And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
After the guards reported what happened at the tomb, the chief priests and elders bribed them with large money to say His disciples stole Him by night while they slept, promising to persuade the governor if he heard of it and to keep the soldiers safe from punishment. The bargain was a deliberate cover-up by men who knew the resurrection had occurred, meant to conceal the empty tomb, discredit the truth, and protect themselves from exposure as His killers. The lie exposes itself, for sleeping men could not know how the tomb became empty, and admitting sleep on a Roman watch meant certain death that no soldier would readily proclaim. In private the guards told Pilate the whole truth, yet at the priests' urging he made no investigation and let the neglect of duty pass without prosecution. The guard, the seal, and the bribe only made the resurrection more certain and impossible to conceal, warning that religious profession does not excuse breaking God's law by smothering evidence and spreading error for money.
Words and Historical Setting
After some of the watch came into the city and showed the chief priests all things done at the sepulchre, the chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel and gave large money to the Roman soldiers. The Roman guard hurried to tell the rulers what had happened at the tomb, and their testimony confirmed that Jesus had risen and the leaders recognized the force of the evidence. The money was given to bribe them to testify that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept.
The saying records the promise that if this came to the governor's ears they would persuade him and secure the soldiers. It was a promise to protect the soldiers if he heard that Jesus' body was missing, to take responsibility for them and support the claim that the disciples had stolen it. The promise was meant to secure the guards' cooperation in spreading the false report despite the danger involved.
The guards had been rendered powerless by the angel and had witnessed Jesus rise from the grave. Their duty was under strict penalty, for a sentinel found asleep at his post faced death with no hope of pardon for neglecting duty. Admitting sleep therefore placed their lives in peril, so they would not readily proclaim their fault, and they had in fact kept watch with vigilance.
The saying belongs to the distinct history after Christ's resurrection just before He ascended. It stands in the brighter chapter after His suffering, as part of the gospel account of the Lord of glory's infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved. Faithful study of that gospel story blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid, showing a salvation that is a life measuring with the life of God.
Bribe and False Report
After the guard reported what had happened at the tomb, the chief priests with the elders took counsel and gave large money to the Roman soldiers to say that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept. The soldiers took what was offered and did as they were taught, repeating the manufactured story they had been given. The promise that if this came to the governor's ears they would persuade him and secure and protect the soldiers was given to support that claim about the missing body. The whole arrangement was made in order to conceal the resurrection and suppress the evidence of the empty tomb.
The denial was deliberate, made with knowledge of the resurrection, because the leaders wanted to keep the people from learning the truth and being exposed as His killers. They persisted in calling Jesus an impostor while continuing to accuse His disciples of taking His body. Their plan was to escape the anger of the people by keeping the accusation against the disciples alive. In that attempt to deny the resurrection they became trapped in continued opposition to Christ.
The saying was diligently circulated and was commonly reported among the Jews and believed. The guards' false report was used to discredit the miraculous resurrection and to turn attention away from Christ. From it came the charge that the disciples stole the body to practice a deception upon the people, leaving a stigma resting upon them as deceivers. On the first day of the week, after seeing their Master die, they found themselves deprived of His body and blamed for taking it, and they despaired of ever correcting the false impression against them.
Exposure of the Lie
The tale refutes itself, for men asleep could not have known how the tomb became empty, and one wakeful sentinel would have awakened the rest. A Roman sentinel found sleeping at his post faced certain death with no hope of pardon, so offenders would not readily proclaim their fault or admit to sleeping. The guard's duty was therefore especially strict, and the priests' promise to persuade the governor and shield the soldiers if the matter reached his ears was given to secure their cooperation in spreading the false report that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept. That promise was meant to secure the guards' safety and help suppress the truth of the resurrection, though the guard, seal, and precautions meant to prevent a claim of resurrection instead more fully established it.
The rulers' own conduct proves fabrication. If they had believed the soldiers slept they would have demanded thorough investigation and the full penalty of the law instead of passing it over lightly and reassuring them. If they had believed the disciples stole the body they would have called the disciples to account with unrelenting punishment, and doing neither proves the disciples innocent. Doing neither shows the rulers knew the truth and invented the lie from necessity to meet the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus as the Prince of life and divine Son of God, and in so doing they overreached themselves.
The lie was diligently and deliberately circulated and was believed by very many. Yet all clear-minded and thinking persons not blinded by bigotry detected its falsehood.
Pilate and the Outcome
A messenger first carried the news of the resurrection to Pilate, and he afterward held a private interview with the guard in which the soldiers told him all the particulars and dared conceal nothing for fear of losing their lives. In that questioning he learned what had happened at the tomb, and their testimony confirmed that Jesus had risen. The priests then gained access to him, though at first he had shut himself in his house in terror wanting to see no one.
