And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
After the guard saw Christ come forth and told the chief priests all they had seen and heard, the priests assembled with the elders, took counsel, and gave the soldiers large money as a bribe. The money was to manufacture and circulate the false report that His disciples came by night and stole His body while the soldiers slept. Because sleeping on guard could bring death, the priests promised to persuade the governor and secure the soldiers from punishment. They did not act from ignorance, for they knew from the guard and other witnesses that He was risen, but paid to suppress the truth, discredit the miracle, and protect themselves from exposure as His murderers. The lie overreached itself and could not stand, for sleeping men could not know what happened, yet it reveals how leaders and false teachers will use money to hide decisive evidence and sell their integrity.
Setting and Sequence
Matthew 28:12 belongs to the account of Christ's sealed tomb, which Roman guards watched through the night before daybreak. His enemies had it secured because they feared He might rise and escape, so they set the guard to prevent His disciples from taking His body and claiming He had risen. The tomb had been sealed and guarded, with severe punishment for a sleeping sentinel, so the precautions intended to prevent deception instead more fully established the truth of the resurrection.
The Roman guard were permitted to see Jesus come forth from the tomb, and thus became eyewitnesses of His resurrection. They saw the angel, the opened tomb, and the missing body, and gave a full account of what they had witnessed. The crucified one had been proclaimed by the angel as the Majesty of heaven and King of glory. Some of them came into the city and hurried to the rulers, telling the chief priests all they had seen and heard.
The verse is part of the distinct history given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew of Christ's resurrection and the meeting He appointed with His disciples in Galilee just before His ascension. It belongs to the history of people who were outwardly pious but acted wrongly in the events surrounding Jesus' resurrection, when the elders conferred and gave the soldiers a large sum of money.
Bribe and False Report
After hearing the watch's report of what was done at the sepulchre, the chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel together over how to answer it. Their decision was to give the soldiers large money, a large sum paid as a bribe to secure their cooperation. That payment was part of a deliberate effort to conceal the report of the resurrection that the guards had brought into the city.
The money was given to manufacture and support a false account that denied their own report. The soldiers were to claim that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept, robbing the sepulcher of His body. They were to spread that story diligently and circulate it widely as the explanation for the empty tomb.
Because a soldier who slept on guard while on duty could be put to death, the priests added a promise of protection. If the matter came to the governor's ears they would persuade Pilate and secure the soldiers, shielding them from punishment for sleeping at their post. That promise was afterward fulfilled when they went to Pilate and pressed him not to investigate the soldiers for sleeping at their post.
The soldiers took the money and did as they were taught, accepting the bribe and repeating the fabricated report. In doing so they exchanged truth and integrity for a lie, going out with a burden of money and a priest-invented lying report on their tongues. That saying was commonly reported among the Jews and circulated widely, even while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen.
Motives for Suppression
The leaders did not deny the resurrection for lack of evidence or from ignorance of the truth, for the guard had told them all that had happened. They knew from authentic reports of different persons who had seen and conversed with those raised dead at Jesus' resurrection that Jesus the Prince of life whom they had slain was risen from the dead. Their payment was therefore a deliberate fabrication made from dire necessity to meet the accumulating evidence establishing the truth of the resurrection and His claims as the divine Son of God.
They paid money to suppress true evidence and testimony about the empty tomb and to conceal the soldiers' report of what happened. The payment was used to spread a false account of Jesus' resurrection, which continued to circulate among the Jews. Their accusation was meant to keep the people from knowing and accepting the truth that He had risen, to discredit the miracle, to deny the miraculous reality of the resurrection, and to make Jesus appear to be an impostor. It illustrates how people may conceal truth and promote error even when striking evidence has been presented.
They acted to protect themselves, for the truth would expose them as murderers of Christ. Their attempt to suppress the report came from fear that the people would turn against them, and their accusation was meant to help the leaders escape the people's anger after Jesus' death. Fearing the people and the risen Christ and fearing the people would believe He was the Son of God under conviction from their own loud cries to crucify Him and their oath to take His blood on themselves and their children, Caiaphas ordered silence and with the elders paid for the lying story to preserve their denial and keep denouncing Jesus.
