taken away from the sepulchre.

Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he, stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie; and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white, sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She

turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

It is expressly stated by St. Mark, that the first appearance of our Lord was made to Mary Magdalene. She was called Mary Magdalene, or " of Magdala," to distinguish her from others of that name; as, for instance, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary who anointed our Lord. By many indeed the two anointings of our Lord have been attributed to two different women; and she who performed the first has been identified with Mary Magdalene. But there is nothing in the Gospel narratives which suggests the view of their identity; and that it was probably Mary the sister of Lazarus, who, in each instance, anointed Jesus, has been already pointed out.

In St. Paul's enumeration of the several appearances of Christ, that to St. Peter' is placed b 1 Corinth. xv. 5.

first. This however does not contradict St. Mark's statement; because it does not imply that St. Peter saw him first. And it may be added, that St. Paul placed St. Peter's name first, probably because he was the first of the appointed witnesses who saw the Lord, and it was partly with a view to include himself among these, that he mentioned the subject. This is very likely to have been the case.

To begin then with the appearance to Mary, considering it as the first which was made. There is one feature in the narrative which strikes us as very extraordinary. On Mary attempting to address Christ, whom she saw suddenly as she turned at the sound of her name, he tells her, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father, and your Father, and to my God and your God."

West, in his excellent work on the Resurrection, very judiciously observes, that any attempt to explain this, by attributing it to some mystery in the divine nature of Christ, would only involve the question in increased perplexity. The solution which he offers however is not altogether

satisfactory. These are his own words: "I take Christ's forbidding Mary Magdalene to touch him, to have been meant as a signification of his intending to see her and his disciples again; just as in ordinary life, when one friend says to another, "Dont take leave of me, for I am not going yet," he means to let him know that he purposes to see him again before he sets out on his journey." This is very ingenious, and in itself not unlikely. But then the Lord's words to Mary, if this had been his meaning, must have been, "I am not yet going to ascend;" instead of which he tells her, "I have not yet ascended." The latter expression fixes the propriety of what she was intending to do to a period after his ascension, and corrects her mistake in doing it at any time before. Instead of allowing her to follow the first suggestion of her heart, he seems to remind her, that what she was thinking to do, he had appointed to be done after his ascension. He intimates, that she was to defer it until then; and, as it would seem, for the purpose of conveying the same hint to his other disciples, he bids her go and tell them, that he was about to • West on the Resurrection. · οὔπω ἀναβέβηκα.

d

make his promise good, and ascend" to their Father, and his Father, and to their God, and his God,"-implying that it would be then time for them to do, what was not now to be done, only because he had not yet ascended.

But what was this act of affection or devotion which was so forbidden or deferred? The Evangelist merely states, that Mary was beginning to address the Lord, and that he told her not to touch him. For what end did she attempt to touch him, as the expression is? Some light is thrown on it, by the account of his appearance to the women in whose company Mary went first to the sepulchre. From a comparison of the several narratives, it would seem that Mary Magdalene, and other women with her, went very early in the morning to the sepulchre-that on finding the stone rolled away, Mary must have quitted her companions, and have flown with the story to Peter-and that Jesus must consequently have shewn himself separately, to her first, and afterwards to these other women. Now how did these other women behave when they saw the Lord? They came and held him by