So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
At the request of the chief priests and Pharisees Pilate gave them Roman soldiers under their command to make the tomb as sure as they could, fastening the great stone with the Roman seal so it could not be moved without breaking it and setting a guard to keep strict watch through the night. They did this because they remembered His saying that He would rise after three days, and feared He would rise with power to confront their guilt, feared He might come to life and escape, and feared His disciples would steal the body by night to say He was risen. These precautions were permitted in providence to establish the fact of the resurrection, making secret removal and fraud an implausible explanation and making the evidence more conclusive by the presence of the guard. The sealed tomb did not hold Him, for heavenly angels guarded His body while evil angels rejoiced over His death, and when the angel came and rolled away the stone His glory caused the Roman guards to fall as dead men and thus witness His resurrection. He is risen and lives as King and Savior and Lord of hosts, no longer confined in a sealed tomb, so His people have hope rather than despair and shall live also.
Securing the Sepulchre
The burial place was Joseph's new tomb, closed with a great stone, and the women remained until they saw the stone placed at its entrance. At the request of the chief priests and Pharisees, Pilate gave a band of Roman armed soldiers and put them under the priests' command with the charge to make the tomb as sure as they could, intending to keep Him in the grave and to guard it until the third day. The securing was done at the close of the Sabbath, although the rulers knew the disciples would attempt nothing until after the Sabbath.
The stone was fastened with the Roman seal placed so it could not be moved without breaking the seal, so that any disturbance would be known. The watch was a Roman guard that kept strict watch through the night, pacing before the tomb or resting nearby. It was made effective by severe discipline, even death for sleeping at the post.
The rulers acted because they remembered His saying while He was alive that He would rise after three days. They feared He would rise with power to punish their guilt in destroying Him and to confront them, and they feared He might come to life and escape them. They also feared His disciples would come by night, remove His body, and tell the people He was risen, to carry out a fraud and prevent a claim that He had risen.
Their action came from jealousy, guilty apprehension, and fear that He would come forth to life, mingled with the joy of gratified revenge for putting Him to death. Though they had labored to believe He was a deceiver, they could not rest because they knew in their hearts He was all-powerful from having raised Lazarus from the dead. People were still seeking Jesus of Nazareth and bringing the sick and dying for healing, so they trembled that He Himself would rise.
Resurrection Established and Applied
The sealing of the stone and setting of the watch were permitted in providence to establish the fact of the resurrection. The seal was placed so the stone could not be moved without breaking it, so that any disturbance would be known, and the strict discipline of the Roman soldiers, even death for sleeping at the post, made the guard an effective safeguard against secret removal. Intended to prevent the disciples from taking the body and claiming a resurrection, these precautions made fraud an implausible explanation and, by adding the guard's presence, made the evidence more conclusive and more fully established its truth.
The Roman soldiers were not the only watchers at the grave. Evil angels rejoiced that he lay dead, while heavenly angels guarded his body and waited for the command to free him. Any one of those heavenly watchers had power to strike down the whole Roman army, whether pacing before the tomb or resting nearby through the night.
The sealed tomb did not hold him. He rested there on the Sabbath, and on the third day, when the angel came and rolled away the stone, the brightness of heaven's glory caused the Roman guards to fall to the ground as dead men because they could not endure it, and they thus witnessed his resurrection. The stone, fastened against removal, could not prevent his being raised.
Christ is no longer a Savior confined in that sealed tomb. The sealed empty sepulcher is left behind and is not to be looked to, for he is risen and lives as King and Savior and Lord of hosts, reigning and guarding his people amid conflict and upheaval and making intercession. Because he lives his people shall live also, so his followers have hope rather than despair. That hope holds the soul like a sure tried anchor, turning hopeless and helpless mourning into grateful belief, seeing the glory of God, and singing that Christ is risen.
The disciples saw these great precautions to make the sepulcher sure, and the sight made strange impressions they dared not frame into words. Yet while he lay in the tomb under that guard they did not believe he would rise the third day though he had plainly stated it, and were perplexed about what rising from the dead might mean. Their hopes were buried with him in bitter disappointment, with despondency, sorrow and despair crushing their souls while faith could not penetrate the shadow cast across their horizon. If they had believed his word and searched the Scriptures concerning him while he lay there they would have been saved much sorrow and would have found comfort and hope, which they only remembered after they saw him glorified at his ascension. The verse belongs to the history of professedly pious Jews told in Matthew 27 and is to be read together with Matthew 28, which gives Christ's commission to his disciples.
