MATTHEW 27:62-66
The next day, on the Sabbath, the leading priests and Pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver once said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing his body and then telling everyone he was raised from the dead! If that happens, we’ll be worse off than we were at first.”
Pilate replied, “Take guards and secure it the best you can.” So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it.
TO PONDER
This little snippet of the story is something specific to Matthew's account. Every gospel talks about the stone and the cards placed at the tomb, but only Matthew goes into the details behind the arrangement. I love this because it directly addresses on of the common objections people make in their attempts to deny the resurrection of Jesus.
The argument goes like this, "the tomb was empty on Easter Sunday because Jesus' followers stole the body sometime in the night."
Here we see that this particular possibility was thoroughly guarded against. "Take some Roman soldiers and make the tomb as secure as you know how" were Pilates instruction o the priests and Pharisees. I have no doubt that the Jewish leaders would have done everything that was within their power to do to make sure Jesus body stayed put in the tomb. I also have no doubt that the, "scattered like sheep" rag tag team of fishermen, tax collectors and assorted other former professions would have had no conceivable way to overpower the guards posted at the tomb of Jesus.
What strikes me as even more interesting is that the priests and Pharisees were concerned that what Jesus said might come true. They did not believe he would actually rise from the dead, but even the perception that he may have risen, just as he said, was a threat they felt they had to manage. I think what we see here is an example of an attitude that still exists within many human cultures and societies today. People's objections and reactions to the possibility of Jesus actually rising from dead come from a deep, and often subconscious realisation that if it is true - everything changes. If Jesus did rise from the dead then we cannot just dismiss him as a good person or moral teacher and choose to ignore him whenever we find him inconvenient.
Take a look around you today. For most people, today is simply the day to go to the shops while they are open - the one day of the Easter weekend that is not an inconvenient disruption of regular daily life. It's the day we don't have to be reminded of Jesus death because the shops are open and it's not the day we have to deal with sugar induced hyperactive children who have been given way too much chocolate. For many people today is the day we can rest because we don't have to face what Jesus death actually means.
Today I want to encourage you not to let that be how you approach today. If fact, I want to suggest that today we all spend time reflecting on what the reality of Jesus death and crucifixion means for every day, so that when Easter celebrations are behind us, we do not simply go back to life as usual and dismiss Jesus as just a long dead relic of the past, but that we live each day - even this one - knowing that Jesus is alive and that this simple fact makes all the difference in the world.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus - for so many people the celebration of Easter is a threatening prospect. So many people still don't recognise you as their Lord and Saviour; so many people view the possibility of your death and resurrection as a threat to their way of life. I thank you that you have shown me the truth - that you alone are the way of Life. Today I pray that you would help me to live each day in a way that the reality of your resurrection is undeniable and that those who still consider you a threat might come to know the life that can only be found in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.