| |
THE STORY OF THE EMPTY TOMB
After Jesus was taken before the high-priest where he was ridiculed and
the people spat upon him, he was taken before the Roman Governor,
Pontius Pilate, who ruled over Judea. He heard their complaints, but did
not find any cause for putting him to death. But at last he yielded to
their demands, although he declared Jesus was innocent of all wrong.
And so Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, gave command that Jesus
should die by the cross. The Roman soldiers then took Jesus and beat him
most cruelly; and then led him out of the city to the place of death.
This was a place called "Golgotha" in the Jewish language, "Calvary" in
that of the Romans; both words meaning "The Skull Place."
With the soldiers, went out of the city a great crowd of people; some of
them enemies of Jesus, glad to see him suffer; others of them friends of
Jesus, and the women who had helped him, now weeping as they saw him,
all covered with his blood and going out to die. But Jesus turned to
them and said:
"Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and
for your children. For the days are coming when they shall count those
happy who have no little ones to be slain; when they shall wish that the
mountain might fall on them, and the hills might cover them, and hide
them from their enemies!"
They had tried to make Jesus bear his own cross, but soon found that he
was too weak from his sufferings, and could not carry it. They seized on
a man who was coming out of the country into the city, a man named
Simon, and they made him carry the cross to its place at Calvary.
It was the custom among the Jews to give to men about to die by the
cross some medicine to deaden their feelings, so that they would not
suffer so greatly. They offered this to Jesus, but when he had tasted it
and found what it was, he would not take it. He knew that he would die,
but he wished to have his mind clear, and to understand what was done
and what was said, even though his sufferings might be greater.
At the place Calvary, they laid the cross down, and stretched Jesus upon
it, and drove nails through his hands and feet to fasten him to the
cross; and then they stood it upright with Jesus upon it. While the
soldiers were doing this dreadful work, Jesus prayed for them to God,
saying: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing."
The soldiers also took the clothes that Jesus had worn, giving to each
one a garment. But when they came to his undergarment, they found that
it was woven and had no seams; so they said, "Let us not tear it, but
cast lots for it, to see who shall have it." So at the foot of the cross
the soldiers threw lots for the garment of Christ.
Two men who had been robbers and had been sentenced to die by the cross,
were led out to die at the same time with Jesus. One was placed on a
cross at his right side, and the other at his left; and to make Jesus
appear as the worst, his cross stood in the middle. Over the head of
Jesus on his cross, they placed, by Pilate's order, a sign, on which was
written:
"This is Jesus of Nazareth,
The King of the Jews."
This was written in three languages; in Hebrew, which was the language
of the Jews; in Latin, the language of the Romans, and in Greek. Many of
the people read this writing; but the chief priests were not pleased
with it. They urged Pilate to have it changed from "The King of the
Jews" to "He said, I am King of the Jews." But Pilate would not change
it. He said:
"What I have written, I have written."
And the people who passed by on the road, as they looked at Jesus on the
cross, mocked at him. Some called out to him:
"You that would destroy the Temple and build it in three days, save
yourself. If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!"
And the priests and scribes said:
"He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down from the cross,
and we will believe in you!"
And one of the robbers, who was on his own cross beside that of Jesus,
joined in the cry, and said: "If you are the Christ, save yourself and
save us!"
But the other robber said to him: "Have you no fear of God, to speak
thus, while you are suffering the same fate with this man? And we
deserve to die, but this man has done nothing wrong."
Then this man said to Jesus: "Lord, remember me when thou comest into
thy kingdom!"
And Jesus answered him, as they were both hanging on their crosses:
"To-day you shall be with me in heaven."
Before the cross of Jesus his mother was standing, filled with sorrow
for her son, and beside her was one of his disciples, John, the disciple
whom he loved best. Other women besides his mother were there--his
mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and a woman named Mary
Magdalene, out of whom a year before Jesus had sent an evil spirit.
Jesus wished to give his mother, now that he was leaving her, into the
care of John, and he said to her, as he looked from her to John: "Woman,
see your son."
And then to John he said: "Son, see your mother."
And on that day John took the mother of Jesus home to his own house, and
cared for her as his own mother.
At about noon, a sudden darkness came over the land, and lasted for
three hours. And in the middle of the afternoon, when Jesus had been on
the cross six hours of terrible pain, he cried out aloud words which
meant:
"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me!" words which are the
beginning of the twenty-second psalm, a psalm which long before had
spoken of many of Christ's sufferings.
After this he spoke again, saying, "I thirst!"
And some one dipped a sponge in a cup of vinegar, and put it upon a
reed, and gave him a drink of it. Then Jesus spoke his last words upon
the cross:
"It is finished! Father, into thy hands I give my spirit!"
