Matthew 27:62, commentary and pictures

The day after the day of preparation is the Sabbath after His burial, when He rested in the tomb and the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate in council about His body.
They came because they remembered His prediction that He would rise after three days, on the third day.
Fearing the disciples would take the body and claim He had risen, they asked for the tomb to be secured until the third day to prevent any taking and any such claim.
Pilate granted the request, and the tomb was made secure with a sealed stone and a Roman guard of armed soldiers watching through the night.
That planning of weak men to hold Him in the grave was useless work, for Roman guards and arms were powerless to confine the Lord of Life.
In providence those very precautions more firmly established the truth of the resurrection and became testimony that no fraud had occurred, while His enemies remembered His words and His disciples in sorrow and despair forgot what He had plainly told them.

Sabbath Visit to Pilate

The day that followed the day of preparation was the Sabbath, coming after Jesus had been buried and laid to rest in the tomb. It was then that the tomb stood closed and sealed with Him resting within it. Though the leaders themselves rested little on that day, they met to arrange precautions for the tomb to take effect after the Sabbath.

On that Sabbath the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate and held a council concerning the body of Jesus. They did not enter the Gentile ruler's house, but avoided it for fear of defilement, observing the rules against entering a Gentile's home. From outside they pressed their business about securing the tomb, knowing the disciples would wait until the Sabbath ended before attempting anything and therefore seeking security for the tomb as the Sabbath closed.

Pilate had been warned beforehand by the chief priests and rulers against deception by the disciples in regard to the body, and he and his officers were charged to guard against being deceived about it. Conflicting reports concerning the crucifixion had reached him, yet knowledge of the death had been purposely kept from him until Joseph came asking for the body. He therefore first learned with certainty that Jesus was really dead when Joseph made his request. Before surrendering the body to Joseph he sent for the centurion who had commanded the soldiers at the cross, verified the death with him, and drew from him both certainty of the death and an account of the scenes of Calvary confirming Joseph's testimony.

Fear and Tomb Safeguards

What moved them to come was memory: they had not forgotten the prediction that after three days, on the third day, He would rise again. While His disciples let those words slip, His enemies held them fast.

Their stated dread was deception over the body, that the disciples would steal Him away and say He had risen from the dead. They knew the disciples would wait until the Sabbath ended before attempting anything, so they sought security for the tomb as the Sabbath closed. What they asked was a watch until the third day, to prevent anyone taking Him and proclaiming a resurrection.

Beneath that was a deeper fear that He Himself might yet come to life and escape them. They feared He might rise and condemn them. So their fear of His dead body became greater than their fear of Him while He lived. They tried to settle themselves by calling Him a deceiver, but the fear persisted, for they had seen Him raise Lazarus, they knew His power, and they still heard people asking for Him and bringing sick friends to be healed.

Pilate granted the watch they begged for. The stone at the door was sealed and a Roman guard of armed soldiers was set, lest the body be removed or a risen claim be raised. Through the night Roman guards and angels alike watched over the tomb. A sleeping sentinel faced death, which made the guard no empty form but a serious safeguard.

Yet all this counseling and planning of weak men to keep Christ in the grave was useless murderers' work that could not succeed. The seal and guard could not prevent the resurrection. Roman guards and Roman arms were powerless to confine the Lord of Life within the tomb, for the hour of His release was near.

Providence and Living Hope

In providence the sealing of the stone and the posting of a Roman guard made the truth of the resurrection more firmly established. The precautions became testimony that no fraud had occurred, for the very efforts to prevent the resurrection became the most convincing proof of it. God was glorified by what weak men planned to keep Christ in the grave, and their useless work could not succeed. The stronger the guard the more undeniable the evidence of His triumph, so that the greater the number of soldiers placed around the tomb the stronger the testimony that He had risen. Because a sleeping sentinel faced death, the guard was a serious safeguard, yet Roman guards and Roman arms were powerless to confine the Lord of Life, and the hour of His release was near.

His enemies remembered His words while His disciples did not, for the chief priests and Pharisees had not forgotten His disclosure that the third day He would rise again. This rebukes the disciples for forgetting what they should have remembered, that as the first part of His disclosure in suffering and death had been fulfilled so the last part in rising the third day would verily be fulfilled. Though He had plainly told them He would rise the third day, their hopes were buried with Him in the tomb in unbelief, hopelessness, despondency, sorrow and despair, and they were perplexed about rising from the dead. They saw the great precautions taken to keep His body in the grave lest it be stolen, and the sight made strange impressions on their minds that they dared not frame into words. If they had believed His word and searched the Scriptures concerning Him while He lay in the tomb, they would have been saved much sorrow and would have found comfort and hope. After He ascended to heaven and was glorified before them they remembered the words He had spoken.

The tomb closed with a great stone and sealed with the Roman seal is not where Christ remains and is not to be looked to, for He is risen and rules as Saviour. A mighty angel rolled away the stone, and the Roman guards fell as dead men before heavenly brightness. Christ had clothed His divinity with humanity so people could endure His presence, but even the angel's veiled glory was beyond the guards' endurance. He rose and lives to make intercession for His people, giving them hope rather than despair. Because He lives His people shall live also, so mourning as hopeless and helpless is wrong. This hope held by faith holds the soul like a sure, tried anchor, and believing brings sight of the glory of God, so the message to be carried quickly to the disciples with grateful hearts and lips touched with holy fire in glad song is Christ is risen.