To these incidents S. John adds, besides the contents of chap. xxi., the gift of the power of absolution, and the manifestation on the second Lord's Day, when S. Thomas was present.

It may be freely admitted that the difficulty of harmonizing the different accounts of the Resurrection is very great. As so often in the Gospel narrative, we have not the knowledge required for piecing together the fragmentary accounts that have been granted to us. To this extent it may be allowed that the evidence for the Resurrection is not what we should antecedently have desired.

But it is no paradox to say that for this very reason, as well as for other reasons, the evidence is sufficient. Impostors would have made the evidence more harmonious. The difficulty arises from independent witnesses telling their own tale, not caring in their consciousness of its truth to make it clearly agree with what had been told elsewhere. The writer of the Fourth Gospel must have known of some, if not all, of the Synoptic accounts; but he writes freely and firmly from his own independent experience and information. All the Gospels agree in the following very important particulars;

1. The Resurrection itself is left undescribed. Like all beginnings, whether in history or nature, it is hidden from view.

2. The manifestations were granted to disciples only, but to disciples wholly unexpectant of a Resurrection. The theory that they were visions resulting from enthusiastic expectations, is against all the evidence.

3. They were received with doubt and hesitation at first.

4. Mere reports were rejected.

5. The manifestations were granted to all kinds of witnesses, both male and female, both individuals and companies.

6. The result was a conviction, which nothing ever shook, that 'the Lord had risen indeed' and been present with them.

All four accounts also agree in some of the details;

1. The evidence begins with the visit of women to the sepulchre in the early morning.

2. The first sign was the removal of the stone.

3. Angels were seen before the Lord was seen.

(See Westcott, Speaker's Commentary, IL. pp. 287, 8.

1-10. THE FIRST EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION.

1. τ. σαββ. Τὰ σάββατα may mean either the Sabbath, on the analogy of names of festivals, τὰ ἐγκαίνια, τὰ παναθήναια, &c., or the week, as the interval between two Sabbaths: here literally, on day one of the week (Luke xxiv. 1). S. John has not mentioned the stone; but he speaks of it as known, Tov Xilov. S. Mark notes the placing of it, S. Matthew the sealing: all four note the displacement: npμévov ik, lifted out of.

2. Concluding that the body must be gone, she runneth therefore to S. Peter. He is still chief of the Apostles, and as such is consulted first, in spite of his fall. The repetition of pós implies that he was not living with S. John, though (v. 3) near him. We are in doubt

whether öv épile applies to him as well as to the other disciple.' The special phrase for S. John is öv nyáπa (xiii. 22).

pav. She makes no attempt to determine whether friends or foes have done it (comp. Luke xii. 20): oldaμev agrees with the Synoptists' account, that other women came also. She left them to go to the Apostles.

3. The change from the single act, ¿§îλev, to that which lasted some time, pxovтo, is marked by change of tense; see on xi. 29.

4. ἔτρεχον...προέδ. τάχ. τ. Π. Literally, began to run...ran_on before, more quickly than Peter: Táx. T. II. being epexegetic. The more usual form 0ãoσov does not occur in N. T. (xiii. 27; 1 Tim. iii. 14; Heb. xiii. 19, 23). S. John ran more quickly as being much younger. Would a second century writer have thought of this in inventing a story? And how simply does S. John give us the process of conviction through which his mind passed: the dull unbelief beforehand, the eager wonder in running, the timidity and awe on arriving, the birth of faith in the tomb. This is true psychology free from all self-consciousness.

5. πаρакúas. The word occurs again v. 11 and Luke xxiv. in a literal sense, of 'bending down to look carefully at;' in a figurative sense 1 Pet. i. 12; James i. 25 (see notes). In Ecclus. xiv. 23 it is used of the earnest searcher after wisdom; in xxi. 23 of the rude prying of a fool. Bλére is seeth at a glance, as distinct from Dewpeî (v. 6).

6. Both Apostles act characteristically. S. John remains without in awe and meditation: S. Peter with his natural impulsiveness goes in at once. He takes a complete survey (@ewpet), and hence sees the σovdápiov (xi. 44), which S. John in his short look had not observed. How natural is the auroû (v. 7): the writer is absorbed in his subject and feels no need to mention the name. The details (so meagre in Luke xxiv. 12) here tell of the eyewitness: he even remembers that the napkin was folded.

8. καὶ ἐπίστευσεν. See on i. 7. More difficulty has perhaps been made about this than is necessary. 'Believed what?' is asked. That Jesus was risen. The whole context implies it; and comp. v. 25. The careful arrangement of the grave-clothes proved that the body had not been taken away in haste as by a foe: and friends would scarcely have removed them at all. It is thoroughly_natural that S. John speaks only of himself, saying nothing of S. Peter. He is full of the impression which the empty and orderly tomb made upon his own mind; and it is to this that vv. 1-7 lead up, just as the whole Gospel leads up to v. 29. S. Luke (xxiv. 12-of doubtful genuineness) speaks only of S. Peter's wonder, neither affirming nor denying his belief.