They expected he would not want the facts circulated, and they pressed and urged him not to investigate or prosecute the sentinels' reported neglect of sleeping at their post but to let the matter pass and keep silent. In keeping their promise to persuade the governor and protect the guards, they persuaded him to make no investigation and to let the matter pass. Pilate consented to their request, agreed not to investigate further, prosecuted the matter no farther, and did not prosecute the guards.
He believed the testimony that Christ had risen, was filled with terror, and was left in despair over having condemned the Son of God. From that time he had no more peace or comfort, and the matter left him without peace.
Certainty of the Resurrection
The resurrection is the event on which salvation depends, and God made it certain and impossible to conceal despite every effort to suppress the report of the empty tomb. The guard, the seal, and all the precautions were arranged to prevent the disciples from taking the body and claiming a resurrection, yet those very measures more fully established the truth. Roman guards and weapons could not confine Him, and the attempt to control the account by promising to persuade the governor and protect the guards only strengthened the testimony that He had risen.
The failure of the cover-up was shown by many witnesses whom no bribed story could overturn. The multitude of captives who rose from the dead 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 also appeared to His disciples and to more than five hundred at once, and those raised with Him appeared to many declaring that He had risen. This united testimony established the certainty that Christ Himself had risen and gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, so that from that time men have believed it was the Son of God who was crucified.
The promise to persuade the governor and secure the soldiers belongs to Satan's effort to conceal the fact that Christ had risen. Under his influence the priests persisted in claiming Jesus was an impostor and in accusing His disciples of stealing the body, to evade the people's anger and keep the guards' report from persuading the people. It stands as an example of using deception and false claims to deny, discredit, and disprove the miraculous events of Jesus' life.
This gospel story belongs to the brighter chapter after Christ's suffering, part of the account of the Lord of glory's infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved. Faithful study of it blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid. The salvation thus opened is a life that measures with the life of God.
Warning and Present Application
The promise to persuade the governor and shield the guards shows professedly pious leaders using deception to conceal the truth, and their religious profession did not excuse conduct contrary to God's law, by which lawyers and church members are judged by the same rule. The verse illustrates how people can smother true evidence and spread error instead, and such acts will testify against them when truth is revealed, though then it will be too late to make things right. Those who sought to deny the resurrection were left trapped in continued opposition to Christ.
To secure the false evidence they wanted, the leaders assured the soldiers of safety from punishment if their sleeping-at-their-post story came to light. The soldiers were horrified at bearing false witness, because sleeping at their post was punishable with death and placed their lives in peril, and they had kept watch with sleepless vigilance. The leaders assured them that the governor would no more want the facts of the resurrection circulated than they did, and for money the guards agreed to conceal the resurrection and spread the false claim that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept. They thus sold themselves and their integrity, coming in with the startling truth that the crucified one was the Son of God and going out with money and a lying report on their tongues given them by the priests.
The evil work did not triumph, because the multitude of captives who rose from the dead 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. The lie was an effort to conceal the fact that Christ had risen, but it failed and had little effect, because others also testified that Christ had risen and gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, so that from that time men have believed that it was the Son of God who was crucified. The governor himself heard that Christ had risen, believed the testimony, and was left in despair over having condemned the Son of God. The verse stands in the brighter chapter after Christ's suffering, as part of the account of infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved, and faithful study of that story blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid, showing a salvation that is a life measuring with the life of God and requiring willingness to make special sacrifices to save souls ready to perish in order to be counted worthy to enter the city of God.
After the guards reported what happened at the tomb, the chief priests and elders bribed them with large money to say His disciples stole Him by night while they slept, promising to persuade the governor if he heard of it and to keep the soldiers safe from punishment. The bargain was a deliberate cover-up by men who knew the resurrection had occurred, meant to conceal the empty tomb, discredit the truth, and protect themselves from exposure as His killers. The lie exposes itself, for sleeping men could not know how the tomb became empty, and admitting sleep on a Roman watch meant certain death that no soldier would readily proclaim. In private the guards told Pilate the whole truth, yet at the priests' urging he made no investigation and let the neglect of duty pass without prosecution. The guard, the seal, and the bribe only made the resurrection more certain and impossible to conceal, warning that religious profession does not excuse breaking God's law by smothering evidence and spreading error for money.
Words and Historical Setting
After some of the watch came into the city and showed the chief priests all things done at the sepulchre, the chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel and gave large money to the Roman soldiers. The Roman guard hurried to tell the rulers what had happened at the tomb, and their testimony confirmed that Jesus had risen and the leaders recognized the force of the evidence. The money was given to bribe them to testify that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept.
