death, a soldier pierced His side with a lance; blood and water flowed from the wound, this being the surest sign that the heart had been pierced and death had actually occurred. Indeed, the wound was so deep, that, at a subsequent period, the apostle Thomas was able to place his hand in it; thus it was a mortal wound. All those who witnessed the crucifixion were convinced of Our Lord's death; the four evangelists are unanimous upon this point. And even the chief priests and scribes, the bitter enemies of Jesus, bore witness to His death, since they asked permission to place a guard at His grave. Moreover, His closest adherents doubted not the fact; they wrapped His body in linen cloths, laid it in a grave, and closed it with a slab of stone.
4.' We now come to the most important point. In order that no deception might be practised, and the body not be stolen, the sepulcher was sealed and guards were placed before it, in compliance with the request of the Pharisees. But it was these very guards who bore the most incontrovertible witness to the resurrection, since they presented themselves on the third day and affirmed on oath they had seen Christ come forth from the sepulcher.
The obdurate Jews, however, went so far in their blindness that after taking counsel, "they gave," as the evangelist tells us, "a great sum of money to the soldiers, saying: Say you, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away when we were asleep." What incredible folly is this! Would any man in his senses accept the testimony of witnesses who were asleep? But God, in His wisdom, permitted things to happen in this manner, in order that our faith in the fundamental truth of Christianity, namely, the
