Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/761

 in  Him  even  had  He  appeared  to  them:  their  guilt  would  only  have been  increased.

The lies  of  the  chief  priests  as  to  the  Resurrection  were  very malicious, but  they  were  also  very  stupid. If the  watchers  were  asleep, how could  they  have  seen  the  disciples  stealing  the  Body? And if  they had not  seen  it  done,  how  could  they  bear  witness  to  the  fact? Sleeping witnesses are  no  witnesses. Besides this,  the  disciples  were  so  crushed  and cowed that  they  scarcely  dared  to  show  themselves  at  all; so  how  could they have  had  the  courage  to  force  their  way  into  a sepulchre  closely guarded by  soldiers? Why did  they  not  do  so  during  the  first  night while the  tomb  was  unguarded? And had  the  soldiers  been  really asleep, would  they  not  have  been  awakened  by  the  moving,  in  the silence of  the  night,  of  the  heavy  stone  which  closed  the  door  of  the Sepulchre? And why,  finally,  did  not  the  chief  priests  and  scribes  arrest the disciples  and  put  them  on  trial  for  the  alleged  violation  of  the  grave and stealing  of  the  Body? Why did  they  institute  no  inquiry  as  to  where the Body  had  been  taken?

You have  been  spiritually  raised  from  the  dead by holy  Baptism; therefore  you  ought  to  walk  in  the  newness  of a holy  life,  in  order  that  you  may  some  day  rise  up  with  a glorified  body,  and  live  for  ever  with  Christ. “Let not,  therefore, sin reign  in  your  mortal  body”,  says  St.  Paul,  “so  as  to  obey  the lusts thereof. Neither yield  ye  your  members  as  instruments  of iniquity  unto  sin:  but  present  yourselves  to  God  as  those  that are alive  from  the  dead,  and  your  members  as  instruments  of justice  unto  God”  (Rom.  6,  12 — 13). Hold your  body  in  honour, resist evil  passions,  and  do  not  use  the  members  of  your  body for sinful  purposes,  but  use  them  for  the  practice  of  good  works.

OW, Mary  Magdalen,  seeing  that  the  stone  was  rolled  away from the  Sepulchre,  and  noticing  that  the  Body  was  not there, hastened  back  to  Jerusalem,  to  tell  the  news  to  the