Opposition to the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Matthew 27: 62-66 “On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “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.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.              Extra Reading: Matthew 27:62-28:15.

Let me begin by saying that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the stamp of authority for the Christian faith. Our Lord suffered on Calvary and died for the sins of humanity. You will recall that there were three crosses on that Good Friday. The question is, “What gave validity to the life and words of the man on the central cross?” Of course it is the Resurrection. When he arose from the grave, the world had to acknowledge that all of His former words and deeds were true. Jesus’ resurrection did not happen without resistance from the enemies of the cross and righteousness. The chief priests and Pharisees remembered that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead, and they remembered it before it occurred. Thus they sealed His tomb (Matthew 27:63). What about His disciples? They did not remember Jesus’ words until after His resurrection (Luke 24:8). Christ’s enemies proceeded to try to prevent any incident that might lead people to believe that the Resurrection actually occurred. In Matthew’s account we see a few people struggling against eternal truth. They believed in their minds that the Lord is a deceiver and the disciples to be cunning men with a scheme to make the Resurrection appear to be real. They took it upon themselves to try to prevent an event that would make the people think that Christ was raised from the dead. Religionists visited Pilate out of hatred and ignorance seeking to destroy Jesus (Matthew 12:14). Now that He had been killed, they were going to see that His deathly defeat remained a reality. They approached the cowardly Pilate knowing that they could manipulate him.

Pilate had seen and heard enough about this Jesus Christ. I am convinced that he certainly did not want a rumour circulating about Jesus’ resurrection, so he gave the chief priests and Pharisees a detachment of soldiers, concurred in their efforts to secure the tomb, and issued the weakest statement of encouragement the world has ever known. He said, “Make the tomb as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:65 NIV). This was an exercise in futility because mere men were seeking to secure a tomb that God Himself had declared would be opened (Matthew 16:21-22; 17:22-23; 20:18-19). The soldiers acted with regimented obedience as they sought to carry out Pilate’s command. They went to the grace site and made sure the rock was sufficiently placed in the tomb’s entrance. They then sealed the rock, thus making it a trespass against the law of the Roman government for the tomb to be opened. Then, to make sure the law was enforced, the soldiers stood guard by the tomb.

Prayer: We praise Father God, that the Resurrection was real. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!