waiting
to welcome the Prince of life.

"And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord
descended from heaven." Clothed with the panoply of God, this angel left the
heavenly courts. The bright beams of God's glory went before him, and
illuminated his pathway. "His countenance was like lightning, and his
raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became
as dead men."

Now, priests and rulers, where is the power of your guard? Brave soldiers
that have never been afraid of human power are now as captives taken without
sword or spear. The face they look upon is not the face

780

of mortal warrior; it is the face of the mightiest of the Lord's host. This
messenger is he who fills the position from which Satan fell. It is he who
on the hills of Bethlehem proclaimed Christ's birth. The earth trembles at
his approach, the hosts of darkness flee, and as he rolls away the stone,
heaven seems to come down to the earth. The soldiers see him removing the
stone as he would a pebble, and hear him cry, Son of God, come forth; Thy
Father calls Thee. They see Jesus come forth from the grave, and hear Him
proclaim over the rent sepulcher, "I am the resurrection, and the life." As
He comes forth in majesty and glory, the angel host bow low in adoration
before the Redeemer, and welcome Him with songs of praise.

An earthquake marked the hour when Christ laid down His life, and another
earthquake witnessed the moment when He took it up in triumph. He who had
vanquished death and the grave came forth from the tomb with the tread of a
conqueror, amid the reeling of the earth, the flashing of lightning, and the
roaring of thunder. When He shall come to the earth again, He will shake
"not the earth only, but also heaven." "The earth shall reel to and fro like
a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage." "The heavens shall be
rolled together as a scroll;" "the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." But "the
Lord will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of
Israel." Heb. 12:26; Isa. 24:20; 34:4; 2 Peter 3:10; Joel 3:16.

At the death of Jesus the soldiers had beheld the earth wrapped in darkness
at midday; but at the resurrection they saw the brightness of the angels
illuminate the night, and heard the inhabitants of heaven singing with great
joy and triumph: Thou hast vanquished Satan and the powers of darkness; Thou
hast swallowed up death in victory!

Christ came forth from the tomb glorified, and the Roman guard beheld Him.
Their eyes were riveted upon the face of Him whom they had so recently
mocked and derided. In this glorified Being they beheld the prisoner whom
they had seen in the judgment hall, the one for whom they had plaited a
crown of thorns. This was the One who had stood unresisting before Pilate
and Herod, His form lacerated by the cruel scourge. This was He who had been
nailed to the cross, at whom the priests and rulers, full of
self-satisfaction, had wagged their heads, saying, "He saved others; Himself
He cannot save." Matt. 27:42. This was He who had been laid in Joseph's new
tomb. The decree of heaven had

781

loosed the captive. Mountains piled upon mountains over His sepulcher could
not have prevented Him from coming forth.

At sight of the angels and the glorified Saviour the Roman guard had fainted
and become as dead men. When the heavenly train was hidden from their view,
they arose to their feet, and as quickly as their trembling limbs could
carry them, made their way to the gate of the garden. Staggering like
drunken men, they hurried on to the city, telling those whom they met the
wonderful news. They were making their way to Pilate, but their report had
been carried to the Jewish authorities, and the chief priests and rulers
sent for them to be brought first into their presence. A strange appearance
those soldiers presented. Trembling with fear, their faces colorless, they
bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ. The soldiers told all, just as
they had seen it; they had not had time to think or speak anything but the
truth. With painful utterance they said, It was the Son of God who was
crucified; we have heard an angel proclaiming Him as the Majesty of heaven,
the King of glory.

The faces of the priests were as those of the dead. Caiaphas tried to speak.
His lips moved, but they uttered no sound. The soldiers were about to leave
the council room, when a voice stayed them. Caiaphas had at last found
speech. Wait, wait, he said. Tell no one the things you have seen.

A lying report was then given to the soldiers. "Say ye," said the priests,
"His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we

782

slept." Here the priests overreached themselves. How could the soldiers say
that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept? If they were
asleep, how could they know? And if the disciples had been proved guilty of
stealing Christ's body, would not the priests have been first to condemn
them? Or if the sentinels had slept at the tomb, would not the priests have
been foremost in accusing them to Pilate?

The soldiers were horrified at the thought of bringing upon themselves the
charge of sleeping at their post. This was an offense punishable with death.
Should they bear false witness, deceiving the people, and placing their own
lives in peril? Had they not kept their weary watch with sleepless
vigilance? How could they stand the trial, even for the sake of money, if
they perjured themselves?

In order to silence the testimony they feared, the priests promised to
secure the safety of the guard, saying that Pilate would not desire to have
such a report circulated any more than they did. The Roman soldiers sold
their integrity to the Jews for money. They came in before the priests
burdened with a most startling message of truth; they went out with a burden
of money, and on their tongues a lying report which had been framed for them
by the priests.

