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Interface and Data Biopolitics in the Age of Hyperconnectivity: Conclusions and References

One of the greatest strong points of Kotlin can also be its weakness. When we talk about data classes today, and in the same way java records, we tend to focus, at least many people I know do, on the complete elimination of the boilerplate code. Boilerplate code has been something that has been annoying developers for ages. It exists not only in Java, but other languages have that as well. If we think about creating data access objects any way, it doesn’t really matter if we do it in Kotlin or Java or any other language. Frequently we repeat the same process: repository creation, service and controller. A lot of what we do is boilerplate any way still. However boilerplate code may have been a part of the decision to create data classes or java records, a more important paradigm of software engineering was the actual focal point of creating these types of data structures. It all boils down to immutability or in any case the possibility thereof.Let’s rollback the time and go back to 1995 where we started at some point to create data structures where we would specify different things. We would define the fields, the getters, the setters, the properties, the accessors, the attributes and the parameters in a way to be able to pass our arguments to either the methods, the functions or the contructors.Fot this part we will have some fun programming using the characters of the mid-80’s series: The Golden Girls. Having said this, let’s see how a class would look like for about 15 years: public class GoldenGirlsJava {

    public String goldenGirl1;
    private final String goldenGirl2;
    private final String goldenGirl3;
    private final String goldenGirl4;


    public GoldenGirlsJava() {
        this.goldenGirl1 = "Dorothy Zbornak";
        this.goldenGirl2 = "Rose Nylund";
        this.goldenGirl3 = "Blanche Devereaux";
        this.goldenGirl4 = "Sophia Petrillo";

    }

    public GoldenGirlsJava(
            String goldenGirl1,
            String goldenGirl2,
            String goldenGirl3,
            String goldenGirl4
    ) {
        this.goldenGirl1 = goldenGirl1;
        this.goldenGirl2 = goldenGirl2;
        this.goldenGirl3 = goldenGirl3;
        this.goldenGirl4 = goldenGirl4;
    }

    public String getGoldenGirl1() {
        return goldenGirl1;
    }

    public void setGoldenGirl1(String goldenGirl1) {
        this.goldenGirl1 = goldenGirl1;
    }

    public String getGoldenGirl2() {
        return goldenGirl2;
    }

    public String getGoldenGirl3() {
        return goldenGirl3;
    }

    public String getGoldenGirl4() {
        return goldenGirl4;
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "GoldenGirlsJava{" +
                "goldenGirl1='" + goldenGirl1 + '\'' +
                ", goldenGirl2='" + goldenGirl2 + '\'' +
                ", goldenGirl3='" + goldenGirl3 + '\'' +
                ", goldenGirl4='" + goldenGirl4 + '\'' +
                '}';
    }
} This was a tremendous amount of code to type in only to create two contructors. Although the hashcode and equals weren’t necessarily a must in all occasions, we almost always had to implememt a no arguments contructor next to a more generalistic constructor. The good thing about creating all of this boilerplate code is that we knew very clearly how everything would look like after compiling to bytecode. However, and in any case, boilerplate code was always a contentious issue for many developers and so in 2009, lombok came along and revolutionized the way we create data structures. It introduced the concept of using an annotation processor and interpreting specific annotations that would give the qualities we needed for our classes and so a lombok annotated class would look like this: @Getter
@Setter
@AllArgsConstructor
@ToString
public class GoldenGirlsLombok {
    public String goldenGirl1;
    private final String goldenGirl2;
    private final String goldenGirl3;
    private final String goldenGirl4;