Failure and Refutation
The attempts to keep Him in the tomb were useless and only strengthened the testimony that He had risen, for Roman guards with their arms could not hold the Lord of Life in the grave. The tomb had been sealed and guarded with severe punishment threatened against a sleeping sentinel, so precautions meant to prevent deception instead more fully established the truth.
In inventing the lie they overreached themselves, so that every thinking person not blinded by bigotry or prejudice could detect the falsehood. If the soldiers had been asleep they could not have known how the tomb became empty, and if even one sentinel had been awake he would have awakened the rest. Men facing death with no hope of pardon for sleeping on guard would never proclaim their own fault. The priests would never have passed such sleeping lightly but would have demanded thorough investigation and the full penalty of the law. Had they believed their own story they would have called the disciples to account and visited unrelenting punishment upon them, and their failure to do so proves the disciples innocent and the soldiers' story false. Driven by dire necessity by the accumulating evidence establishing the truth of the resurrection and His claims as the divine Son of God, they fabricated the lie to meet it.
The bribe could not cover the resurrection, for God made that event sure beyond all doubt because salvation depends on it. The multitude and captives raised with Christ went into the city and appeared to many, testifying that Christ was risen and that they had been called from the grave by His power. Jesus Himself appeared to His disciples and to more than five hundred people, and those witnesses could not be silenced. Many who wished the lie true stood ready to receive the priests' word while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen.
The priests fulfilled their promise of protection by going to Pilate and pressing him not to investigate the soldiers for sleeping at their post. Pilate agreed to drop the matter only after meeting the guard privately and hearing the full true account, for they dared hide nothing from the governor for fear of death. Though he prosecuted the soldiers no further, he had no more peace or comfort from that time.
Doctrine and Warning
After hearing that Jesus had risen, the chief priests and elders met together and paid the Roman soldiers a large bribe to deny their own report and claim that His disciples had stolen His body. Because a soldier who slept on guard could be put to death, they also promised to protect the guards. They used the money and a false story to conceal the fulfillment of Jesus' words and to keep the people from knowing that He had risen. That lie could not hide the resurrection, for the captives raised when Jesus rose and seen by many in Jerusalem established that Jesus Himself had risen. His resurrection gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, and Satan failed to conceal it.
The verse belongs to the distinct history given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew of Christ's resurrection and the meeting He appointed with His disciples in Galilee just before His ascension. That chapter holds the promised ministration of the Holy Spirit that gives the Christian experience and earnest of the spirit of life through Christ that every soul needs now. It leaves no excuse for departing from the faith. In it Jesus recognizes the real value of sincere belief in His unseen personality viewed by the eye of faith.
The act reveals the way of false teachers, who are afraid to trust the people with knowledge and seek to hide facts that would show the error of their position. They did not deny the resurrection for lack of evidence or from ignorance of the truth, for the guard had told them all that had happened, and they paid money to keep the people from knowing the truth because the truth would expose them as murderers of Christ. The payment was used to suppress true evidence and testimony about Christ's resurrection and to spread a false account that His disciples had stolen His body while the soldiers slept, which continued to circulate among the Jews. It illustrates how people may conceal truth and promote error even when striking evidence has been presented. The soldiers feared the death penalty for sleeping on duty and were promised protection from Pilate, but accepted the money and repeated the priests' fabricated report, exchanging truth and integrity for a lie.
That lie was put by Satan into the hearts and mouths of the chief priests, who paid the Roman soldiers much money to spread the claim that the disciples came by night while the soldiers slept and stole the body of Jesus. The people stood ready to receive their word, and it was circulated while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen. The bribe could not cover up the resurrection because God made that event sure beyond all doubt since salvation depends on it, even raising witnesses from the dead to testify to Christ's resurrection. Their lie is compared with later claims that there was nothing miraculous about Jesus' birth, death, or resurrection. The guards' report was used to deny the miraculous reality of the resurrection and to discredit the miracle, just as spiritualist claims are used to deny the miraculous events of Jesus' life.
