Today’s Reading: Matthew 27:11-66, 28:1-15
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. – Matthew 27:57-61
These were the witnesses to the burial of Jesus. They knew that he was dead, they knew the body had been wrapped in a clean linen cloth, and they knew the tomb had been secured with a big stone. They went home from there because they knew the Sabbath was coming. They would have to come back on Sunday morning to finish preparing the body.
The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. – Luke 24:25-27
In the meantime, the religious leaders were still uneasy. They had plotted to kill Jesus, paid Judas to reveal a private place where Jesus could be found, and brought the temple guard along with them to Gethsemane with the intent to arrest Jesus. They brought him to Caiphas, the high priest, to be questioned. They interrogated him, spit in his face, struck him with their fists, and slapped him. They schemed together and came up with a plan to have Jesus executed. They bound him with ropes and led him away to Pilate.
As Jesus stood before Pilate, the religious leaders threw their accusations at him. They manipulated the crown to demand the release of Barabbas, instead of Jesus. They joined in shouting for Jesus to be crucified. But it does not end there.
These men appointed to lead God’s people in the Temple worship and in the study of the Holy Scriptures were present when they nailed Jesus to the cross. They demanded that Pilate change the sign above Jesus’ head (John 19:21). As the afternoon progressed, they asked Pilate to have the soldiers break the legs of all those who had been crucified so that the bodies could be taken down before the Sabbath (John 19:31). They could not stick around much longer and they wanted to be sure that Jesus was dead before they left.
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon…The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” – Mark 15:33,38-39
The evidence was all around them. The sky was declaring its sorrow, the veil in the Temple was torn, and even a Roman soldier was declaring that Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God! When the religious leaders should have been falling on their knees and tearing their garments in sorrow, they were instead covering their tracks.
The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. – Matthew 27:62-66
Just as they went to the Garden of Gethsemane looking for Jesus, the religious leaders went to Pilate to make sure that Jesus’ body could be found in the tomb. They had connived and schemed to make sure that Jesus was dead, and they needed to make sure he stayed buried.
But despite their efforts, the seal was broken. The stone was rolled away. The Roman guards could not prevent Jesus from walking out of the tomb, because even death could not hold Jesus and the grave could not contain him. They were looking for Jesus in this place of death but he had already risen. Jesus was alive!
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. – Matthew 28:11-15
Lord, we praise you for being greater than man’s best laid plans; we give you the glory for conquering death and rising from the grave. You are worthy of our praise, and we bow before you this morning with grateful hearts. While the religious leaders were looking for you because they had plans to destroy you, we seek you with our whole hearts for the purpose of worshipping you. Thank you for being found — after your resurrection, on the day of our salvation, and every day since. You are our Savior and our Lord, and we lift our hands to worship you this morning. Amen.