The Victory Over Death

BY BERNHARD PLOCKHORST, A CELEBRATED BIBLICAL
PAINTER OF MODERN GERMANY.

"He will swallow up death in victory."-Isaiah, 25, 8. "Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord ?"-Psalms, 44, 23.

T

HE poetical books of the Bible, and especially the
Psalms, have been called the connecting link be-

tween the Old Testament and the New. Everywhere running through the Psalms is the thought of the coming Messiah, of His great deeds, His glorious reign, His triumph over death. The Books of the Prophets are equally earnest in their assurances of the victories of the Messiah.

These promises and longings found their fulfillment in the glorious life of Christ and in His resurrection. Two days after the crucifixion His mother and her devoted friends came in sorrow to the tomb of Jesus and found the stone rolled away from the mouth of the sepulchre. By it stood an angel who proclaimed to the astounded women the glorious tidings, "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said."

So were the earlier Scriptures confirmed. The promise of immortality which had been given to all men, was demonstrated by the resurrection of the one man, Jesus. This was the first Easter morning in the world, the wiping out forever of the old days of darkness and terror, the beginning of the new gospel of hope and love.