    public GoldenGirlsLombok() {
        this.goldenGirl1 = "Dorothy Zbornak";
        this.goldenGirl2 = "Rose Nylund";
        this.goldenGirl3 = "Blanche Devereaux";
        this.goldenGirl4 = "Sophia Petrillo";
    }
} And for a while, people were very happy about Lombok! Finally the weight of having to create all of that boilerplate code was gone. But that felling endured for about 7 years, when a new player arrived and this time it was something the software development industry didn’t expected. It was called Kotlin and in 2016 it debuted with the immediate introduction of data classes. Our golden girls implementation in Kotlin would now look like this: data class GoldenGirls(
    var goldenGirl1: String = "Dorothy Zbornak",
    private val goldenGirl2: String = "Rose Nylund",
    private val goldenGirl3: String = "Blanche Devereaux",
    private val goldenGirl4: String = "Sophia Petrillo"
) Although Kotlin slowly started gathering fans, Java on the other hand realized that something else was in the market and some developments on that side started gaining some steam like project Loom which had been in the making but also left in the back burner for a while. That is why, with the release of Java 14 in 20202, Java introduced java records, and data structures in Java would now look like this: public record GoldenGirlsRecord(
        String goldenGirl1,
        String goldenGirl2,
        String goldenGirl3,
        String goldenGirl4
) {
    public GoldenGirlsRecord() {
        this(
                "Dorothy Zbornak",
                "Rose Nylund",
                "Blanche Devereaux",
                "Sophia Petrillo"
        );
    }
} And to this day code simplification and code reduction seems only to continue. However with the reduction of the boilerplate code, the concepts of fields, getters, setters, properties, accessors, attributes and parameters became far less visual and less easy to map in our minds. Whether we like it or not those concepts are still how the JVM works and organizes code with the bytecode.But code oversimplification is really about making code easier to read and in the case of data classes and java records the idea is also to create data structures that are immutable or partially immutable. Java records are truly immutable in the sense that all values it contains or references it contains cannot be modified. Kotlin data classes can be also truly immutable for the same reasons but they don’t have to which in a way gives permission to developers to create complicated and worst of all, mutable code anyway.In any case this is all good until we then need to work with frameworks like the Spring Framework, which rely heavily on annotations. Here is an example: @Entity
@Table(name = "shelf_case")
data class Case(
    @Id
    @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.SEQUENCE)
    val id: Long?,
    var designation: String?,
    var weight: Long?
) {
    constructor() : this(0L, null, null)

    override fun toString(): String {
        return super.toString()
    }
} This example works fine. To the unsuspecting eye, there isn’t a lot special going on here. This works in Kotlin, just in the same way as it would work in Java. But now let’s have a look at a similar example, but this time with Jackson annotations: data class AccountNumbersPassiveDto(
    @NotNull
    val accountNumberLong: Long?,
    val accountNumberNullable: Long?,
    @DecimalMax(value = "10")
    @DecimalMin(value = "5")
    val accountNumber: BigDecimal,
    val accountNumberEven: Int,
    val accountNumberOdd: Int,
    @Positive
    val accountNumberPositive: Int,
    @Negative
    val accountNumberNegative: Int,
    @DecimalMax(value = "5", groups =  [LowProfile::class])
    @DecimalMax(value = "10", groups = [MiddleProfile::class])
    @DecimalMax(value = "15", groups = [HighProfile::class])
    @DecimalMax(value = "20")
    val accountNumberMaxList:Int
) This example will fail and the reason for that is that in Kotlin, there is no way to tell the compiler where exactly do we want our annotation to be applied to. In the previous example with annotation , which is a jakarta persistence annotation, the annotations are applied correctly to the fields. If we decompile` that code we’ll find this: @Entity public final class Case {
