Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/759

 be in  the  heart  of  the  earth  three  days  and  three  nights”  (Mat.  12,  40, New  Test.  XXVII);  5. “He shall  be  mocked  and  scourged,  and  crucified, and  the  third  day  He  shall  rise  again”  (Mat.  20,  19).

The great  significance  of  the  Resurrection. That  Jesus  Christ  should rise  from  the  dead  by  His  own  power,  and  call  Himself  back  from  death to life,  is  the  greatest  of  all  miracles,  a very  miracle  of  miracles. The Resurrection of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  therefore:

1.  the clearest  proof  of  His  Divinity, for  He  thereby  showed  that He is;  a)  the  absolute  Lord  of  life  and  death,  possessing,  therefore, Divine  Omnipotence; and  b)  that  He  is  a true  Teacher; for  His  distinct prophecy that  He  would  rise  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day  came  to pass,  and  proved  the  truth  of  his  teaching; and  if  His  teaching  be  true then must  His  oft  repeated  assertion  that  He  was  the  Son  of  God  be equally  true. His own  testimony  to  His  Godhead  is  absolutely  trustworthy, for  not  only  did  He  die  for  this  testimony,  but  He  confirmed it by  His  glorious  Resurrection,  proving  thereby  that  He  is  the  Truth and the  Life.

2. The  Resurrection  is  to  us  the  proof  and  pledge  of  our  redemption, since  it  shows  that  His  Passion  and  Death  were  pleasing  to  God  (for otherwise  they  would  not  have  been  rewarded  by  the  wonderful  Resurrection), and  that  the  satisfaction  He  offered  has  infinite  value,  being offered by  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God. In this  sense  St.  Paul  writes (1 Cor.  15,  17.  20):  “If  Christ  be  not  risen  again,  your  faith  is  vain, for you  are  yet  in  your  sins  ... but now  Christ  is  risen  from  the  dead, the first-fruits  of  them  that  sleep.”  The  apostle’s  meaning  is  this:  “If Christ had  not  overcome  death  by  His  Resurrection,  He  would  not  have overcome sin; for  death  is  the  punishment  and  consequence  of  sin; but the fact  of  His  having  overcome  the  consequence  of  sin,  death,  gives us the  certitude  that  He  has  overcome  the  cause  of  death,  sin.”

3. The  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  pledge  of  our  own  future resurrection, “for  by  a man  came  death,  and  by  a man  the  resurrection of the  dead. And as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  also  in  Christ  all  shall  be made  alive”  (1  Cor.  15,  21.  22). Compare with  this  passage  the  words: “I am  the  resurrection  and  the  life:  he  that  believeth  in  Me,  although He be  dead,  shall  live:  and  every  one  that  liveth  and  believeth  in  Me shall  not  die  for  ever”  (John  11,  25.  26),  and  “The  hour  cometh  wherein all that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God;  and they that  have  done  good  things  shall  come  forth  unto  the  resurrection of life;  but  they  that  have  done  evil  unto  the  resurrection  of  judgment” (John 5,  28.  29). See the  eleventh  Article  of  the  Creed.

The glorified  Body.  At  His  Resurrection  our  Lord’s  Sacred  Body was transformed,  or  glorified. The glorious  Body  is  1. immortal and impassible, i.  e.  it  can  neither  die  nor  suffer;  2. it is  bright,  or  full  of light;  3. it is  subtle,  i.  e.  it  can  pass  through  any  substance  like  a spirit; and 4. it is  agile,  or  swift  as  thought. The bodies  of  all  the  just  shall