“The Truth & the Story”
[Matthew 28:1-15}
April 4, 2010 Second Reformed Church
One of two things is true: either Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of His tomb, or Jesus did not rise from the dead and walk out of His tomb – there is no third option. Well, that’s not entirely true, there have been a few who argued that Jesus didn’t really die after His being beaten, flogged bloody, crucified, pronounced dead by the Pharisees and the Roman centurions, and having a spear thrust through Him for good measure. While such an idea might be popular for conspiracy theorists, it makes absolutely no sense medically, politically, or historically.
So, one of two things is true: either Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of His tomb, or Jesus did not rise from the dead and walk out of His tomb – there is no third option.
We will remember that Jesus told His disciples on several occasions that He would rise from the dead, and the word of His Promised Resurrection had reached the ears of the Pharisees, and they were worried. We read, “Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, ‘Sir, we remember how that imposter said, while he was still alive, “After three days I will rise.” Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, “He has risen from the dead,” and the last fraud will be worse than the first.’ Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard” (Matthew 27:62-66, ESV).
The Pharisees didn’t believe that Jesus was the Savior; they didn’t believe He would rise from the dead, but they did think it was possible that the disciples would go to the tomb and steal His Body and say that He had risen from the dead. So they went to Pilate, and Pilate allowed them to do what they wanted – they sealed the stone with wax and had the wax marked with Pilate’s signet ring, so that everyone would know, if the seal was broken, he would be liable to Pilate. They were also given a guard of soldiers. Now a guard of soldiers consisted of between four and sixteen centurions – so there were a minimum of four, well-trained, armed, Roman guards standing at the tomb, making sure it wasn’t tampered with – and perhaps as many as sixteen. Surely, that would have been enough to keep a group of terrified fishermen and some women from overpowering all of the guards, making sure they didn’t tell the truth of what happened, pushing the stone up and away from the tomb, and stealing Jesus’ Body.
Now, let’s remember, the men – except for John – were hiding (Matthew 26:56b). They were afraid of the Pharisees and the Romans and thought that they had been wrong about Jesus. Their own sad confession was that they “had hoped that [Jesus] was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21a, ESV). So, they men were in hiding, hoping this would all blow over, and they could return to their old lives in safety.
It was the women who had the courage to go to the tomb – not because they believed Jesus was alive – but because they believed He should be properly anointed and buried. So, on the third day, several of the women went to the tomb to finish embalming Jesus.
And let’s not forget, even in Ancient Israel, women were considered much less reliable witnesses than men, so their testimony would not have held up in court against men who countered what they said happened.
But this is the testimony we have from the women: they got up at dawn to go to the tomb to finish embalming Jesus. On the way, they began to worry about who would move the stone away – certainly the Roman guards weren’t going to help them (Mark 16:3). But when they arrived at the tomb, there was an earthquake and an angel of the Lord descended and the stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb and the Roman centurions all fainted.
The angel, who had taken a seat on the stone, told the women, who were also afraid, but hadn’t fainted, as the Roman centurions had, that Jesus was not there – in the tomb – that He had risen from the dead, just as He said He would. And the angel told them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus would meet them in Galilee.
So the women started to run back to where the men were hiding – leaving the Roman centurions passed out on the ground – and on their way back, Jesus appeared to them, and He told them to tell the men to go to Galilee, where He would appear to them. And the women fell down and worshiped Him as God, the Savior.
When they got to the men, they told them all that had happened, and the disciples said, “Oh, you women ” They didn’t believe them. Still, Peter and John ran to the tomb to see what had happened, and they did find it empty (Luke 24:11-12).
Meanwhile, some of the guards went to the chief priests to tell them what had happened – that Jesus had, indeed, risen from the dead – and they wanted to know what to do – they wanted protection – because if Pilate found out they had failed to keep a dead body from disappearing, they would have been executed.
So the counsel convened – the Sanhedrin – and they came up with a great story – and they were willing to bribe the guards to make sure they stuck to the story. The chief priests told the guards to say that they had fallen asleep, and while they slept, the disciples came, broke the Governor’s seal, rolled the massive stone up and away from the tomb, took Jesus’ dead body, and escaped without waking them up.
Why wouldn’t they have told them to say that the disciples overpowered them and stole the Body? Because there was no evidence to support that – the guards didn’t have a mark – a scratch – on them.
But if word had gotten back to Pilate that they had fallen asleep on the job, they still would have been executed. So the chief priests assured them that if they kept to the story, they would make sure that Pilate understood and would not harm them. So, that is the story that was told among the Jews.
Meanwhile, the eleven met Jesus in Galilee and got instructions from Him to go forth and proclaim the Gospel. And so they did. Before forty days were up, Jesus met with over five hundred of the disciples who were eyewitnesses to His Resurrection – and most of whom were still alive when the New Testament was being written – and they ate with Him, touched Him, and saw the scars of His crucifixion (I Corinthians 15:6).
So, which story has the ring of truth to it? Does the report of the women make sense? Or does it make more sense, as the chief priests framed it, that the soldiers fell asleep and the disciples – somehow – managed to open the tomb and steal the Body without waking any of them? And if that is what really happened, why did the guards report the same story as the women? And if the disciples did steal the Body – somehow – what did they gain by stealing it?
Some would argue that they were trying to gain power and authority, but how? What happened in reality is that after the Resurrection, Christians endured about three hundred years of fairly constant persecution and slaughter – until the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion.
What sense would it have made – on the third day – to steal the Body of Jesus? I don’t have a rational answer for us – do you?
Let’s ask one other question? Does it matter? There are many today who say that Jesus didn’t physically rise from the dead – He spiritually rose from the dead – (whatever that means).
In the Church at Corinth, there were some teaching that Jesus did physically rise from the dead, but we do not. Paul explained that that is not a possible scenario: “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. And if Christ has not been raised, you faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (I Corinthians 15:12-19, ESV).
Paul says, you can’t say that Jesus was raised, but we are not raised. Jesus is a real human being like us, and His Salvation is to save the whole of us, so, if He was raised, we who believe in Him Alone for salvation will also be raised.
If Jesus was not raised, then we will not be raised, and Christianity is a lie. Jesus did not defeat sin and death and Hell. We, then, are liars about God and Who He is and what He has done. And those who have died believing in Christ are in Hell.
If Christianity is only for this life, we who believe in Jesus are to be pitied above all people. Why? Because the hope and the glory and the mystery of Christianity and Salvation in Jesus Alone is based on the fact – the Truth – that He did rise from the dead on that first Easter morn
So, is the Gospel the Truth, or just a story? Remember, only one of two things is true: either Jesus rose from the dead and walked out of His tomb, or Jesus did not rise from the dead and walk out of His tomb – there is no third option.
Your answer makes an eternal difference.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, help us to understand what You have done for us in the Resurrection. Give us the Grace to believe. And give us assurance as we receive the Sacrament. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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