   @Id
   @GeneratedValue(
      strategy = GenerationType.SEQUENCE
   )
   @Nullable
   private final Long id;
   @Nullable
   private String designation;
   @Nullable
   private Long weight; But for the latter, which is a jakarta validation example, we find this: public final class AccountNumbersPassiveDto {
   @Nullable
   private final Long accountNumberLong;
   @Nullable
   private final Long accountNumberNullable;
   @NotNull
   private final BigDecimal accountNumber;
   private final int accountNumberEven;
   private final int accountNumberOdd; This means that has not been affected by those annotations on its fields. We were just lucky in the first example. It might have actually also failed.In order to specify where our annotation needs to go to, Kotlin gives us the possibility to use use-site targets as prefix to any annotation. The requirement is of course that conditions are met. In this case, one way to fix this is to prefix all of the annotations with like this: AccountNumbersDto @field data class AccountNumbersPassiveDto(
    @field:NotNull
    val accountNumberLong: Long?,
    val accountNumberNullable: Long?,
    @field:DecimalMax(value = "10")
    @field:DecimalMin(value = "5")
    val accountNumber: BigDecimal,
    val accountNumberEven: Int,
    val accountNumberOdd: Int,
    @field:Positive
    val accountNumberPositive: Int,
    @field:Negative
    val accountNumberNegative: Int,
    @field:DecimalMax(value = "5", groups =  [LowProfile::class])
    @field:DecimalMax(value = "10", groups = [MiddleProfile::class])
    @field:DecimalMax(value = "15", groups = [HighProfile::class])
    @field:DecimalMax(value = "20")
    val accountNumberMaxList:Int
) If we now try to decompile the resulting bytecode using IntelliJ, we’ll find that it results in this code in Java: public final class AccountNumbersPassiveDto {
   @NotNull
   @Nullable
   private final Long accountNumberLong;
   @Nullable
   private final Long accountNumberNullable;
   @DecimalMax("10")
   @DecimalMin("5")
   @org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull This means that the annotations have been applied to field and that our code works as it is supposed to. You can probably imagine at this point that people who have been working on Java for a long time, will have no problem in adapting to Kotlin because we all know what fields, parameters, properties, etc, are. What we observe today and I witness that too, is that it seems like the code simplification has a potential to backfire. There have been quite a few occasions where I have become aware of the time spent in projects trying to figure how why in some projects or modules, the annotations just don’t seem to work. And it all seems to boil down to not making use of the use-site targets. My theory on what is  most likely, is that new generations of developers will probably look at things that my generation didn’t think was complicated and learned out of instinct, as really complicated material. Such is the case with use-site targets. These used to be things that we could very easily visualize. However in current times, the generated confusion with this seems to be delaying projects from being developed on time in some occasions. I wouldn’t be able to generalize of course but there is potential for good and there is potential for bad with java records and data classes. How data classes and records will shape our future is hard to tell, but one thing that is clear is that because of this problematic, other frameworks are betting on going completely annotation free as is the case with Ktor. I have created documentation about this on Scribed: also on slide-share: . Fields-in-Java-and-Kotlin-and-What-to-Expectand fields-in-java-and-kotlin-and-what-to-expect You can also find the examples I’ve given on GitHub. The golden girls example can be found here: and the jakarta persistence and validation annotations examples can be found here: . jeorg-kotlin-test-drives https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-spring-master-test-drives Finally I also created a video about this on YouTube that you can have a look at right over here: https://youtu.be/rTCjlyGVDGE?embedable=true Also published . here