Meanwhile the report of Christ's resurrection had been carried to Pilate.
Though Pilate was responsible for having given Christ up to die, he had been
comparatively unconcerned. While he had condemned the Saviour unwillingly,
and with a feeling of pity, he had felt no real compunction until now. In
terror he now shut himself within his house, determined to see no one. But
the priests made their way into his presence, told the story which they had
invented, and urged him to overlook the sentinels' neglect of duty. Before
consenting to this, he himself privately questioned the guard. They, fearing
for their own safety, dared not conceal anything, and Pilate drew from them
an account of all that had taken place. He did not prosecute the matter
further, but from that time there was no peace for him.

When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the
Saviour would not take up His life again. He claimed the Lord's body, and
set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was
bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly
messenger. When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his
kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die.

785

The priests, in putting Christ to death, had made themselves the tools of
Satan. Now they were entirely in his power. They were entangled in a snare
from which they saw no escape but in continuing their warfare against
Christ. When they heard the report of His resurrection, they feared the
wrath of the people. They felt that their own lives were in danger. The only
hope for them was to prove Christ an impostor by denying that He had risen.
They bribed the soldiers, and secured Pilate's silence. They spread their
lying reports far and near. But there were witnesses whom they could not
silence. Many had heard of the soldiers' testimony to Christ's resurrection.
And certain of the dead who came forth with Christ appeared to many, and
declared that He had risen. Reports were brought to the priests of persons
who had seen these risen ones, and heard their testimony. The priests and
rulers were in continual dread, lest in walking the streets, or within the
privacy of their own homes, they should come face to face with Christ. They
felt that there was no safety for them. Bolts and bars were but poor
protection against the Son of God. By day and by night that awful scene in
the judgment hall, when they had cried, "His blood be on us, and on our
children," was before them. Matt. 27:25. Nevermore would the memory of that
scene fade from their minds. Nevermore would peaceful sleep come to their
pillows.

When the voice of the mighty angel was heard at Christ's tomb, saying, Thy
Father calls Thee, the Saviour came forth from the grave by the life that
was in Himself. Now was proved the truth of His words, "I lay down My life,
that I might take it again. . . . I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again." Now was fulfilled the prophecy He had spoken to the
priests and rulers, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up." John 10:17, 18; 2:19.

Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ had proclaimed in triumph, "I am
the resurrection, and the life." These words could be spoken only by the
Deity. All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are
dependent recipients of the life of God. From the highest seraph to the
humblest animate being, all are replenished from the Source of life. Only He
who is one with God could say, I have power to lay down My life, and I have
power to take it again. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break
the bonds of death.

Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was
the antitype of the wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on

786

the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For
more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From
the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when
the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits
was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented
could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The
sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits
represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of
God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the
righteous dead. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." 1 Thess. 4:14.

As Christ arose, He brought from the grave a multitude of captives. The
earthquake at His death had rent open their graves, and when He arose, they
came forth with Him. They were those who had been co-laborers with God, and
who at the cost of their lives had borne testimony to the truth. Now they
were to be witnesses for Him who had raised them from the dead.

During His ministry, Jesus had raised the dead to life. He had raised the
son of the widow of Nain, and the ruler's daughter and Lazarus. But these
were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they were still
subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ's
resurrection were raised to everlasting life. They ascended with Him as
trophies of His victory over death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no
longer the captives of Satan; I have redeemed them. I have brought them from
the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am,
nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.

These went into the city, and appeared unto many, declaring, Christ has
risen from the dead, and we be risen with Him. Thus was immortalized the
sacred truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth
of the words, "Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall
they arise." Their resurrection was an illustration of the fulfillment of
the prophecy, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the
dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isa. 26:19.

To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the
life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself

787

to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality.
The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to
humanity. "I am come," He said, "that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly." "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." "Whoso eateth
My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up
at the last day." John 10:10; 4:14; 6:54.

To the believer, death is but a small matter. Christ speaks of it as if it
were of little moment. "If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death,"
"he shall never taste of death." To the Christian, death is but a sleep, a
moment of silence and darkness. The life is hid with Christ in God, and
"when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with
Him in glory." John 8:51, 52; Col. 3:4.

The voice that cried from the cross, "It is finished," was heard among the
dead. It pierced the walls of sepulchers, and summoned the sleepers to
arise. Thus will it be when the voice of Christ shall be heard from heaven.
That voice will penetrate the graves and unbar the tombs, and the dead in
Christ shall arise. At the Saviour's resurrection a few graves were opened,
but at His second coming all the precious dead shall hear His voice, and
shall come forth to glorious, immortal life. The same power that raised
Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Him, above
all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not
only in this world, but also in the world to come.

(788)