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11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, "Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure." 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. ~ Matthew 28:11-15
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 28 where the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is front and center. If He had not been raised from the dead, we could not have a personal relationship with God because our sin would have won the battle over Him. The fact that He rose from the dead proves that our sin has been dealt a death blow. In Romans 10:9 we read, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved." This verse accentuates the fact that our faith in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ sealed our acceptance with God.
In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened."
Not only did the followers of the Lord Jesus witness His resurrection, the guards who had been placed there by the first century religious establishment saw it as well. As this verse indicates, once the women were going to Jerusalem to tell the disciples that the Lord Jesus had been raised, the guards who had the responsibility to make sure His body was not taken during the night went to the chief priests with the bad news.
In v.12-14 of today's passage we read, "12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, 'Tell them, 'His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.' 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure."
There was no attempt on the behalf of the religious leaders of Israel to verify what the soldiers said. They knew it was true and they immediately went into damage control. Had they not believed the story of the guards, they would have responded differently. They would have formed a massive search party for the body of the Lord Jesus. They would have garnered Pilate's involvement. They would have put out a reward for anyone who would lead them to the dead body.
Rather than believe in the resurrection, these supposed religious leaders paid the soldiers to be quiet about what had actually happened. Then they told the soldiers to say His disciples stole His body during the night while they slept. But, the disciples were hiding in the upper room because they were fearful that they would be killed. But for arguments sake, let's assume the disciples stole the body. Now, for them to steal the body, the guards had to be asleep all at the same time. But, the Roman guards knew that if they fell asleep and the disciples came and stole His body, they would die. Undoubtedly, the guards slept in shifts.
In v.15 of today's passage we read, "So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day."
Since Matthew’s Gospel was written some thirty years after the resurrection, the story that actually happened would have easily been debunked but that didn't happen. In fact, it was the resurrection that bolstered these once afraid disciples into turning the world at that time upside down. In fact, according to the book of Acts, the disciples went out into the street in Jerusalem and preached the gospel and thousands believed their message. And if the body had been stolen, all they had to do was to produce the body.
The greatest argument for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the changed lives of the disciples. If they had stolen His body, they would not have put themselves on the line like they did. In fact, all of them except John were martyred for the faith. Bartholomew was flayed alive, John was boiled in oil. He survived the ordeal and then he was vanished to Patmos. Matthew with beaten with a club and if you go through the list of all of the apostles, all of them died a violent death except John who was vanquished to Patmos and then survived and died in Ephesus. If they knew the resurrection was a lie, they would not have had the consistent testimonies that they exhibited.
The single most important event in history is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. History shows that there was an explosion of Christianity across the Roman empire in the first century. This suggests that the Lord Jesus actually rose from the dead. The fact that no one debunked the resurrection during the first century underscores its veracity. But, its veracity is most proven by the changed lives of the disciples. They were so convinced that the Lord Jesus resurrected that they were dramatically transformed from fearful cowards to courageous martyrs. The lives they lived from that point onward underscores 2 Corinthians 5:17 which reads, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
Amazingly, the resurrection power of God is not a power that makes a great demonstration. Most often His power is quiet. We are so used to power that makes a big splash, but His power is most often subtle and unassuming. We do not expect it until it happens. And then, we wonder if it was Him. His power is recognized best when we react to it. The Apostle Paul reminds us that God's power is made perfect in our weakness. We don't like weakness, but weakness makes us more attuned to God. God's power shows up when we embrace our weakness and inadequacy. God reduced Gideon's army from 32,000 soldiers to 300 in order to defeat Israel's true enemy ... themselves. With God less is more and it leaves no room for boasting on our behalf. He deliberately thinned out the army so that it was so tiny that there would be no way that Israel could say that its strength gave it the victory.
