A Study of Matthew: To Be Right At Any Cost

Matthew 27:62–66 ESV

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 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.

Last week, we looked at the moment when Jesus was betrayed and arrested.

Today, we are jumping ahead to shortly after Jesus died. By this time, Joseph of Arimathea has come and gotten permission to bury Jesus. He has Jesus’ body cleaned and wrapped in a linen shroud. Jesus is placed in Joseph’s newly prepared family tomb, and Joseph has covered the entrance with a large stone.

Now, the priests and experts of Jewish law have come to Pilate, begging him to help them make sure that the “followers of this false teacher, Jesus” don’t try to steal Jesus’ body to convince people that Jesus came back from the dead as prophesied.

Pilate tells them, “You already have a guard of soldiers. Go secure the place.” So that’s what they do. They sealed the stone and set a guard. Problem solved, right?

Well, sure, if Jesus WAS a false messiah. If he had no real power, then this should be enough to stop his followers from trying to steal his body and spread lies.

But Jesus IS the Messiah.

Matthew 28:1–10 ESV

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Just as Jesus foretold, he rose on the third day. An angel descends from heaven with a force that shakes the earth. He breaks the seal and rolls the stone away, then sits on top of the stone. The angel is described as appearing like lightning—in other words, he is shining with power. Matthew makes it sound like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there to witness what the angel did, as did the guards who collapsed in fear. But while the guards are shaking in their boots, the angel speaks words of encouragement to the women. He invites them to look into the tomb and see that Jesus has risen from the dead. He then sends them to find Jesus’ disciples and tell them that Jesus is alive. On their way into Jerusalem, the women actually come face-to-face with Jesus, who greets them and gives them another message for the disciples: he will meet them all in Galilee.

So, in spite of their best laid plans to keep Jesus in the grave, the religious leaders have failed. Jesus is alive!

Matthew 28:11–15 ESV

While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

The guards have run straight to the religious leaders to report what they have seen. And they have seen a lot! While the scripture describes them as becoming like dead men, that doesn’t mean that the men were unconscious. They saw everything that the two Marys saw: the appearance of the mighty angel, how he easily moved that massive stone. They saw his brilliance. They heard his words to the women. There was no denying what happened. Jesus has really risen from the dead.

So of course, the religious leaders’ natural response is to say, “Oh my goodness! Jesus really IS the Messiah! How could we have been so wrong! We have to tell everyone that God’s kingdom is now here!”

NOT

What did these guardians of godliness do? They bribed the soldiers to say that Jesus’ disciples came and stole the body while they were asleep. They promised the guards protection if the Roman governor tried to discipline them. They made sure everyone heard their version of the story and believed them.

I mean, forget the fact that these guards were Roman soldiers, who were trained to walk for hours across the wilderness without stopping. Forget that these highly trained warriors were sent especially to prevent Jesus’ disciples from stealing Jesus’ body in the night. Forget that a small group of fishermen and blue-collar workers would be no match for a team of guards who had been assigned to keep Jerusalem’s most important religious leaders safe from possible attack. This story obviously makes sense: an entire squad of elite Roman soldiers decided it was a good idea to sleep on the job. A small group of untrained men was able to overpower them, break the seal and move the massive stone at the tomb, and steal Jesus’ body.

It couldn’t be that this man Jesus, who had taught the kingdom of heaven with such authority, who valued truth so highly, who healed the sick, caused withered limbs to become healthy, who made the unclean clean and the unholy holy, the man who could turn a happy meal into a banquet, who could control the weather and cast out demons. The man who could raise the dead. This man Jesus, who did all these things, could not possibly be the real Son of God capable of rising from the dead himself.

To be fair, if you were an average person in first-century Jerusalem, which story would YOU be most likely to believe: that an angel from heaven appeared and woke up a dead man, or that some Roman soldiers turned out to be crappy at their jobs?

This is what brings us to the heart of our message today. You see, most of the people of that day bought the religious leaders’ story. Jesus was a heretic, a false teacher who was seeking to overthrow thousands of years of religious tradition. He was condemned by their respected and trusted leaders as a blasphemer, tried by Rome as a threat to the government, and sentenced to death. It didn’t matter all the amazing things Jesus had done. He had been labeled a criminal, so he must have been one. Criminals don’t rise from the dead. Even the disciples, who had specifically heard Jesus say that he would die and rise on the third day, had trouble believing when the two Marys told them what had happened.

When you have lived in the dark long enough, you find the light uncomfortable. It hurts your eyes. In the same way, we are used to the broken world we live in. We all know the world is broken, and yet we have such a hard time walking away from it. Jesus offers us a better world. He offers us a place in his kingdom, and yet we have such a hard time believing him.

To this day, there are people who are convinced Jesus is not real. There is no heaven, no God, no divine purpose. Even when the miraculous happens around them, they refuse to admit even the slightest possibility that there is a God behind it all. They are like the Pharisees, who chose to deliberately lie rather than accept that Jesus had risen from the dead, even with the eye witness account to the contrary by Roman soldiers.

But then there are others. There are those who are truly looking for something real. When Jesus calls, they hear him, and they believe. After the disciples saw Jesus for themselves, they went and told others who believed their testimony. Jesus himself told Thomas,

John 20:29 ESV

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. It is possible to believe in Jesus. It can be hard, but it is possible.

And Jesus says that those who believe in him, even though they can’t see him, are blessed.

But it comes down to this. Are you willing to believe that Jesus is who he says he is? Because Jesus says he is the Son of God. He is king and Lord, which means that he is the one who is in control, not us. Not me. Not you. Believing in him makes us accountable to him. If Jesus is who he says he is, then we have to decide if we are going to submit ourselves to him.

That’s why so many people would rather not believe in God. If there is no God, then I don’t have to be obligated to his commands. Admitting there is a God is admitting that he is supposed to be in control.

So, what do you believe? Are we all some cosmic accident? Did forces randomly come together in a billion to one combination that made life from unliving molecules? Do we belong to a simple system of “survival of the fittest”? Or are we the handiwork of an all powerful God who has a plan for each and every one of us?

If there IS a God, what kind of God is he? Is it just some kind of semi-intelligent force, like in Star Wars, that influences everything, but that we can also influence? Is he a sentient being who made everything, but now just sits back and lets us live our lives without interacting with us?

Maybe he’s a cruel God, who regrets that he made us because we keep messing up and who just wants to punish us all the time.

Or maybe he is the God of the Bible, who is holy and perfect, yet is merciful on us imperfect humans. A righteous judge who will ultimately hold us accountable for every action and attitude we have held in our hearts, but has offered us a way to escape the wrath of his inevitable judgment. A king who has offered us citizenship in his kingdom by adopting us as his own children, an adoption that was paid for through the death of his own Son.

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Salvation is more than just praying a prayer and saying sorry. It is admitting how wrong you have been and then submitting yourself to the Lordship of Jesus. The Pharisees were unwilling to do that, so they chose to embrace a lie. If you are going to insist on being right, don’t you want to make sure that what you are insisting is true?

Pray with me.