Medford mail tribune., April 17, 1960, Image 34

Here is an inspiring "eyewitness" account of the
Resurrection a$ the Roman centurion might have related it to St. Luke
By TAYLOR CALDWELL
. Author of the best-selling novel, "Dear and Glorious Physician"
U am A Roman soldier and a realist," the centurion told
I Luke. "Had I heard the story of the darkness, of the
1 great, black, terrible winds which rose when He died,
and of the earthquakes if I had not seen and heard them
myself, I should not have believed any of it."
The centurion continued his story. His brown soldier's
face was pale and haggard. "But I experienced it all, and
even our captain, a stalwart young man and a true soldier,
was struck and terrified. I shall never forget the waitings
and lamentations of the Jewish people below the Place of
Skulls where He was crucified, for they had loved Him dearly.
But He was accused of inciting riot and insurrection against
Rome, and that is a crime which we cannot permit. His
disciples, His apostles? Ah, they ran far from Him, out of
fear of us; only one or two young men were there. And His
Mother and two of her women. Most of those who had known
Him best and had walked with Him for three years, deserted
Him at once! But is that not always so?"
There had been a rumor in Jerusalem, he told Luke, spread
by the apostles and disciples, that on the third day Jesus of
Nazareth would rise from the dead so that all men would
know that there was no death, and that they had been re
deemed from it. This had alarmed the Roman governor, his
ILLUSTRATION BY ALEX ROSS
excellency the proconsul Pontius Pilate. At all costs, this
rumor must be proved false, otherwise the people of Jeru
salem might riot and become uncontrollable again.
One of Pilate's friends, Joseph of Arimathea, a Jewish
counselor of great wealth and a good man who had been
much stirred by the story of the Nazarene, had come to Pilate
with a request that the body, after crucifixion, be delivered
to him for proper burial. None of the followers of Jesus had
money, and it was the custom to throw all the bodies of the
crucified into a common pit where criminals were buried
and covered with lime.
Joseph wished to place the body in a large white sepulcher
which he had originally intended for himself. He was a kind
old man, and just, and of considerable fame in the country,
and Pilate gave his consent. What did it matter where a
crucified Jew was buried, a man who had caused much trou-
ble for Rome?
Pontius Pilate made one provision: guards would be sta
tioned to guard the sepulcher from the eve of the third day
so no one could tamper with the tomb, remove the body,
and then proclaim that it had "risen." Joseph made no objec
tion. He sent his own servants to take down the body of the
Christ from the cross, and he waited with them while Mary,
(Continued;
Suddenly there appeared before
the centurion a figure shining with light
too radiant for human eyes to endure.
Family Weekly. April 17, 1 MO
7