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323. The Report of the Guards

Matthew 28:11-15
Key Verse:  So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed.  And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
Matthew 28:15

Wow!  Isn't it amazing what a person will do for money? The story, on the face of it, is preposterous! A Roman soldier is willing to admit that he was overpowered by an untrained fisherman who was brave enough to dare to break the roman seal, enter the grave and steal a dead body? When you consider the fact that later stories, in Acts, reveal that Roman soldiers would rather commit suicide than admit that they allowed a prisoner to escape, (Acts 16:27) it is hard to comprehend why the soldiers were willing to humiliate themselves in this way. Yet, sadly, for those who do not want to believe, this fabricated story still exists today.

If the Jews were willing to seal the grave when Jesus died, why weren't they willing to look for the dead body and bring the disciples to justice? Why weren't they interested in confronting those who had supposedly perpetrated such a fraud and put them on public display, as they had Jesus? After all, shouldn't Jesus' followers have suffered the same fate as He, since, by the story anyway, they were willing to continue to lie to the people by claiming He had risen?

Also, if those disciples were so bold and brave to take on the Roman guard, why did they run the night that Jesus was arrested and remain in hiding throughout the next few days?  We saw Peter's pathetic ability with a sword. We saw his cowardice in front of a servant girl, of all things. Where would such bravery have possibly come from to accomplish such an amazing feat as this?

As the writer to the Jews, it was Matthew who made sure that his version of the gospel included both the fact that the Jewish leaders coerced Pilate to assign a Roman guard to the tomb, (Matthew 27:62-66) and that this deception is also a part of the resurrection story.  In relating these details, he demonstrates how willing many are to believe a myth rather than the truth. The Jewish leadership had a lot to lose if the resurrection was true. Just as they were willing to pay Judas to try to have Jesus killed, now, they are willing to pay even more to spread a lie, breaking their own ninth commandment: "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor."  (Exodus 20:16)

In the beginning, God created a beautiful place for us to live. Satan sought to destroy it in whatever ways he could. Now, on this day, Satan's main tool, death itself, had been conquered. But along with that good news, the master of lies spread a lie that would stop many from believing that what Christ had accomplished was true. Again, from the beginning, the tares were sewn among the wheat.  (Matt. 13:25-30)

Every day we are forced to choose to believe the lies that satan shouts or the truths that just are because God is. Satan uses emotions and circumstances that are seen. God calls us to rely on His promises which He always keeps and never changes. Jesus promised that death would not be the end. He promised that He would never leave us. He promised us His peace. Satan uses any means he can to cause us to doubt. The choice is ours and will be until we reign with Him forever.


Hymn:  "He Lives"

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