One of the great embarrassments staining the virtue of soldiers everywhere is the agreement by the guards to accept a bribe to lie about what happened to Jesus’ body.
You know, it’s fair question to ask…what if the guards weren’t lying? What if the disciples did break in and steal the body while they were sleeping? Okay, let’s take an objective look at that point of view. As a former soldier myself, let me offer up a quick comment about guard duty.
The most important thing that you have to do on guard duty is stay alert. That would be why two men were stationed together…if one begins to nod off, then the other can wake him up. The greatest thing that these soldiers have to fear is not someone stealing the body…it’s falling asleep on guard duty. That would absolutely not be tolerated, and that’s why the religious leaders agreed to protect the soldiers if they lied. They were right to be afraid, because no one can trust a soldier who falls asleep on guard. But let’s be honest….sometimes you are simply too tired, and yes…you fall asleep. All you soldiers out there, come on now…don’t lie…..there have been times when you nodded off on guard. It happens.
But, could two men fall asleep so soundly that they couldn’t hear a several men straining to roll a stone away from the entrance to the grave, and then remain asleep while they carried a body out right past them? I mean, one guard who was in a coma….maybe. But two guards? Neither one of them wakes up? If I were their commanding officer I wouldn’t have believed it for a minute. And, any guard who was stationed to guard an entryway wouldn’t wander off in the woods to take a nap… if he got drowsy it would be leaning on the stone blocking the door…that way if it moves at all, you have a second chance to wake up and save your reputation. Fall asleep? No way.
Then there’s the behavior of the disciples to consider. Before Jesus was resurrected the disciples were afraid, living in a locked room or in denial, out fishing on their boats. But afterwards they have a boldness and authority that’s hard to deny. If they stole the body and hid it somewhere else, how do you explain this new boldness? And….okay, you might have one or two guys that would go along with you and “pretend” to be filled with power …but all eleven? No way. Thomas wouldn’t go along with what they said until He saw Jesus personally. And as the legends go, after he saw Jesus he traveled south and east to India, and led whole nations to repentance. These men were radically changed by something they saw. Every single one of the disciples (except John) suffered a martyr’s death. You don’t act like that when you know you hid the body. You only act like that when you know the body was raised from the dead.
In conclusion: the guards lied. They probably had no idea what sort of doubt they were permitting by their actions. Guards are usually lower ranking soldiers, who are generally newer to the unit. Their inexperience probably factored in. I know soldiers who would rather be punished than ever lie about sleeping on guard duty…that’s how much personal pride they have.
Can I conclude a blog entry on the most important piece of information in all human history without mentioning that Christ rose from the dead, victorious over death itself? I guess not.
The important thing here is not who lied and what they lied about. What’s important is that Jesus rose from death itself, after all life had left His body He placed His Spirit back into it, and it came back to life. Whoa! That’s the reason we can be filled with boldness…what Jesus did for His earthly body He promises to do for our bodies as well. Death (or as the Bible calls it “the first death, or sleep) has no permanent effect on us. It’s the “second death” that we need to avoid. Don’t waste time crying and mourning those who have died…you will see them again. But if they are sentenced to the second death, cry then. Because you won’t ever be together again…even if you went into the lake of fire along with them, there will be no comfort there, no consolation and no friendship. Those things are only found in heaven.
The resurrection of Christ is every single bit as important as His sacrificial death. Christ resurrected and ascended are key teachings to our understanding of Christian life. It’s no wonder that this passage is tied so closely to the great commission, where Jesus is recorded as telling the disciples “go and make disciples of all nations…” That’s the power, authority and purpose that the resurrection provides.
Faithfully,
PR