A piece of Skulduggery to silence the Soldiers.
Mat 28:11 While they went on this errand, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the High Priests every detail of what had happened.
Mat 28:12 So the latter held a conference with the Elders, and after consultation with them they heavily bribed the soldiers,
Mat 28:13 telling them to say, "His disciples came during the night and stole his body while we were asleep."
Mat 28:14 "And if this," they added, "is reported to the Governor, we will satisfy him and screen you from punishment."
Mat 28:15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this story was noised about among the Jews, and is current to this day.
Introduction
Matthew takes up the account. He has spoken of the wonderful Joy of the Resurrection to the Followers of Jesus and the evidence that the real Jesus was ALIVE.
Now he turns to the Problem the soldiers gave the Jewish Authorities. That the Guards should say exactly what they knew to be true was unthinkable. What did the Religious authorities do to try to smother the fallout from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Here we have them concocting a blatant Lie and paying off the Guards to keep them quiet.
Mat 28:11 While they [the women] went on this errand, some of the guards came into the city and reported to the High Priests every detail of what had happened.
Notes
The women were already on their way to tell the disciples the Wonderful News of the resurrection.
….some of the guards came into the city and reported to the High Priests every detail of what had happened.
Pilate had made this guard available to the Jewish Authorities even though they were Roman Soldiers. They sought out the Chief Priests and told them every detail of what had happened.
They may have hesitated from going to their own officers because they would have had to confess that they had not prevented the removal of the body from the tomb L.M. p.740
The body had not been stolen but how could their tell their officers the truth of what had happened.
They told the chief priests the exact details of everything that had happened. They knew that an angel of the Lord had rolled away the stone. They had acted like dead men they were so terrified. They saw the empty tomb. Whether they saw Jesus coming forth in power and great glory we do not know. They saw the women look into the empty tomb verifying that it was empty.
Mat 28:12 So the latter held a conference with the Elders, and after consultation with them they heavily bribed the soldiers,
Notes
The Chief priests decided they better call the Elders of the Nation as this was such an important matter and they did not know what to do. After having this conference together they decided to silence the Guards by giving them a hefty BRIBE. The so-called stolen body of the one they had put to death by crucifixion was now a living body.
ALL THEIR BRIBES AND THEIR LIES COULD NOT ALTER THE F A C T S.
Mat 28:13 telling them to say, "His disciples came during the night and stole his body while we were asleep."
Notes.
His disciples came by night - This was as absurd as it was false. On one hand, the terror of the disciples, the smallness of their number (only eleven); and their almost total want of faith; on the other, the great danger of such a bold enterprise, the number of armed men who guarded the tomb, the authority of Pilate and of the Sanhedrin, must render such an imposture as this utterly devoid of credit.
Stole him away while we slept - Here is a whole heap of absurdities.
1st. Is it likely that so many men would all fall asleep, in the open air, at once?
2dly. Is it at all probable that a Roman guard should be found off their watch, much less asleep, when it was instant death, according to the Roman military laws, to be found in this state?
3dly. Could they be so sound asleep as not to awake with all the noise which must be necessarily made by removing the great stone, and taking away the body?
4thly. Is it at all likely that these disciples could have had time sufficient to do all this, and to come and return, without being perceived by any person? And
5thly. If they were asleep, how could they possibly know that it was the disciples that stole him, or indeed that any person or persons stole him? - for, being asleep, they could see no person. From their own testimony, therefore, the resurrection may be as fully proved as the theft. A.C.
Mat 28:14 "And if this," they added, "is reported to the Governor, we will satisfy him and screen you from punishment."
Notes
The whole concocted story was so full of holes that you could let an elephant escape through it.
The Jewish authorities seemed to think that this cock and bull story would come to the ears of Pilate the Roman Governor.
They promised that they would make sure that the Guards came to no harm. The Governor’s residence was at Caesarea anyway (100kms) and it would take some time before he heard anything. He might not even care as it saw it as the chief priests’ responsibility. The Priests promised to make the guards free from any anxiety or worry about the whole deal.
Mat 28:15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this story was noised about among the Jews, and is current to this day.
Notes.
The soldiers were grateful for some extra cash and the fact that they were screened from any military charge of negligence.
they took the money and did as they were instructed
This must have felt like a good solution to a very awkward situation. The Jewish Authorities and the soldiers were in cohorts over the BRIBE and the LIE.
this story was noised about among the Jews, and is current to this day.
Ever since this story has been spread abroad by the Jews. It was still being broadcast by the Jews centuries latter. No body was ever produced to show that their make-believe story was indeed the fact.
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