At the request of the chief priests and Pharisees Pilate gave them Roman soldiers under their command to make the tomb as sure as they could, fastening the great stone with the Roman seal so it could not be moved without breaking it and setting a guard to keep strict watch through the night. They did this because they remembered His saying that He would rise after three days, and feared He would rise with power to confront their guilt, feared He might come to life and escape, and feared His disciples would steal the body by night to say He was risen. These precautions were permitted in providence to establish the fact of the resurrection, making secret removal and fraud an implausible explanation and making the evidence more conclusive by the presence of the guard. The sealed tomb did not hold Him, for heavenly angels guarded His body while evil angels rejoiced over His death, and when the angel came and rolled away the stone His glory caused the Roman guards to fall as dead men and thus witness His resurrection. He is risen and lives as King and Savior and Lord of hosts, no longer confined in a sealed tomb, so His people have hope rather than despair and shall live also.
Securing the Sepulchre
The burial place was Joseph's new tomb, closed with a great stone, and the women remained until they saw the stone placed at its entrance. At the request of the chief priests and Pharisees, Pilate gave a band of Roman armed soldiers and put them under the priests' command with the charge to make the tomb as sure as they could, intending to keep Him in the grave and to guard it until the third day. The securing was done at the close of the Sabbath, although the rulers knew the disciples would attempt nothing until after the Sabbath.
The stone was fastened with the Roman seal placed so it could not be moved without breaking the seal, so that any disturbance would be known. The watch was a Roman guard that kept strict watch through the night, pacing before the tomb or resting nearby. It was made effective by severe discipline, even death for sleeping at the post.
The rulers acted because they remembered His saying while He was alive that He would rise after three days. They feared He would rise with power to punish their guilt in destroying Him and to confront them, and they feared He might come to life and escape them. They also feared His disciples would come by night, remove His body, and tell the people He was risen, to carry out a fraud and prevent a claim that He had risen.
Their action came from jealousy, guilty apprehension, and fear that He would come forth to life, mingled with the joy of gratified revenge for putting Him to death. Though they had labored to believe He was a deceiver, they could not rest because they knew in their hearts He was all-powerful from having raised Lazarus from the dead. People were still seeking Jesus of Nazareth and bringing the sick and dying for healing, so they trembled that He Himself would rise.
Resurrection Established and Applied
The sealing of the stone and setting of the watch were permitted in providence to establish the fact of the resurrection. The seal was placed so the stone could not be moved without breaking it, so that any disturbance would be known, and the strict discipline of the Roman soldiers, even death for sleeping at the post, made the guard an effective safeguard against secret removal. Intended to prevent the disciples from taking the body and claiming a resurrection, these precautions made fraud an implausible explanation and, by adding the guard's presence, made the evidence more conclusive and more fully established its truth.
The Roman soldiers were not the only watchers at the grave. Evil angels rejoiced that he lay dead, while heavenly angels guarded his body and waited for the command to free him. Any one of those heavenly watchers had power to strike down the whole Roman army, whether pacing before the tomb or resting nearby through the night.
The sealed tomb did not hold him. He rested there on the Sabbath, and on the third day, when the angel came and rolled away the stone, the brightness of heaven's glory caused the Roman guards to fall to the ground as dead men because they could not endure it, and they thus witnessed his resurrection. The stone, fastened against removal, could not prevent his being raised.
Christ is no longer a Savior confined in that sealed tomb. The sealed empty sepulcher is left behind and is not to be looked to, for he is risen and lives as King and Savior and Lord of hosts, reigning and guarding his people amid conflict and upheaval and making intercession. Because he lives his people shall live also, so his followers have hope rather than despair. That hope holds the soul like a sure tried anchor, turning hopeless and helpless mourning into grateful belief, seeing the glory of God, and singing that Christ is risen.
The disciples saw these great precautions to make the sepulcher sure, and the sight made strange impressions they dared not frame into words. Yet while he lay in the tomb under that guard they did not believe he would rise the third day though he had plainly stated it, and were perplexed about what rising from the dead might mean. Their hopes were buried with him in bitter disappointment, with despondency, sorrow and despair crushing their souls while faith could not penetrate the shadow cast across their horizon. If they had believed his word and searched the Scriptures concerning him while he lay there they would have been saved much sorrow and would have found comfort and hope, which they only remembered after they saw him glorified at his ascension. The verse belongs to the history of professedly pious Jews told in Matthew 27 and is to be read together with Matthew 28, which gives Christ's commission to his disciples.