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Matthew 27:62-66
The Guard at the Tomb The 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 impostor 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[a] 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. |
Those who opposed Jesus and His message tried their best to keep Him in the tomb. They rolled a stone across the entrance, put a seal on the stone and posted a guard. It was made as secure as was physically possible. Man had done his best to keep Christ in the tomb.
But, as documented in the following chapter, and as readers of the gospel both then and now know, no human effort could halt God’s intention to raise Christ from the dead and in doing so, defeat death once and for all.
The efforts of the Pharisees in this story are futile. Likewise, the efforts of those today who try to dispel the truth and amazing wonder of Christ’s resurrection, are futile.
‘One day the grave could conceal Him no longer,
One day the stone rolled away from the door,
Then He arose, over death He had conquered
Now He’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold Him, the grave could not keep Him
From rising again’
Rowan and Janet P