The Lie of the Tomb

Pharisees Ask for a Guard Matthew 27:62-66

The Pharisees did not believe Jesus would resurrect, in fact, they believed the apostles would steal Jesus’ body. So they approached Pilate and asked for an armed guard be put in front of the tomb. This was a very big deal, and the fact that the Romans posted a guard tells us that nobody could have broken into that tomb and stolen the body of Jesus.

Roman military training

The Romans incorporated many things into their training, including the following:

Marching over 18 miles in less than 5 hours in summer months

Running

Long jumping

High jumping

Swimming

Carrying heavy packs

Training with wooden swords and shields twice as heavy as issued weapons

Training against dummies until proficient enough to progress

Training in pairs with weapons more similar to issued weapons

Training with multiple different weapons

The Romans believed weapons training was so important that they gave weapon instructors double rations, and would give inferior rations to trainees that did not perform to standards. They would also build roofed riding schools and drill halls so training could continue through the winter.

Roman rule over Israel

The Romans conquered much of the known world as their power grew. As they conquered, they ruled. Some of the countries and cities they conquered would come under Roman rule of their own accord and mesh with Roman culture seamlessly. This was not the case for Israel. The tension in Israel grew to the boiling point in 66 A.D. when Israel revolted against Rome. This tension came from the corrupted administrators ruling over Israel, a growing bandit presence, and the Zealot movement growing in Israel.

Soldiers bribed Matthew 28:11-15

We see here the Pharisees bribing the Roman guards to say the apostles stole the body of Christ while they were sleeping. This is pure ridiculousness, because of the very dedicated training of the Romans, and the backgrounds of the apostles. For the most part the apostles were ordinary working-class citizens. The only apostle who would have any sort of chance against a Roman soldier would be Simon the Zealot, and the Zealots were insurgents by nature, so he would not do well in a one-on-one duel, much less facing multiple soldiers at once. Furthermore, all of them fled at the arrest of Jesus. This fear would not go away until the return of Christ, and the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit would indwell in all the believers.