Ep. 143: The guard at the tomb

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MATTHEW 27:62-66

We read, ‘Now on the morrow, which is after the preparation the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, which he was yet alive, after three days I rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest haply his disciples come and steal him away, and say unto the people. He is risen from the dead: so, the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, take a guard, go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them.’

But was there really a need for it? Did they, who had spent what remained of daylight to prepare spices to anoint the dead Christ, expect his Body to be removed, or did they expect - perhaps in their sorrow even think of his word, ‘I rise again?’

Edersheim leaves us dangling with a question:

‘But on that holy Sabbath, when the Sanhedrists were thinking of how to make sure of the dead Christ, what were the thoughts of Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, of Peter and John, of the other disciples, and especially of the loving women who only waited for the first streak of Easter-light to do their last service of love? What were their thoughts of God - what of Christ - what of the Words he had spoken, the deeds he had wrought, the salvation he had come to bring, and the Kingdom of heaven which he was to open to all believers?’

This is an extract from the book, Jesus : Life and Times, available for £12 here (Finalist for Academic Book of the year at 2023 CRT awards)

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