9. ovSéπw. Not even yet. S. John's belief in the Resurrection was as yet based only on what he had seen in the sepulchre. He had nothing derived from prophecy to help him. The candour of the

Evangelists is again shewn very strongly in the simple avowal that the love of Apostles failed to grasp and remember what the enmity of the priests understood and treasured up. Even with Christ to expound Scripture to them, the prophecies about His Passion and Resurrection had remained a sealed book to them (Luke xxiv. 25—27). For Set comp. iii. 14, xii. 34; Matt. xvi. 21, xxvi. 54; Mark viii. 31; Luke ix. 22, xvii. 25, xxii. 37, xxiv. 7, 26, 44. The Divine determination meets us throughout Christ's life on earth, and is pointed out with frequency towards the close of it. Comp. Eph. iii. 11.

10. ἀπῆλθον...πρὸς αὐτούς. The reading is doubtful: αὑτοὺς = ἑαυτούς is best. Comp. ἀπῆλθον καθ' ἑαυτούς (1 Sam. xxvi. 12).

11-18. THE MANIFESTATION TO MARY MAGDALENE.

11-18. It has been noticed that the three manifestations in this Chapter correspond to the three divisions of the Prayer in Chap. xvii. Here we see Jesus Himself; in the second, Jesus in relation to His disciples; in the third, Jesus in relation to all who have not seen and yet have believed.

11. Mapía Sé. She had returned to the sepulchre after the hurrying Apostles. Mark xvi. 9 states definitely, what we gather from this section, that the risen Lord's first appearance was to Mary Magdalene: the details of the meeting are given by S. John alone. She continued standing (xviii. 5, 16, 18, xix. 25) after the other two had gone.

12. άyyéλous. Here only do angels appear in S. John's narrative. Comp. i. 52, xii. 29, [v. 4]. An appearance of angels to women occurs in all the accounts of the Resurrection. We are ignorant of the laws which determine such appearances; the two Apostles had seen nothing. For év λevkois comp. Rev. iii. 4: in Rev. iii. 5, iv. 4, iμaríos is added.

13. τ. κύριόν μου...οἶδα. In v. 2 it was r. κύριον and οἴδαμεν. In speaking to Apostles she includes other believers; in speaking to strangers she represents the relationship and the loss as personal. These words express the burden of her thoughts since she first saw that the stone had been removed. She is so full of it that she has no thought of the strangeness of this appearance in the tomb. We may reasonably suppose that the Evangelist obtained his information from Mary herself. "The extreme simplicity of the narrative reflects something of the solemn majesty of the scene. The sentences follow without any connecting particles till v. 19. Comp. c. xv." (Westcott).

14. σTρáþη. Perhaps she becomes in some way conscious of another Presence. But Christ's Risen Body is so changed as not to be recognised at once even by those who had known Him well. It has new powers and a new majesty. Comp. xxi. 4; Luke xxiv. 16, 37; Matt. xxviii. 17; [Mark xvi. 12].

15. Kηπоuρós. Because He was there at that early hour. The omission of His name is again (v. 7) very natural: she is so full of her loss that she assumes that others know all about it. Zú is emphatic:

"Thou, and not some enemy.' For Báoraσas see on xii. 6. In her loving devotion she does not measure her strength: kȧyw avтòv åpŵ. Note that it is τ. κύριον (v. 2), τ. κ. μου (ν. 13), αὐτόν thrice (v. 15); never т. σŵμa or т. veкрóv. His lifeless form to her is still Himself.

16. Mapiáp. The term of general address, Túval, awoke no echo in her heart; the sign of personal knowledge and sympathy comes home to her at once. Thus 'He calleth His own sheep by name' (x. 3). The addition of 'Eẞpaïorí is of importance as indicating the language spoken between Christ and His disciples. S. John thinks it well to remind Greek readers that Greek was not the language used. Comp. Acts xxii. 2, xxvi. 14, and see on v. 2. The form 'Paßßovvi or 'PaßBouvel occurs also in Mark x. 51, but has been obliterated in A.V. It is said to be Galilean, and if so natural in a woman of Magdala. Would any but a Jew of Palestine have preserved this? Its literal meaning is 'my Master,' but the pronominal portion of the word had lost almost all meaning: comp. Monsieur.' S. John's translation shews that as yet her belief is very imperfect: she uses a mere human title.

soon.

