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Author: Stephen Weller
516 words, 3 minutes read time

The Tomb Sealed and A Guard Placed

Scripture: Matthew 27:62-66

With the previous lesson we completed the section about the burial of Jesus. With this lesson we will cover the section devoted to securing the tomb and placing a guard there for the next three days.

^{Mt 27:62} The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ 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.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

The day that follows the day of Preparation is the Sabbath. The question I ask myself, is it Friday or Saturday? The answer seems obvious that the Sabbath is Saturday. Not if Friday was one of those special Sabbaths that occur at various times. If it was then the next day would have been Friday and not Saturday and Jesus would have died on Thursday and not on Friday as tradition holds. If Jesus died on Thursday then we are able to obtain three days and three nights as required by the sign of Jonah.

On that particular Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate with a request that the tomb containing Jesus be made secure until the third day. Their reason for the request was that Jesus said, “After three days I will rise.” If the tomb was secured then no one could come and steal the body and claim that Jesus had risen from the dead, creating a fraud that would be worse that his claim.

Pilate sees their point and tells them to guard it with soldiers and make it as secure as you can. With Pilate’s blessing, they go and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. That guard would be the same Roman military guard that was assigned to oversee temple security. By doing this they are putting in place evidence that will establish that Jesus did rise from the dead.

Conclusion

We end this short section with the assurance that no one will come and steal Jesus from the tomb and create a false claim that he had risen from the dead. To ensure that Jesus stays in the tomb, the tomb is made secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. If Jesus leaves the tomb it will not be by the work of man but by the power of God. Thus, setting this seal and placing the guard, they were actually establishing conditions to validate the resurrection when it happens.