The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. - documenta ...

The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.Anne Catherine Emmerichpower, and answered Cassius in these words: ‘Thou art exceedingly superstitious; it was veryfoolish to go to the Galilæan’s tomb; his gods took advantage of thy weakness, and displayed allthese ridiculous visions to alarm thee. I recommend thee to keep silence, and not recount such sillytales to the priests, for thou wouldst got the worst of it from them.’ He pretended to believe thatthe body of Jesus had been carried away by his disciples, and that the sentinels, who had beenbribed, and had fallen asleep, or perhaps been deceived by witchcraft, had fabricated these accountsin order to justify their conduct. When Pilate had said all he could on the subject, Cassius left him,and he went to offer sacrifice to his gods.342343The four soldiers who had guarded the tomb arrived shortly after at Pilate’s palace, and began totell him all that he had already heard from Cassius; but he would listen to nothing more, and sentthem to Caiphas. The rest of the guards were assembled in a large court near the Temple whichwas filled with aged Jews, who, after some previous consultation, took the soldiers on one side,and by dint of bribes and threats endeavoured to persuade them to say that they fell asleep, and thatwhile they were asleep the disciples came and carried away the body of our Lord. The soldiers,however, demurred, because the statement which their comrades were gone to make to Pilate wouldcontradict any account which they could now fabricate, but the Pharisees promised to arrangeeverything with the governor. Whilst they were still disputing, the four guards returned from theirinterview with Pilate, and the Pharisees endeavoured to persuade them to conceal the truth; but thisthey refused to do, and declared firmly that they would not vary their first statement in the smallestdegree. The miraculous deliverance of Joseph of Arimathea from prison was become public, andwhen the Pharisees accused the soldiers of having allowed the Apostles to carry off the body ofJesus, and threatened them with the infliction of the most severe punishment if they did not producethe body, they replied, that it would be as utterly impossible for them to produce the body of Jesus,as it was for the soldiers who had charge of Joseph of Arimathea to bring him back into his prisonagain. They spoke with the greatest firmness and courage promises and menaces were equallyineffectual. They declared that they would speak the truth and nothing but the truth; that the sentenceof death which had been passed upon Jesus was both unjust and iniquitous; and that the crime whichwas perpetrated in putting him to death was the sole cause of the interruption in the Paschalsolemnity. The Pharisees, being perfectly furious, caused the four soldiers to be arrested and throwninto prison, and the others, who had accepted the bribes they offered, then affirmed that the bodyof Jesus had been carried off by the disciples while they slept; and the Pharisees, Sadducees, andHerodians endeavoured to disseminate this lie to the utmost of their power, not only in the synagoguebut also among the people; and they accompanied this false statement by the most slanderous liesconcerning Jesus.All these precautions, however, availed but little, for, after the Resurrection, many persons whohad been long dead arose from their graves, and appeared to those among their descendants whowere not sufficiently hardened to be impervious to grace, and exhorted them to be converted. Thesedead persons were likewise seen by many of the disciples, who, overcome with terror, and shakenin faith, had fled into the country. They both exhorted and encouraged them to return, and restoredtheir drooping courage. The resurrection of these dead persons did not in the slightest degreeresemble the Resurrection of Jesus. He arose with a glorified body, which was no longer susceptibleof either corruption or death, and ascended into heaven with this glorified body in the sight of all198