17. μÝ μ. άπтov. This is a passage of well-known difficulty. At first sight the reason given for refraining from touching would seem to be more suitable to a permission to touch. Comp. iv. 44. It is perhaps needless to enquire whether the yάp refers to the whole of what follows or only to the first sentence, 'I am not yet ascended to the Father.' In either case the meaning would be, that the Ascension has not yet taken place, although it soon will do so, whereas Mary's action assumes that it has taken place. If yáp refers to the first clause only, then the emphasis is thrown on Mary's mistake; if yáp refers to the whole of what is said, then the emphasis is thrown on the promise that what Mary craves shall be granted in a higher way to both her and others very The translation 'touch Me not' is inadequate and gives a false impression. "Aπтеσ0αι does not mean to 'touch' and 'handle' with a view to seeing whether His body was real; this Christ not only allowed but enjoined (v. 27; Luke xxiv. 39; comp. 1 John i. 1): rather it means to 'hold on to' and 'cling to.' Moreover it is the present (not aorist) imperative; and the full meaning will therefore be, 'Do not continue holding Me,' or simply, hold Me not. The old and often interrupted earthly intercourse is over; the new and continuous intercourse with the Ascended Lord has not yet begun: but that Presence will be granted soon, and there will be no need of straining eyes and clinging hands to realise it. (For a large collection of various interpretations see Meyer. The reading πρὸς τ. πατέρα (without μου) agrees better with TP. т. dd. μov. The general relationship applying both to Him and them is stated first, and then it is pointedly distinguished in its application to Him and to them.

ávaẞaíva. I am ascending. The change has already begun: earth is His home no longer. In Luke xxiv. 44 Jesus says, 'These are My words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you.' Mary's error consisted in supposing that Jesus was again with her under the

old conditions. He is with them no longer after the flesh: He only appears to them. Soon He will be in them as the glorified Christ. The present interval is one of transition. But He remains perfect Man : He still speaks of 'My God.' Comp. Rev. iii. 12. Thus also S. Paul and S. Peter speak of 'the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Comp. Eph. i. 3; 2 Cor. xi. 31; 1 Peter i. 3; and see on Rom. xv. 6; 2 Cor. i. 3, where the expression is blurred in the A.V.

18. ἔρχεται... ἀγγέλλουσα. The more usual form is ἐλθοῦσα ἀγγέλλe; xi. 17, xvi. 8. Comp. xx. 6. She becomes an Apostle to the Apostles.

Thus as Mary's love seems to have been the first to manifest itself (v. 1), so the first Manifestation of the Risen Lord is granted to her. It confirms our trust in the Gospel narratives to find this stated. A writer of a fictitious account would almost certainly have represented the first appearance as being to the Virgin, or to S. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, or to S. John, the beloved disciple, or to the chosen three. But these are all passed over, and this honour is given to her, who had once been possessed by seven devils, to Mary of Magdala, 'for she loved much.' A late and worthless tradition does assign the first appearance to the Virgin; but so completely has Christ's earthly relationship to her been severed (xix. 26, 27), that henceforth she appears only among the other believers (Acts i. 14).

19-23. THE MANIFESTATION TO THE TEN AND OTHERS.

19. ovσns ouv oy. Note the great precision of the expression. When therefore it was evening on that day, the first of the week: that memorable day, the day of days.' Comp. i. 39, v. 9, xi. 49, xviii. 13, where 'that' has a similar meaning. Evidently the hour is late; the disciples have returned from Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 23), and it was evening when they left Emmaus. At least it must be long after sunset, when the second day of the week, according to the Jewish reckoning, would begin. And S. John speaks of it as still part of the first day. This is a point in favour of S. John's using the modern method in counting the hours: it has a special bearing on the explanation of the seventh hour' in iv. 52. " See notes there and on xix. 14.

T. Ouρŵν KEKλ. This is mentioned both here and v. 26 to shew that the appearance was miraculous. After the Resurrection Christ's human form, though still real and corporeal (Luke xxiv. 39), is not subject to the ordinary conditions of material bodies. It is èv åplapσίᾳ, ἐν δόξῃ, ἐν δυνάμει, πνευματικόν (1 Cor. xv. 42-44). Before the Resurrection He was visible, unless He willed it otherwise; after the Resurrection it would seem that He was invisible, unless He willed it otherwise. Comp. Luke xxiv. 31. Oi μaontaí includes more than the Apostles, as is clear from Luke xxiv. 33. It was natural that the small community of believers should come together, to discuss the reported appearances of the Lord, as well as for mutual comfort and support under the (prevailing) fear of the Jews (comp. vii. 13). The Sanhedrin might go on to attack Jesus' disciples; all the more so now that rumours of His being alive were spreading.