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Title: The Woman Weeping at the Tomb
Date of first publication: 1848
Author: Favell Lee Mortimer (1802-1878)
Date first posted: July 20 2012
Date last updated: July 20 2012
Faded Page eBook #20120721

This eBook was produced by: L. Harrison
& the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

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University Libraries, Ball State University




[Illustration: Cover]

  No. 44.

  THE WOMAN WEEPING
  AT THE TOMB.

  BY THE AUTHOR OF "PEEP OF DAY."

  LONDON:
  JOHN HATCHARD AND SON.
  1848.




[Illustration: A woman kneeling before a person near a tomb]

THE WOMAN WEEPING AT THE TOMB.


Who has not lost a friend? It may be that a child is reading this little
book,--but have you never lost a friend? Have you never seen a little
brother or sister laid in its coffin? You loved that babe, so I call it
your friend. Do you remember a kind old man who used to let you sit upon
his knee? Perhaps you loved your grandfather, and were sorry when he
died. Some poor little children have lost their father, and some have
lost their mother. There is no friend in the world like a father or a
mother. God is the best friend of all, and he can never die.

When the Son of God came down to be a man, he was killed by wicked men;
his friends cried very much when he died. He had one friend called Mary
Magdalene; he had been very kind to her. Once seven devils had tormented
her; Jesus delivered her out of her trouble, and sent the devils away.
Ever afterwards Mary loved the Lord, and she listened to his sweet
words, and she believed that he was the Son of God. When she saw him
nailed to the cross, she was very unhappy. At last she saw the kind men
come, and take down his body from the cross, and lay it in a beautiful
grave in a garden. This grave was dug out of the side of a rock, and a
very great stone was put before it. She went home to make sweet
ointment, that she might bring it, and put it on her dear Lord's body.

One morning she came very early to the grave with her ointment, and
some other women were walking with her. But when she came within sight
of the tomb, she saw that the great stone was rolled away, then she
thought, "Some wicked people have rolled away the stone, and have
stolen the dead body of my dear Lord." So she did not go any further,
but ran back to the town to ask some good men to come and see what
was the matter. She went to two men who loved Jesus very much; they
were called Peter and John. As soon as they heard what Mary said, they
set off running as fast as they could. John ran the fastest, and got
first to the grave and looked in; Peter soon came there too, and went
into it; then John went in too. They saw the linen in which Jesus had
been wrapped neatly folded up, and they saw the cloth which had been
bound round his head lying in a place by itself. If wicked men had
stolen the body, would they have left the clothes? or, if in a hurry
they had left the clothes, would they have folded them up so neatly?
John now felt sure that Jesus was alive again. I do not know what
Peter thought.

Both Peter and John went back to their own home. But Mary did not go
home; she stayed by the tomb all alone, and crying very much. Soon she
stooped down and looked in. And what did she see? The linen clothes?
She saw two angels dressed in white; they were sitting on the ground,
one was sitting where the bleeding head of Jesus had lain, and the
other where his wounded feet had been. Was Mary frightened when she
saw the angels? I think she did not know they were angels, for she was
crying very much, and people cannot see clearly when they are crying.

The angels spoke to Mary. Angels speak kindly to every one who loves
Jesus. The angels said, "Woman, why weepest thou?" Mary answered,
"Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid him." Then Mary turned round and saw some one else standing near
her, but she did not know who it was; she thought it was the gardener.
This man said to her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" She answered, "Sir,
if thou hast carried him away, tell me where thou hast laid him, that
I may take him away." The stranger then spoke one word--"Mary." She
knew that voice; it was the Lord who called her by her name. She
answered him by one word--"Master."

Who can tell what joy she felt at that moment! She wanted to keep him,
and not to let him ever go away. But he said he must soon go up to his
Father in heaven. Then he sent a message to all his dear friends, and
he called them his brothers. This was the message: "I go up to my
Father and to your Father, and to my God, and to your God." Then Mary
went to tell the friends of Jesus that she had seen the Lord, and she
told them all he had said to her. Mary was the very first person who
saw the Lord after he rose from the grave.

Jesus has been gone into heaven a long while. He is there now. Should
you like to see him in his glory? He will come again. He knows your
name. Should you like to hear his voice calling out Mary, or John, or
whatever your name may be? Speak to him now; say, "Lord Jesus, save
me." Are you afraid that he will not save you, and do you cry when you
think of your sins? Jesus sees your tears; he says, "I love them that
love me, and they that seek me early shall find me."

The history of Mary Magdalene is to be found in Luke viii. 2; John xx.
1-18.




HYMN FOR TWO CHILDREN,

(_Each to say one line by turns._)


      Who came from heaven to ransom me?
      Jesus, who died upon the tree.
      Why did he come from heaven above?
      He came because his name was "Love."
      And did he die--the Son of God?
      Yes, on the cross he shed his blood.
      Why did my Lord and Saviour bleed?
      That we from evil might be freed.
      When he had died, what happened then?
      On the third day he rose again.
      Where did he go when he had risen?
      He went to God's right hand in heaven.
      Where is he now? Is he still there?
      Yes, and he pleads with God in prayer.
      What does he pray for, and for whom?
      He prays that we to him might come.
      Should we not come? Should we not come?
      Oh, yes, Christ is the sinner's home;
      Christ is the weary sinner's home,--
      Oh, let us come! oh, let us come!
                _Extract in the "Twin Brothers."_


  Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London.




PRAYER.


      O Father in Heaven,
      Thou hast made all things;
      The sun, moon, and stars, the land and sea.
      Thou hast made me.
      Thou hast taken care of me.
      I thank Thee for all thy kindness.

      Great God, Thou art in every place;
      Thou seest in the dark,
      As well as in the light:
      Thou knowest all the naughty things
      That I have done, and said, and thought.

      O Merciful Lord, pardon my sins,
      Because Jesus Christ, thy dear Son,
      Died upon the cross for sinners.
      Give me thy Holy Spirit,
      That I may love Thee, and obey thy laws.
      Keep me from minding Satan,
      And save me from going to hell:
      And whenever I die,
      O take my soul to Heaven.

      When Jesus comes with clouds,
      And with the holy angels,
      May I be glad to see Him.
      May my dear parents, and brothers, and sisters,
      Be happy with Thee for ever and ever.
      May all people love Thee,
      And speak of thy goodness.
      Hear me for Christ's sake. Amen.


[The end of _The Woman Weeping at the Tomb_ by Favell Lee Mortimer]