After the guard saw Christ come forth and told the chief priests all they had seen and heard, the priests assembled with the elders, took counsel, and gave the soldiers large money as a bribe. The money was to manufacture and circulate the false report that His disciples came by night and stole His body while the soldiers slept. Because sleeping on guard could bring death, the priests promised to persuade the governor and secure the soldiers from punishment. They did not act from ignorance, for they knew from the guard and other witnesses that He was risen, but paid to suppress the truth, discredit the miracle, and protect themselves from exposure as His murderers. The lie overreached itself and could not stand, for sleeping men could not know what happened, yet it reveals how leaders and false teachers will use money to hide decisive evidence and sell their integrity.
Setting and Sequence
Matthew 28:12 belongs to the account of Christ's sealed tomb, which Roman guards watched through the night before daybreak. His enemies had it secured because they feared He might rise and escape, so they set the guard to prevent His disciples from taking His body and claiming He had risen. The tomb had been sealed and guarded, with severe punishment for a sleeping sentinel, so the precautions intended to prevent deception instead more fully established the truth of the resurrection.
The Roman guard were permitted to see Jesus come forth from the tomb, and thus became eyewitnesses of His resurrection. They saw the angel, the opened tomb, and the missing body, and gave a full account of what they had witnessed. The crucified one had been proclaimed by the angel as the Majesty of heaven and King of glory. Some of them came into the city and hurried to the rulers, telling the chief priests all they had seen and heard.
The verse is part of the distinct history given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew of Christ's resurrection and the meeting He appointed with His disciples in Galilee just before His ascension. It belongs to the history of people who were outwardly pious but acted wrongly in the events surrounding Jesus' resurrection, when the elders conferred and gave the soldiers a large sum of money.
Bribe and False Report
After hearing the watch's report of what was done at the sepulchre, the chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel together over how to answer it. Their decision was to give the soldiers large money, a large sum paid as a bribe to secure their cooperation. That payment was part of a deliberate effort to conceal the report of the resurrection that the guards had brought into the city.
The money was given to manufacture and support a false account that denied their own report. The soldiers were to claim that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept, robbing the sepulcher of His body. They were to spread that story diligently and circulate it widely as the explanation for the empty tomb.
Because a soldier who slept on guard while on duty could be put to death, the priests added a promise of protection. If the matter came to the governor's ears they would persuade Pilate and secure the soldiers, shielding them from punishment for sleeping at their post. That promise was afterward fulfilled when they went to Pilate and pressed him not to investigate the soldiers for sleeping at their post.
The soldiers took the money and did as they were taught, accepting the bribe and repeating the fabricated report. In doing so they exchanged truth and integrity for a lie, going out with a burden of money and a priest-invented lying report on their tongues. That saying was commonly reported among the Jews and circulated widely, even while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen.
Motives for Suppression
The leaders did not deny the resurrection for lack of evidence or from ignorance of the truth, for the guard had told them all that had happened. They knew from authentic reports of different persons who had seen and conversed with those raised dead at Jesus' resurrection that Jesus the Prince of life whom they had slain was risen from the dead. Their payment was therefore a deliberate fabrication made from dire necessity to meet the accumulating evidence establishing the truth of the resurrection and His claims as the divine Son of God.
They paid money to suppress true evidence and testimony about the empty tomb and to conceal the soldiers' report of what happened. The payment was used to spread a false account of Jesus' resurrection, which continued to circulate among the Jews. Their accusation was meant to keep the people from knowing and accepting the truth that He had risen, to discredit the miracle, to deny the miraculous reality of the resurrection, and to make Jesus appear to be an impostor. It illustrates how people may conceal truth and promote error even when striking evidence has been presented.
They acted to protect themselves, for the truth would expose them as murderers of Christ. Their attempt to suppress the report came from fear that the people would turn against them, and their accusation was meant to help the leaders escape the people's anger after Jesus' death. Fearing the people and the risen Christ and fearing the people would believe He was the Son of God under conviction from their own loud cries to crucify Him and their oath to take His blood on themselves and their children, Caiaphas ordered silence and with the elders paid for the lying story to preserve their denial and keep denouncing Jesus.
