The Tomb of Jesus — Page 18
18 we follow it be comes possible to suppose that some friends may have revived him in the tomb and may have facilitated his escape leaving the cerements folded in the sepulchre so that a natural interpretation is afforded of his being afterwards seen at dusk on the road to Emmaus and at dusk, in a house of Jerusalem, as well as (also at dusk) on the shores of the Lake of. Tiberius somewhat later. ,,19 "There is the theory of those who assert that our Lord did not really die upon the cross, that his supposed death was no more than a temporary swoon, and that His Resurrection was simply His return to His consciousness. In defence of this are urged the rapidity of His death, in contrast with slowness with which death by crucifixion generally took place; the facts that persons are known to have recovered who had been crucified and taken down from the cross as dead; the effect that would be produced by the cool air of the rock-hewn sepulchre, as well as by the aromatic spices with which the body has been prepared for burial;—and the conclusion is drawn that apparent restoration to life is thus sufficiently and easily accounted for. ' ,,20 19 Forlong, Faiths of Men, vol. I, pp 442, 443, under Christianity. 20 Wm. Milligan, The Resurrection of our Lord, pp. 76, 77.