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From Heaven With Love
The sufferers sank under their disappointment. The sick were
dying for want of the healing touch of Jesus. Physicians were con-
sulted in vain; there was no skill like that of Him who lay in Joseph’s
tomb.
To thousands of minds came the conviction that a great light had
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gone out of the world. Without Christ, the earth was darkness. Many
whose voices had swelled the cry, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” now
realized the calamity that had fallen upon them.
When the people learned that Jesus had been put to death by the
priests, inquiries were made. The particulars of His trial were kept
as private as possible, but reports of the inhumanity of the priests and
rulers were circulated everywhere. Men of intellect called on these
priests and rulers to explain the prophecies concerning the Messiah.
While trying to frame some falsehood in reply, they became like
men insane. The prophecies that pointed to Christ’s sufferings and
death they could not explain.
The priests knew they were meeting the severe censure of the
people. The ones they had influenced against Jesus were now horri-
fied by their own shameful work. These priests trembled for fear that
Christ would Himself rise from the dead and again appear before
them. They remembered that He had said, “Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up.”
John 2:19
. Judas had told them the
words spoken by Jesus on the last journey to Jerusalem: “The Son
of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes,
and they will condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the
Gentiles ... to crucify Him: and the third day He shall rise again.”
Matthew 20:18, 19
. They remembered that Christ’s predictions had
so far been fulfilled. Who could say that this also would not come
to pass?
They longed to shut out these thoughts, but they could not. The
image of Christ would intrude on their minds, serene and uncom-
plaining before His enemies, suffering without a murmur their taunts
and abuse. An overpowering conviction came to them that He was
the Son of God. He might at any time stand before them, the accused
to become the accuser, the slain to demand justice in the death of
His murderers.
Though they would not step over a Gentile’s threshold for fear of
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defilement, on the Sabbath they held a council concerning the body