He had led the way through the most trying experiences that life can bring. He had gone ahead into the valley and the shadow of death. On the first Sunday morning after his crucifixion he demonstrated his power to lead the world out of the grave as well as into it. Mary was the first witness to that demonstration. A few days later he led the way to one still farther point in the ascending scale of human experience—the gate of glory. He gained each of these points in order to show men that it is possible to reach them. It is for others not merely to admire, not merely to admit, not even merely to worship, but to follow. Wherever Jesus has gone, he has gone that others might also come. Not all the places by which his footprints lead may seem pleasant. They lie along paths of sacrifice, daring, and suffering. With an unfailingly majestic spirit, he faced whatever presented itself as incident to the fulfilling of a great mission. A valley of pain matters much less, however, when a mountain of achievement lifts its head beyond. It seems an insignificant thing that one must follow him into the chill of the grave when one knows that he has already broken the way through on the other side. It is not a permanent condition. It is almost too swift in its passing to even be called a temporary experience. A sunset would be a tragedy did one not know that the sun will rise again. We cease to dread the twilight when we reflect that it is but the pathway to another dawn. The silences of the resurrection morning said still another thing. They answered the old question as to whether the soul can exist when separated from the body. The physical frame of Jesus had seemed that of a dead man when it was taken from the cross three days before, and laid in the hospitable tomb of the kind-hearted Joseph. Now it was again inhabited by the same spirit which had shone from its eyes in other days. This was no new miracle. Its like had been repeatedly performed by the power of Jesus. The body and soul of his friend, Lazarus, had been reunited after an even longer separation. Other spirits had been rewedded to the tenements which they had inhabited, each time by the wonderful will of this man who himself lived in such positive fashion and for such abiding things that the hand of death could not permanently enchain him. Let it be as it will with these earthly frames of ours. The sooner they return to dust, after we are gone, the better. The human soul, however, was not made to perish. It is a thing of universal interests and eternal possibilities. It is life in its highest terms, and it was life with which Jesus was essentially concerned. The silences were eloquent as Mary stood by the tomb that morning. They told her that immortality was not a dream, but a fact. They declared that everlasting life was not a baseless hope, but a wonderful reality. They gave an unspoken answer to an age-long question. They proclaimed the glorious fulfillment of a precious promise.