On the instruction of the Lord, the two Mary’s then
went on their way to tell the disciples of Jesus’ resurrection. While they went
on their way, some of the guards came to report to the chief priests all that
had taken place. Verse 12 suggests that the chief priests then quickly
assembled the elders for a consultation. If we imagine ourselves there at the
consultation, what would we have recommended? To come out and tell the truth as
it is or to create a false story and hide the truth. As far as the Jewish
authority was concerned, they had already wet their hair and were too deeply
entrenched to pull back. Isn’t it sad to see the religious leaders and the authority
so bent on discrediting the truth? It’s already bad that they had failed in
what they were called to do, but it’s really sad to see them trying to save their
face by fabricating a lie. That was exactly what they did to prevent the truth
from going forth. They had chosen to distort the truth.
They bribed the soldiers with a substantial sum of
money to tell their fabricated lie. The soldiers were told to say that ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away
while we were asleep.’ In their blind deceit, the Jewish authority would even offer a
crazy and foolish story. How would the soldiers know who stole the body of
Jesus if they were asleep? Surely the soldiers knew that it was utter
foolishness! In fact it was dangerous for the soldiers to agree to the scam. It’s
almost like signing their own death warrant by sleeping on the job. But the chief
priests and elders assured them that they would take care of it should Pilate
come to hear of it. Despite the danger, the soldiers went for the bribe and
told the concocted story that became widespread among the Jews. Matthew
probably intents this whole fabrication to be a humor.
Think of it this way, if Jesus’ resurrection was a fabrication of the disciples, then of all people they were most foolish. For who in the world would be prepared to be tortured and die for a lie? We know that people would die for truth but never for a lie. Like it or not, the fact of Christ’s resurrection is here to stay. It is needful, time and again, to defend the fact of the resurrection whenever we are called to. But for all that we would say, they would mean nothing if we are not presently living the kind of life impacted by the truth of the resurrection.
Think of it this way, if Jesus’ resurrection was a fabrication of the disciples, then of all people they were most foolish. For who in the world would be prepared to be tortured and die for a lie? We know that people would die for truth but never for a lie. Like it or not, the fact of Christ’s resurrection is here to stay. It is needful, time and again, to defend the fact of the resurrection whenever we are called to. But for all that we would say, they would mean nothing if we are not presently living the kind of life impacted by the truth of the resurrection.
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