Failure and Refutation
The attempts to keep Him in the tomb were useless and only strengthened the testimony that He had risen, for Roman guards with their arms could not hold the Lord of Life in the grave.
The tomb had been sealed and guarded with severe punishment threatened against a sleeping sentinel, so precautions meant to prevent deception instead more fully established the truth.
In inventing the lie they overreached themselves, so that every thinking person not blinded by bigotry or prejudice could detect the falsehood.
If the soldiers had been asleep they could not have known how the tomb became empty, and if even one sentinel had been awake he would have awakened the rest.
Men facing death with no hope of pardon for sleeping on guard would never proclaim their own fault.
The priests would never have passed such sleeping lightly but would have demanded thorough investigation and the full penalty of the law.
Had they believed their own story they would have called the disciples to account and visited unrelenting punishment upon them, and their failure to do so proves the disciples innocent and the soldiers' story false.
Driven by dire necessity by the accumulating evidence establishing the truth of the resurrection and His claims as the divine Son of God, they fabricated the lie to meet it.
The bribe could not cover the resurrection, for God made that event sure beyond all doubt because salvation depends on it.
The multitude and captives raised with Christ went into the city and appeared to many, testifying that Christ was risen and that they had been called from the grave by His power.
Jesus Himself appeared to His disciples and to more than five hundred people, and those witnesses could not be silenced.
Many who wished the lie true stood ready to receive the priests' word while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen.
The priests fulfilled their promise of protection by going to Pilate and pressing him not to investigate the soldiers for sleeping at their post.
Pilate agreed to drop the matter only after meeting the guard privately and hearing the full true account, for they dared hide nothing from the governor for fear of death.
Though he prosecuted the soldiers no further, he had no more peace or comfort from that time.
Doctrine and Warning
After hearing that Jesus had risen, the chief priests and elders met together and paid the Roman soldiers a large bribe to deny their own report and claim that His disciples had stolen His body. Because a soldier who slept on guard could be put to death, they also promised to protect the guards. They used the money and a false story to conceal the fulfillment of Jesus' words and to keep the people from knowing that He had risen. That lie could not hide the resurrection, for the captives raised when Jesus rose and seen by many in Jerusalem established that Jesus Himself had risen. His resurrection gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, and Satan failed to conceal it.
The verse belongs to the distinct history given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew of Christ's resurrection and the meeting He appointed with His disciples in Galilee just before His ascension. That chapter holds the promised ministration of the Holy Spirit that gives the Christian experience and earnest of the spirit of life through Christ that every soul needs now. It leaves no excuse for departing from the faith. In it Jesus recognizes the real value of sincere belief in His unseen personality viewed by the eye of faith.
The act reveals the way of false teachers, who are afraid to trust the people with knowledge and seek to hide facts that would show the error of their position. They did not deny the resurrection for lack of evidence or from ignorance of the truth, for the guard had told them all that had happened, and they paid money to keep the people from knowing the truth because the truth would expose them as murderers of Christ. The payment was used to suppress true evidence and testimony about Christ's resurrection and to spread a false account that His disciples had stolen His body while the soldiers slept, which continued to circulate among the Jews. It illustrates how people may conceal truth and promote error even when striking evidence has been presented. The soldiers feared the death penalty for sleeping on duty and were promised protection from Pilate, but accepted the money and repeated the priests' fabricated report, exchanging truth and integrity for a lie.
That lie was put by Satan into the hearts and mouths of the chief priests, who paid the Roman soldiers much money to spread the claim that the disciples came by night while the soldiers slept and stole the body of Jesus. The people stood ready to receive their word, and it was circulated while the holy women were carrying the true report that Jesus had risen. The bribe could not cover up the resurrection because God made that event sure beyond all doubt since salvation depends on it, even raising witnesses from the dead to testify to Christ's resurrection. Their lie is compared with later claims that there was nothing miraculous about Jesus' birth, death, or resurrection. The guards' report was used to deny the miraculous reality of the resurrection and to discredit the miracle, just as spiritualist claims are used to deny the miraculous events of Jesus' life.