Jim Liles
The lies of the chief priests and the Roman guards of the tomb of Jesus prove the reality of the Resurrection.
To see how this unfolds, let’s first look at the events following the death of Jesus around 3:00 PM on Friday, April 5 – Nisan 14 in the year 30 AD. On Fridays, the last lamb is sacrificed in the Temple at 3:00 PM, giving the priests time to clean up before the coming Sabbath.
Matthew 27:57–61 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Jesus and member of the Sanhedrin, is given permission to bury Jesus by Pontius Pilate. Joseph takes the body, wraps it in linen, and places it in the garden tomb a short distance from ‘The Skull’ (Golgatha) where Jesus had been crucified. After rolling a stone in front of the tomb, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James (son of Clopas: John 19:25), one of the 12 disciples, sat across from the tomb after Joseph left.
The next day, the chief priests came to Pilate and asked that the tomb be secured because Jesus had stated “after three days I will rise” (Matthew 27:63). Pilate put guards under the control of the chief priests and instructed them:
And Pilate said to them, You have a guard, go away, make it as secure as you know how . And going along with the guard, they made the grave secure, sealing the stone (Matthew 27:65-66). KJ3-Translation
Early Sunday morning, the two Marys arrive at the tomb bringing burial spices while the guards are present. There is an earthquake, the stone is rolled away, and an angel sat on the stone whose face was like lightning and his clothing “white as snow” (Matthew 28:3–4).
The guards were so shaken that they became as dead men.
It is important to realize the stone was not moved away so Jesus could get out. It was moved away so people could see that the tomb was empty. The angel told the women not to be afraid but to go and tell the disciples to go to Galilee, where Jesus would meet them.
That evening, Jesus would appear to the disciples without Thomas present (John 20:19–23). The next morning, the disciples would head for Galilee and see Jesus with Thomas eight days later (John 20:26–29).
While looking for the disciples, the women ran into Jesus. They fell at His feet, and Mary Magdalene grabbed Him by the ankles.
In John 20:17, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene: `Be not touching me (stop clinging to me), for I have not yet ascended unto my Father; and be going on to my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and to your God.’ Jesus repeated the command to tell the disciples to meet Him in Galilee (Matthew 28:10).
Shortly after the women left, the Roman guards woke up and headed to meet the chief priests to tell them what had happened. The chief priests knew the guards were not lying and that the Resurrection had happened just as Jesus said it would.
Matthew 28:12–15 clearly states the cover-up lie:
And being assembled with the elders, and taking counsel, they gave enough silver to the soldiers, saying, Say that his disciples came and stole him (Jesus) by night, we being asleep. And if this is heard by the governor, we will persuade him and will make you free from anxiety. And taking the silver, they did as they were taught. And this report was spread by the Jews until today. KJ3-Translation.
Thus, the chief priests relieved the guards’ concern that they would be reprimanded for sleeping while on duty.
Pilate did not catch the obvious lie that if the guards were asleep, how would they know the disciples took the body? The body of Jesus was never found, and there was no search party looking for it.
There were eight reports of Him being seen after the Resurrection. Jesus was seen by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6), and the disciples were promised the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost on Sunday, Sivan 6 (Acts 1:3–8).
