April 7, 2023
“Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Matthew 27:63-64
The account of events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus affords a fascinating study of human nature. Indeed, the elements of incredulity collectively mount up to point to an inescapable conclusion: we humans are moldable to certain beliefs early in life; and regardless of the truth or lack thereof in whatever those beliefs are, we are extremely stubborn and reluctant to alter them.
On the Sunday morning of Jesus’ resurrection—before any of His followers even believed that He was alive—the lies about it were conceived and perpetuated...
…some of the guard came into [Jerusalem] and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ (28:11-13)
What are all the things that the Roman soldiers would report? An earthquake? A strong angel who moved the huge stone and then sat upon it? Did they admit that they shook for fear of him, and became like dead men (v.4)? The facts that they shared with the chief priests were exactly what the chief priests did not want to hear. It is possible that consulting with the elders may have been necessary to collect the large sum of money needed to bribe the soldiers. After all, what they instructed the soldiers to say (we fell asleep on the job) was punishable by death. Truly, a lot of money was in play here. Let this sink in: the initial reaction of the very first people to hear of the resurrection of Jesus is to exert influence over the first eyewitnesses of the resurrection to lie about it! The layers of incredulity are piling up.
“And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” (v.14)
Yet another layer. How striking that the Roman soldiers agreed to place their very lives in the hands of conniving religious leaders who did not want anyone to know the truth of what they, the soldiers, had seen with their own eyes. A lover of truth would be insulted . . . unless he had a greater love of money.
Clifford Goldstein wrote: “Unlike Christ’s followers, who, when told by the faithful women, didn’t believe the first reports of His resurrection, these religious leaders, when told by enemies of Jesus, did believe. This is why, though first posting the guard in order to stop the disciples from stealing Jesus’ corpse, in an amazing reversal, they now paid the guard to say that the disciples did steal it. Wanting to make sure that Christ stayed in the tomb, these leaders now had to concoct a story to explain why Christ didn’t stay in the tomb…”
There are many plans in a man’s heart. Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand. Proverbs 19:21