How to Fix Kotln Problems When Dealing With Use-site Targets

ব্যবহার-সাইট টার্গেট নিয়ে কাজ করার সময় Kotln সমস্যাগুলি কীভাবে ঠিক করবেন

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JavaScript Objects: From Fundamentals to Advanced Techniques

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JavaScript-Objekte: Von den Grundlagen zu fortgeschrittenen Techniken

Objetos JavaScript: de los fundamentos a las técnicas avanzadas

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जावास्क्रिप्ट ऑब्जेक्ट: बुनियादी बातों से लेकर उन्नत तकनीकों तक

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Crack Long-Form Blogs: Complete Guide & Experts' Insights 

ADVANTAGES OF THE BABCOCK & WILCOX BOILER

From the widely discussed Helpful Content Update (HCU) to the Search Generative Experience (SGE), 2022 was not the year for rest nor relaxation for most SEOs and content professionals. Google has seen more changes in the last year than in the last decade. I recently shared my experience of using for the first time. And how the AI overviews differ for different keywords and queries. Search Generative Experience (SGE) I have also been ringing the bells around Google’s visibly changing SERPs, and how it’s . killing organic reach A visual summary below 👀 Source Notice how ‘above the fold’ now comprises an AI overview, a couple of organic links, and a whole bunch of SERP elements (knowledge panels, People Also Ask, etc.). This is the beginning of a new Googleverse and a potential loss of your organic traffic. The antidote? I have five. 5 Ways to Stop the Potential Loss of Traffic to SGE and Grow Your Audience Like every other content professional, while I’m excited about SGE, I can’t help but wonder how SEO will change as SGE evolves. I’m sure you’re brimming with questions too. But at the moment, it will be a waste of time to worry about that. After all, SGE is still in the infancy stage. Over time, there are going to be many iterations and improvements to the model. So, what can you do? Other than creating valuable content, here are five ways your organic content can shine without SEO: Create content for native consumption Produce content with original research Build and document a distribution strategy Use executive branding for audience building Experiment with content formats (video, interactive product tours, webinars, podcasts, and more) Let’s explore each one in detail below. Build and document a distribution strategy Google has been cannibalizing clicks even before SGE was a thing. This happened in the form of a zero-click search. However, such zero-click responses were only relegated to straightforward queries like ‘ . What is content marketing?’ But with SGE in the picture, it’s different. You’re not just competing against the SERP elements like featured snippets or knowledge panels, but with the comprehensive AI overviews as well. This is why having a distribution strategy pays off. Instead of trying to optimize for SGE/SEO and waiting to be discovered, build a distribution system that lets you share and promote content in places where your target audience hangs out. Published a research report? Promote it via newsletter sponsorship. Released a new podcast episode? Share short clips on YouTube and Instagram. Wrote a new blog post? Share the juicy bits with a link on LinkedIn. You get the drift. Create content for native consumption Speaking of a distribution strategy, I have to mention the most abused content distribution and promotion practice: link dumping. Back when Facebook was in its prime, you could dump a blog post link and get a steady stream of traffic. Today? You’ll be happy to get a CTR of at least 1%. That’s because nobody likes moving away from the platform they’re engaged with. If someone is scrolling through LinkedIn, they want to read and engage with the content on LinkedIn instead of clicking away. By creating content for native consumption, you can keep your audience engaged and interested in learning more. And if you want to promote your content on social sites, be a little more creative. Rather than dumping the link as is, you should: Share the juiciest bit of information to compel the readers into clicking. Turn the key takeaways from the eBook to create a carousel. Visualize the data with graphs and charts. Ask the readers how they relate to the numbers. Pick a controversial or thought-provoking excerpt and get the conversation going in the comments. The key to a good content distribution (promotion) strategy is having a good repurposing