RISEN!

Some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today. —Matthew 28:11-15

Oh no… The guard’s “prisoner” had gotten away! That meant the death penalty for them! “Some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened.” Maybe they could help them escape the death penalty somehow. After they told the leading priest what had happened, “A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” The guards were in no position not to disagree if they wanted a chance to escape being executed. “So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say.” The soldiers lied about what really took place to save themselves and “Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.”

To deny the resurrection: the leading priests and elders developed a false narrative, they would bribe the soldiers with a large amount of money, the soldiers were to spread this false narrative, the priests and elders would keep the guards out of trouble if the governor heard about it, the guards accepted the bribe and spread the false narrative.

People will go to great lengths to deny the resurrection. Why is that? It is because without the resurrection all of Christianity would fall apart. The resurrection is the foundational for following Christ. Without it there would not be a risen Christ to follow.

“For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. BUT in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead” (I Corinthians 15:13-20).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxgm2TJr2m0

Dear Father, may many others come to know that Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead, is in Heaven today and will return again. Oh, that many around us would hear the gospel and trust the Lord Jesus Christ. May it be so!