Article April 15, 1933 Issue

Signs of the Times

with contributions from S. G. Sherwood, A Correspondent—Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Probably in the whole history of the world there has never been a group of men and women who came into ... more overwhelming joy than did that little group of the followers of Jesus, when, on that first Easter morning, they discovered that the Master ... was still alive. ... They had to assure and reassure themselves over and over again before they could take in the full happiness and bliss and satisfaction of it. Cannot we imagine that little company, differing among themselves in quality and temperament so greatly, each showing his joy in characteristic fashion, but all joyful and triumphant past the power of any words to describe!

And the Scripture records seem to say that they did not lose that sense of joy and triumph for days and weeks and months and even years. We can see memories of that first great thrill that came to them on Easter morning appearing over and over again as they faced the difficulties and discouragements that met them in their great mission of tellings the world about their Master and trying to win men into allegiance with him. We might say when we look at these early disciples of Jesus from certain points of view, that no men ever had less reason to carry that note of triumph and that sense of exhilaration with them day by day than they had. And yet nothing ever seemed to rob them of it; that note of gladness and confidence that carries back to their Easter experience was characteristic of them in a very real and a very wonderful way. They never got over the thrill of their Easter happiness.

And no Christian ought to. As that great festival comes round year after year it ought to come home to us with ever new freshness and reality that our religion is a religion with a supreme note of triumph and victory in it. Under its spell these early disciples went forth triumphantly confident and thrilling with hope and expectation to win the world to the feet of their Master, and nothing that has ever been done since would quite equal what they did in the few short years that were given them to witness for him. It was the song on their lips, the joy in their hearts, the faith that filled and thrilled their whole being that enabled them to do it. Nothing daunted them, and nothing worsted their cheerful and determined souls. We need their mood and temper today and we need them very badly. And the Easter time would be a very good time for their faith adn their joyous courage to be born in our souls.

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