strategy. Source original research and data When you think “Inbound Marketing”, you think HubSpot. When you think “zero-click search”, you think SparkToro. And when you think “sales intelligence”, you think of Gong. This is the power of brand recall. When you produce original, data-driven content, you get to shine in a sea of sameness (including SGE’s blandness) and build a loyal fanbase. One of my favorite examples of brands using content as a differentiating factor is Gong. Despite having roughly 1000+ sales tech solutions as competitors, they have managed to build a higher brand recall thanks to the original content. You’ll rarely find their company blog ranking high on SERPs, but ask any sales professional and they’ll tell you that Gong has the best sales content. These are a few reasons why. They use data sourced from real sales conversations to craft blog posts. You won’t find the information they provide elsewhere. Source: Gong Blog All their content is created for a clearly defined audience: sales leaders, AEs, and managers in tech companies. They write in a conversational, non-boring tone while providing actionable advice. Use executive branding for audience building Mark Schaefer, , shares in his why personal branding is essential in a post-SEO era: best-selling author and renowned marketer blog post “The ability to benefit from SEO depends on a special set of circumstances, and increasingly SEO isn’t going to create a return. The other option is to create content that establishes authority through thought leadership. In this way, you can earn attention and an audience without depending on search engines and ads.” Even great content gets buried between the many SERP folds. But if you’ve managed to build a trustworthy personal brand, you will have people waiting (eagerly) and going back to your opinions, values, and content. This is something SGE cannot replace. Here are a few ways to get started with executive branding. Build a following on social media. It costs nothing to get on platforms like LinkedIn, X, or Medium and share your entrepreneurial journey, what you’re building, or validate the idea for your next launch. Invest in digital PR to boost your digital footprint. It will also help shape your public image, and by extension, your brand’s. This could mean giving interviews, joining podcasts, guesting on webinars, or writing guest posts. The last tactic was how initially. Buffer’s Co-founder Leo Widrich grew the number of app users from 0 to 100000 Connect with journalists and content professionals through Help a B2B Writer (HaBw) and Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Share responses and quotes occasionally. This is a simple method of getting a mention on authoritative websites and scoring a backlink free of cost. Experiment with content formats Is a majority of your content efforts concentrated around blogging? Does your audience or reading the blog posts? Think about it. want like It makes sense for a company like Zapier or Scribe to publish 50+ blog posts every month. Since they sell a horizontal product catering to varying personas, Search is one of the best content marketing channels for them to target. This, however, would make zero sense for a company like Freshpaint, a healthcare data privacy platform, which sells to busy healthcare professionals and organizations. As their Head of Content, Mark Rogers, explains in the , SEO isn’t a priority for his team because their customers take advice from peers, not Google. Content, Briefly podcast Another example is Ahrefs. They created a ‘Blogging for Business’ video course to promote Ahrefs and , as Tim Soulo shares in his blog post. managed to snatch 500k+ views while bringing mid-five figures in revenue There’s no dearth of content formats to try – from podcasts, and webinars to seminars and more, you can dip your toes into a variety of’em. It gives you the benefit of meeting your audience where they hang out (perhaps on Instagram?) and provides the experience and content SGE cannot. So, find out what resonates with your audience and stick to it. Final Thoughts SEO has never been a passive strategy. While it’s too soon to conclusively say anything about the impact SGE will have on organic traffic, there are ways to win beyond SEO. As outlined above, methods like personal branding or doubling down on content distribution can ensure your content is consumed by the right people at the right time. Once we have more data about SGE and its impact, we’ll be able to devise better ways for sure.

