is a belief in survival to be followed by resurrection at the last day.  That would no doubt be St. Mary’s belief about death.  That is still the belief of many Christians to-day.  “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  There are still many who think that they have accepted the full Revelation of God in Christ who have not appreciated the vast difference that the triumph of Christ over death has made for us here and now.

So we have no difficulty in understanding the gloom that fell on the Apostolic circle, accentuated as it was by the very vivid fear that at any moment they might hear the approaching feet of the Jewish and Roman officials and the knock of armed hands upon the door.  What to do?  How escape?  Had they so utterly misunderstood and misinterpreted Christ that this is the natural outcome of His movement?  Had they been the victims of foolish hopes and of a baseless ambition when they saw in Him the Christ, the one who should at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?  They had persistently clung to this nationalistic interpretation of His work although He had never encouraged it; but it was the only meaning that they were able to see in it.  And now all their expectations had collapsed, and they were left hopeless and leaderless to face the consequences of a series of acts that had ended in the death of their Master and would end, they knew not how, for them.  Was it at all likely that the Jewish authorities having disposed of the leader in a dangerous movement would be content to let the followers go free?  Would they not rather seek to wipe out the last traces of the movement in blood?

So they would have thought, gathered in that Upper Room, while outside the Jewish authorities were keeping the Passover.  What a Passover it was to them with this nightmare of a rebellion which threatened their whole place and power passed away.  What mutual congratulations were theirs on the clever way in which the whole matter had been handled.  There had been a moment when they were on the very point of failure, when Pilate was ready to let Jesus go free.  That was their moment of greatest danger; and they took their courage in both hands and threw the challenge squarely in the face of the cowardly Governor:  “If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend!” The chief priests knew their man, and they carried their plan against him with a determined hand, declining to accept any compromise, anything less than the death of Jesus.  Great was the rejoicing; hearty were the mutual congratulations in the official circles of Jerusalem.  It had been long since they had celebrated so wonderful a Passover as that!