Matthew 27:62-66

Matthew 27:62-66

And by the next day, which was after the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees were being gathered together to Pilate while saying, “We were being reminded that this deceiver said while still alive, ‘I am being raised after three days.’  Therefore command the grave to be kept secure until the third day lest after His disciples come they should steal Him and they should say to the people, ‘He was being raised from the dead,’ and the last deceit will be worse than the first.”  Pilate was saying to them, “You all have a guard of soldiers, Go away.  Make it as secure as you know how.”  And the ones who went away made the grave secure with the guard of soldiers after sealing the stone.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We have seen God use the words and actions of the world to prove His own power.  Now we see the chief priests and the scribes try to do the same thing.  They want to use Jesus’ words against Him.  They remind Pilate that Jesus said that He would be raised after three days.  So they ask the tomb to be guarded so that they can foil any plans of Jesus’ disciples.  Of course – and we’ll talk about this more of the next few days – God demonstrates His power because the testimony of those very guards will be crucial to asserting that the disciples didn’t come and steal the body during their watch!

How cool is it to see that God is still in control?  Why do you think God is capable of even using people who are trying to use Him?

Second Thought:

Pilate’s response to the chief priests is priceless.  “You have a guard.  Make it as secure as you can.”  It is as thought Pilate is taunting the religious leaders.  He could be denying them Roman help because they manipulated the situation to have an innocent man killed.  He could be mocking them in a young faith that doesn’t believe that they could stop Jesus even if they want to.  It could be that he just doesn’t want to be bothered.  It could be that Pilate is listening to the advice of his wife who told him to have nothing to do with this situation.  Whatever the reason, Pilate is truly done with this situation.  He will not support the efforts of the religious leaders anymore.  Pilate understands that the religious leaders need to stand on their own power while Jesus stood on His power.

What do you think of Pilate’s response?  Why do you think Pilate wanted nothing to do with the schemes of the religious leaders?

Third Thought:

It is worth also noting that Jesus’ own disciples forgot Jesus’ promise to be raised from the dead.  But Jesus’ enemies didn’t.  It is a sad reality that our enemies often remember more of what we say than our own disciples and friends!  Of course this makes sense.  Enemies remember what we say because they seek our destruction.  Disciples have the leisure of forgetting because the mentor-disciple relationship is such that lessons can be repeated and relearned after the disciple has learned what they needed to learn at any given time.  Disciples grow and absorb slowly as they gain confidence.  Enemies look to tear down as soon as the time is right.

Are you surprised to think that it was Jesus’ enemies that remembered the promise of the resurrection?  Why do we tend to remember the things that upset us more vividly than the things that help us grow?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 28:1-4