How to Stop the Potential Loss of Traffic in the Era of AI-Powered Search

এআই-চালিত অনুসন্ধানের যুগে ট্র্যাফিকের সম্ভাব্য ক্ষতি কীভাবে থামানো যায়

So stoppen Sie den potenziellen Traffic-Verlust im Zeitalter der KI-gestützten Suche

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AI を活用した検索の時代に潜在的なトラフィック損失を阻止する方法

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Yapay Zeka Destekli Arama Çağında Potansiyel Trafik Kaybı Nasıl Durdurulur

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如何阻止人工智能搜索时代潜在的流量损失

How Jesus appeared ofttimes to his disciples; and how, after many days, he ascended up to heaven.

Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord by Edwin Abbott Abbott is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . How the Holy Spirit, through much sorrow, prepared the disciples to behold Jesus risen from the dead; and of the vision of angels, which appeared first of all unto the women. here How the Holy Spirit, through much sorrow, prepared the disciples to behold Jesus risen from the dead; and of the vision of angels, which appeared first of all unto the women. When I awoke, it was now hard upon the third hour of the day, and the sun from behind Mount Olivet was shining brightly down upon the city. All things below were full of beauty and glory, nor would a stranger have known that the stain of innocent blood was upon the place; so fair shone all the city rejoicing in the Sabbath sun. When I looked thereon, the memory of my dream vanished, even as the mists which I saw rolling upward from the side of the mountain and vanishing into the pure air. My misery returned upon me again; and I felt once more alone and without God in the world. But I resolved to go up straightway to Bethany, if perchance I might there find the apostles in the house of Mary and Martha. When I was come thither, I found them all, save Judas; and I entered in and sat with them in silence; and for a long time we neither prayed nor spake together, nor so much as lamented aloud; but there we sat speechless and comfortless; for the hand of the Lord was heavy upon us. At the last spake certain of the women, saying that they had brought spices, such as are used in the embalming of bodies, and that they purposed to go early on the morrow for to embalm the body of Jesus. Then I asked where he was buried; and they told me, “in a garden of Joseph of Arimathea, nigh unto the place of crucifixion.” After that, I asked whether any had stood near, and in view of the cross while he was suffering; for I had been thrust away by the crowd. Then John the son of Zebedee answered and said that he had been nigh, and that Jesus had borne all the anguish with a marvellous constancy. He told me also of certain other words which Jesus had spoken while he was on the cross, and that a soldier, after his death, had wounded his side with a spear; but when I asked him whether he had heard Jesus speak also those words which I had myself heard, namely that God had forsaken him, then John said nothing, but only moved his head as if to say that it was so; and the rest also were silent, for we feared to think on those words. After we had all thus sat silent for a while, one of the women began to speak again and to say that all things had happened according to the words of Jesus; for he had said that he should be slain; and he had blessed Mary, in that she had anointed his body for the burial. Then another of the women began to bring to our mind how Jesus had long ago prophesied that the time should come when we should desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and should not find it. And another spake how, at another time, when we were in the country round about Hermon, he had prophesied that he should be slain; therefore, said she, he was a true prophet. But Thomas made mention of the saying of Hosea, whereof Jesus had oftentimes been used to speak, “Come and let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” Then said Thomas, “A part of the sayings of Jesus hath indeed come to pass”; and he added no more. But all we that were in that chamber sitting together, knew what Thomas had in his mind to say (for it was in our minds also), namely, that the rest of the words of Jesus were not to be fulfilled. So again we sat silent; for indeed our souls were wholly given up to meditating on those words of Jesus, “after two days he will revive us”; and each knew that the others were meditating on the same; yet durst none of us say so much as a word, nor so much as confess to himself that the words could import anything now; for about that matter we feared even to hope. But by degrees our tongues were loosed, and we began to speak more freely concerning the goodness of Jesus, how exceeding gentle he was at all times to the young and simple, and to the poor and oppressed; how full of peace and cheerfulness; how thoughtful for others, how forgetful of himself. Then we spake of his marvellous power in the forgiving of sins, and in the healing of diseases, and in the casting out of unclean spirits. And one said that with all these faculties he joined a marvellous grace of modesty and humility, so that no child could carry himself with less of pride or ostentation. “Yea,” said another, “and yet withal, though he were never so simple and humble, he ever spake of himself, none the less, as the haven and refuge for men, saying such words as these unto us, ‘Come unto me, and I will give you rest,’ and again, ‘Take my yoke upon you:’ moreover he bade us take his voice as our Law in the stead of the Law of Moses, saying, ‘It was said to them of old, do this, but I say unto you, do that.’ Therefore are we of all men most miserable in that, having received from God the very source of light and life, now we are deprived thereof.” Then Peter said, “Yea, verily we have none else to whom we can go, for Jesus alone hath the words of eternal life; and without him we have no life.” But said another, “If God be good, how could it be that He should have forsaken Jesus, so that he cried aloud, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ ” Then Nathanael spake and said (the very thought that was in my heart also) that perchance Jesus used those words, desiring briefly to pour forth all the trouble and all the trust of his heart; for, said he, “These words are as it were the title of the psalm, and the psalm beginneth with trouble, but it endeth with trust.” To this the rest agreed that it might be so; but we all felt within ourselves that this was small comfort: for we needed not only to think that it might be so, but to know that it was so. Then one said that the Kingdom of God and the Redemption of Sion were now as far off as ever. But Mary of Magdala said with great vehemency, “that she mourned not for the Redemption of Sion, but because the breath of life was taken out of the world, for without Jesus there was no more truth nor righteousness. He trusted in God, would not God deliver him? Was he not the Son of the living God? If, therefore, the Father live, how can the Son be dead?” She added yet other words still more passionate, as if God were no God unless Jesus were restored to life. We chid her, and would have stayed her speech: for, though she did indeed express the very feelings of our hearts, yet were we afraid to see them put into plain words, and besides, we dreaded the pain of new hopes. For to hope that we should look again on Jesus, and afterwards to fail of that hope, had been to have had Jesus snatched from us a second time. By this time the sun had set, and the women began to make ready the spices for the embalming. But I (because it had been reported to certain of the disciples that the chief priests purposed to set a guard round the tomb) determined to go down that I might see whether the tomb were beset with guards or no, and whether the women could have easy access to it. I easily found the place in the light of the moon, and it was even as the women had said; for the garden of Joseph lay not more than three stones’ cast from the place where Jesus had been crucified. So I stood for a while looking on the stone, which was at the mouth of the tomb, and no man else was in the garden. But while I stood near the tomb, very nigh unto the mouth thereof, I heard a sound on my right hand; and when I turned round, behold, a light; and the lights grew many as I looked, and I perceived that there were torches approaching. So I went back some distance, and still the torches came nearer; and the men were, as it seemed to me, servants of the chief priests, but I discerned also the face of Hezekiah the Scribe; and they all stood round the tomb, and I also stood and watched them from afar off, to see what they would do. But I could not remain; for they sent out watchers on all sides calling to one another in a circle, like unto men keeping sentinel, for to spy whether any one were near. Then I fled perforce and in haste; and though I fled straightway, yet could I not contrive but the watchers perceived me and chased after me and went near to take me. But I escaped out of their hands, and went up to Bethany to bear word unto the women. And when the women heard these things they were sore distressed. Howbeit they resolved that in any case they would go forth to the tomb very early on the morrow. But before we lay down to rest that night, we spake again of Jesus, and concerning all that he had said and done; and we continued our discourse late into the night, and were loth to break off; for while we discoursed together of former times, we seemed to have Jesus again in the midst of us. But at the end, when we were now ceasing, the Spirit of the Lord fell upon Mary of Magdala, and she lifted up her voice and sang as the Lord moved her, and the words were even from the psalm whereof we had been but now speaking, while discoursing concerning the forsaking of Jesus by God. Now the song describeth the suffering of the Messiah. Therefore when she came in her singing to these words, “They pierced my hands and my feet; I may tell all my bones; they stand staring and looking upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture”: then we wept, remembering the sufferings of Jesus. But when she sang the next words, “But be not thou far from me, O Lord. Thou art my succour, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling also from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth: Thou hast heard me from among the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. For he hath not despised, nor abhorred the low estate of the poor; he hath not hid his face from him; but when he called unto him he heard him”: then we wept no longer, but we marvelled while we looked on her, and while we hearkened to the words of her singing: for she sang as one taught of God, so that we durst not stay her; yet we thought in our hearts, “Notwithstanding when Jesus called unto Him, He heard him not.” And when we thought on this we besought her that she would cease. Howbeit she ceased not, but began to sing yet another psalm, a part of the great Hallel; even the very words that Jesus himself had sung to us on the night before he suffered. And the other women joined with her, and they sang so that the sound thereof pierced to our very souls. Then could we endure it no longer, but covered our faces with our hands. But they continued singing, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened and corrected me, but he hath not given me over unto death. Thou art my God, and I will thank thee; thou art my God, and I will praise thee.” Now while they were singing, I had closed mine eyes; and lo, there rose up before me a vision of the upper room where we had supped together with Jesus on the night that he was betrayed: and I seemed to see the face of Jesus himself; yea, though I was not asleep nor in a trance, yet did I see Jesus himself sitting again as if at meat with us. Therefore was I loth to open mine eyes; for I feared that, when I opened them, I should no longer see what I saw. But when the women had made an end of singing, then opened I mine eyes, half expecting that it might prove no vision, and that Jesus would be sitting before me in the midst of us. But I saw nothing; nor were the women any longer with us, for they were gone forth into another chamber to finish their preparations for the embalming. For they desired to visit the sepulchre very early in the morning, and it was by this time the third watch of the night. About the space of an hour, I remained in the chamber with the rest: then I heard the footsteps of the women as they passed forth from the house. I tried to sleep, but could not; for ever in my mind was present the thought of Jesus in the tomb, waiting the approach of the women to embalm him. So my heart went forth with the women upon their errand, and I reckoned over the time and said ever and anon, “Now they are come down from the mountain; by this time they are nigh to Golgotha; now they are in the garden; now they are at the tomb.” Then I saw before mine eyes the women embracing the dead limbs of our Master. “And now,” said I, “the stone is rolled away