THE FAMILY ALTAR - F.W. Herzberger

April 8.

"Now, the next day, that followed the day of the preparation,

the chief priests and Pharisees came tog-ether unto Pilate, saying*,

Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while He was yet alive,

After three days I will rise again. Command, therefore, that

the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples

come by night and steal Him away, and say unto the people,

He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than

the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way;

make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulcher

sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch." Matt. 27, 62 — 66.

"An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and

there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet

Jonas ; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's

belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in

the heart of the earth." (Matt. 12, 39. 40.)

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

(John 2, 19.)

In these blessed words our Lord had clearly foretold His resurrection from the dead, and the chief priests and Pharisees have not forgotten

them. Therefore they go to Pilate and persuade Him to seal

the grave and set a watch of soldiers around it. But He that

sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in

derision. All their cunning, might, and wickedness are like mere

gossamer threads when pitted against the omnipotence and wisdom

of the Almighty. Instead of hindering the Lord's resurrection,

these wicked plotters must serve to establish its truth beyond all

doubt. All new lies and slanders which they invented after the

Lord arose prove of no avail. The crucified Lord has risen and

reigns in the midst of His enemies. Still to-day the voice of

rejoicing and salvation is heard in the tabernacles of the righteous ;

for the right hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the

Lord doeth valiantly.

The grave itself a garden is

Where loveliest flowers abound,

Since Christ, our never-fading Life,

Sprang from that holy ground.

Oh, give us grace to die to sin,

That we, O Lord, may have

A holy, happy rest in Thee,

A Sabbath in the grave.

Lord, through the grave and gate of death

May we, with Thee, arise

To an eternal Easter Day

Of glory in the skies!