And then Jesus died. And at that moment, the veil in the Temple between
the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was torn apart by unseen hands
from the top to the bottom. And when the Roman officer, who had charge
of the soldiers around the cross, saw what had taken place, and how
Jesus died, he said: "Surely this was a righteous man; he was the Son of
God."
After Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers, to be sure that he was no
longer living, ran his spear into the side of his dead body; and out of
the wound came pouring both water and blood.
There were even among the rulers of the Jews a few who were friends of
Jesus, though they did not dare to follow Jesus openly. One of these
was Nicodemus, the ruler who came to see Jesus at night. Another was a
rich man who came from the town of Arimathea, and was named Joseph.
Joseph of Arimathea went boldly in to Pilate, and asked that the body of
Jesus might be given to him. Pilate wondered that he had died so soon,
for often men lived on the cross two or three days. But when he found
that Jesus was really dead, he gave his body to Joseph.
Then Joseph and his friends took down the body of Jesus from the cross,
and wrapped it in fine linen. And Nicodemus brought some precious
spices, myrrh and aloes, which they wrapped up with the body. Then they
placed the body in Joseph's own new tomb, which was a cave dug out of
the rock, in a garden near the place of the cross. And before the
opening of the cave they rolled a great stone.
And Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and some other women, saw the
tomb, and watched while they laid the body of Jesus in it. On the next
morning, some of the rulers of the Jews came to Pilate, and said:
"Sir, we remember that that man Jesus of Nazareth, who deceived the
people, said while he was yet alive, 'After three days I will rise
again.' Give orders that the tomb shall be watched and made sure for
three days, or else his disciples may steal his body, and then say, 'He
is risen from the dead'; and thus even after his death he may do more
harm than he did while he was alive."
Pilate said to them:
"Set a watch, and make it as sure as you can."
Then they placed a seal upon the stone, so that no one might break it;
and they set a watch of soldiers at the door.
And in the tomb the body of Jesus lay from the evening of Friday, the
day when he died on the cross, to the dawn of Sunday, the first day of
the week, when he arose from the dead and appeared unto his disciples.
But the brightest day in all the world was this Sunday morning. For on
that day the stone was rolled away from the tomb and Jesus came forth
from the dead to gladden his disciples. This he had told them he would
do. On this Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene and another Mary, called
Salome, came to the tomb, found the stone rolled away and an angel
standing by the open tomb. He told them that Jesus was not there, but
had risen.
Afterward Jesus was with his disciples for forty days, after which he
was taken up into heaven.
Next
page |
THE STORY OF ADAM AND EVE
THE STORY OF NOAH AND THE ARK
THE STORY OF HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC
THE STORY OF JACOB
THE SALE OF A BIRTHRIGHT
THE STORY OF THE LADDER THAT REACHED TO HEAVEN
THE STORY OF JOSEPH
THE COAT OF MANY COLORS
THE DREAMS OF A KING
THE STORY OF THE MONEY IN THE SACKS
THE MYSTERY OF THE LOST BROTHER
THE STORY OF MOSES, THE CHILD WHO WAS FOUND IN THE RIVER
THE STORY OF THE GRAPES FROM CANAAN
THE STORY OF GIDEON AND HIS THREE HUNDRED SOLDIERS
THE STORY OF SAMSON, THE STRONG MAN
THE STORY OF RUTH, THE GLEANER
THE STORY OF DAVID
THE SHEPHERD BOY
THE STORY OF THE FIGHT WITH THE GIANT
THE STORY OF THE CAVE OF ADULLAM
THE STORY OF SOLOMON AND HIS TEMPLE
THE STORY OF ELIJAH, THE PROPHET
THE STORY OF JONAH AND THE WHALE
THE STORY OF THE FIERY FURNACE
THE STORY OF DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN
THE STORY OF THE ANGEL BY THE ALTAR
THE STORY OF JESUS
THE BABE OF BETHLEHEM
THE STORY OF THE STAR AND THE WISE MEN
THE STORY OF THE CHILD IN THE TEMPLE
THE STORY OF THE WATER THAT WAS TURNED INTO WINE
THE STORY OF THE STRANGER AT THE WELL
THE STORY OF THE FISHERMEN
THE STORY OF THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
THE STORY OF THE MIRACLE WORKER
THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN
THE STORY OF THE PALM BRANCHES
THE STORY OF THE BETRAYAL
THE STORY OF THE EMPTY TOMB
THE STORY OF THE MAN AT THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
THE STORY OF STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR
Back to Story Index
TWEETY INDEX
|