and they have entered in: they weep, but he answereth not, neither heareth; his eyes move not nor make any answer to their eyes; they clasp his hands, but his hands clasp not theirs again.” When I thought on these things I arose in sore extremity nigh unto despair, and went up to the house-top. Above the mountains of Moab, to the east, there was a faint token of dawn. I thought of the coming day, and I loathed it; for without Jesus the light seemed unto me as darkness. Moreover when I strove to pray, Satan tempted me very sorely, so that I could not pray: for I said, “Behold I am without Jesus: but God without Jesus is to me as no God.” Then fell I flat upon my face and wrestled with Satan in prayer, and I besought the Lord again and again that He would give Jesus back to us, yea, though it were but to look on him for one moment, that we might be assured that all was well with him. How long I prayed I know not, but it seemed to me many hours; and sometimes I stood in my praying and watched the dawn growing brighter; and even as the dawn grew, my fears and doubts grew with it; but at other times I lay prostrate and shut out the light. So at last the sky began to brighten towards sunrise; and still I was crying unto the Lord from the depths, according as it is written, “I wait for the Lord; my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning, more, I say, than they that watch for the morning.” Now while I lay grovelling in the very deepest of the depths, beseeching the Lord to destroy me if I might not have peace, behold, a sound as of many feet below, without the house, and then a knocking, exceeding loud; and one asked from within, “Who is there?” And the answer came piercing the air, “He is risen! He is risen! Jesus is risen from the dead!” Now at first I thought that the voice was the voice of an angel; but when I considered, and heard how answer was made, and the door forthwith opened, and a sound as of feet entering, then straightway I knew that it was the voice of one of the women come back from the sepulchre. Immediately, therefore, going down, I found all the household stirring, and the women returned, and all the disciples gathered together, and standing round the women, questioning them, and listening to their words. Then the women told us how they had gone down to Golgotha, even to the tomb; and when Mary of Magdala was now nigh, even at the mouth of the tomb (for she walked somewhat before the rest), behold, the great stone at the mouth of the tomb was rolled away. Then she called aloud for despair, and her companions hasted to her; but when they were now come to her, as she was even now adventuring to enter into the tomb, of a sudden Mary cried out again, saying, “Behold, an angel of the Lord!” And lo, there appeared to them (even to all the women and not to Mary only) an angel clothed in white; and they all heard a voice which said, “He is not here, but is risen.” And, said Mary Magdalene, the voice added that we were to return to Galilee, and there we should see him; but another of the women said that the voice seemed to her also to speak of Galilee, but she heard not those other words which Mary heard. Also some of the women had seen two angels, but others only one. But as concerning this at least, all the women were agreed, namely, that they had seen a vision of angels, and that they had heard a voice which cried out, “He is not here, he is risen.” 12 Now when we had spent much time in questioning and hearing the women, I desired to go down forthwith to the sepulchre, for to see it with mine own eyes: but the women stayed me, and said, “It were better to wait; for Peter and John are already gone down.” So I waited, but in sore trouble of mind; for at one time I believed, but at another time I doubted. For as concerning the tomb, it came into my mind that it was like enough that the servants of the chief priests (whom I had seen in the garden during the night) might haply have broken open the tomb and stolen away the body; but then on the other side there was the vision of the angels and the voice; and besides, it was being borne in upon my mind, and upon the minds of most of us, that Jesus must indeed arise from the dead, for thus should both the words of the prophets be fulfilled, and his own words also; but otherwise they could not be fulfilled. So I waited till John and Peter should return. But while I was still waiting and marvelling that they tarried so long, there came in certain of the disciples; these were not Galileans, but abode in Jerusalem, and they asked us whether we had seen aught that night. We said “No.” Then said one of them to us, “Last night, in returning from beholding that which came to pass at Golgotha, about two hours after sunset, Miriam, my sister’s daughter, saw her father (who hath now been buried these six weeks) risen from the grave and standing wrapped in the grave-clothes near her bed; moreover two other women of mine acquaintance saw the bodies of their little children, fresh and blooming as if they were verily alive; and another, a certain young man named Mattathias (but he is not known to me), is said to have seen his brother, who hath been buried more than a year, standing as if alive, so that he even approached him and called him by name. And other wonderful sights have appeared to very many.” And his companions confirmed all his words, saying, “The like also we ourselves have heard.” While we marvelled at their words, the two disciples, Peter and John, came into the chamber. But they had seen nothing; only the stone rolled away, even as the women had said, and the tomb void of the body. Then one of the disciples brought again to our minds how that Jesus, even before his death, had bidden us go into Galilee, saying that he would there manifest himself unto us; and when we questioned Mary of Magdala, she constantly affirmed that the voice of the angels was to the same effect. Therefore I resolved that I would set forth that very day to go to Capernaum. For a hope was now waxing strong within me that I should after all see Jesus again. So I set out without delay, with certain other of the disciples; howbeit the greater part would stay in Jerusalem yet a few days. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edwin Abbott Abbott (2015). Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/48843/pg48843-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

How the Holy Spirit, through much sorrow, prepared the disciples to behold Jesus risen from the dead

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