62 Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Second thoughts plagued the Pharisees overnight, so that on the Sabbath Day, Saturday, the day after crucifying Jesus, they took careful measure to prevent a faux resurrection. They anticipated the disciples might raid the tomb and claim fulfillment of Jesus’ teaching that He would rise again on the third day. This reveals a number of things. First, if the religious leaders were not aware of who buried Jesus, they were at least aware of where He was buried.
Second, they understood the implications of His teachings. He taught that He would raise the temple in three days after it was destroyed. In fact, that was the very charge that had finally been brought against Him (Matt 26:61). The Pharisees now understood this to be a prediction of His resurrection. While they did not believe in that prophecy, they figured that Jesus’ disciples did believe it! Ironically, the disciples did not believe it. They thought the whole mission of Jesus had come to a disastrous end, that it had incomprehensibly failed.
The Pharisees concluded that Jesus had cleverly deceived His followers and therefore they wanted to contain any further deception that the disciples might continue on the people. After going to governor Pilate for an armed guard, they went and sealed the grave with, apparently, the seal of Rome. Tampering with such was punishable by death. Inadvertently, the action of sealing the grave has helped future generations of Christians, for it substantiated that Christ had indeed died and was buried, and further that all human means were taken to ensure the body remained in the grave. An empty grave on the third day could not be credibly explained away as being due to lack of necessary security. It could only mean one thing! He was risen from the dead!
But, for now, the Messiah of Israel was dead and buried, and all precautionary measures had been taken to ensure that His movement was completely extinguished. Little did the Pharisees realize as they smugly slept that Saturday night, the greatest moment in history was about to take place.
Lord, You came to save us from the real deception, the blindness caused by sin, so that we would be set free by the Truth of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You.
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