The saying records the promise that if this came to the governor's ears they would persuade him and secure the soldiers. It was a promise to protect the soldiers if he heard that Jesus' body was missing, to take responsibility for them and support the claim that the disciples had stolen it. The promise was meant to secure the guards' cooperation in spreading the false report despite the danger involved.
The guards had been rendered powerless by the angel and had witnessed Jesus rise from the grave. Their duty was under strict penalty, for a sentinel found asleep at his post faced death with no hope of pardon for neglecting duty. Admitting sleep therefore placed their lives in peril, so they would not readily proclaim their fault, and they had in fact kept watch with vigilance.
The saying belongs to the distinct history after Christ's resurrection just before He ascended. It stands in the brighter chapter after His suffering, as part of the gospel account of the Lord of glory's infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved. Faithful study of that gospel story blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid, showing a salvation that is a life measuring with the life of God.
Bribe and False Report
After the guard reported what had happened at the tomb, the chief priests with the elders took counsel and gave large money to the Roman soldiers to say that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept. The soldiers took what was offered and did as they were taught, repeating the manufactured story they had been given. The promise that if this came to the governor's ears they would persuade him and secure and protect the soldiers was given to support that claim about the missing body. The whole arrangement was made in order to conceal the resurrection and suppress the evidence of the empty tomb.
The denial was deliberate, made with knowledge of the resurrection, because the leaders wanted to keep the people from learning the truth and being exposed as His killers. They persisted in calling Jesus an impostor while continuing to accuse His disciples of taking His body. Their plan was to escape the anger of the people by keeping the accusation against the disciples alive. In that attempt to deny the resurrection they became trapped in continued opposition to Christ.
The saying was diligently circulated and was commonly reported among the Jews and believed. The guards' false report was used to discredit the miraculous resurrection and to turn attention away from Christ. From it came the charge that the disciples stole the body to practice a deception upon the people, leaving a stigma resting upon them as deceivers. On the first day of the week, after seeing their Master die, they found themselves deprived of His body and blamed for taking it, and they despaired of ever correcting the false impression against them.
Exposure of the Lie
The tale refutes itself, for men asleep could not have known how the tomb became empty, and one wakeful sentinel would have awakened the rest. A Roman sentinel found sleeping at his post faced certain death with no hope of pardon, so offenders would not readily proclaim their fault or admit to sleeping. The guard's duty was therefore especially strict, and the priests' promise to persuade the governor and shield the soldiers if the matter reached his ears was given to secure their cooperation in spreading the false report that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept. That promise was meant to secure the guards' safety and help suppress the truth of the resurrection, though the guard, seal, and precautions meant to prevent a claim of resurrection instead more fully established it.
The rulers' own conduct proves fabrication. If they had believed the soldiers slept they would have demanded thorough investigation and the full penalty of the law instead of passing it over lightly and reassuring them. If they had believed the disciples stole the body they would have called the disciples to account with unrelenting punishment, and doing neither proves the disciples innocent. Doing neither shows the rulers knew the truth and invented the lie from necessity to meet the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus as the Prince of life and divine Son of God, and in so doing they overreached themselves.
The lie was diligently and deliberately circulated and was believed by very many. Yet all clear-minded and thinking persons not blinded by bigotry detected its falsehood.
Pilate and the Outcome
A messenger first carried the news of the resurrection to Pilate, and he afterward held a private interview with the guard in which the soldiers told him all the particulars and dared conceal nothing for fear of losing their lives. In that questioning he learned what had happened at the tomb, and their testimony confirmed that Jesus had risen. The priests then gained access to him, though at first he had shut himself in his house in terror wanting to see no one.
They expected he would not want the facts circulated, and they pressed and urged him not to investigate or prosecute the sentinels' reported neglect of sleeping at their post but to let the matter pass and keep silent. In keeping their promise to persuade the governor and protect the guards, they persuaded him to make no investigation and to let the matter pass. Pilate consented to their request, agreed not to investigate further, prosecuted the matter no farther, and did not prosecute the guards.
He believed the testimony that Christ had risen, was filled with terror, and was left in despair over having condemned the Son of God. From that time he had no more peace or comfort, and the matter left him without peace.
Certainty of the Resurrection
The resurrection is the event on which salvation depends, and God made it certain and impossible to conceal despite every effort to suppress the report of the empty tomb. The guard, the seal, and all the precautions were arranged to prevent the disciples from taking the body and claiming a resurrection, yet those very measures more fully established the truth. Roman guards and weapons could not confine Him, and the attempt to control the account by promising to persuade the governor and protect the guards only strengthened the testimony that He had risen.
The failure of the cover-up was shown by many witnesses whom no bribed story could overturn. The multitude of captives who rose from the dead 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 also appeared to His disciples and to more than five hundred at once, and those raised with Him appeared to many declaring that He had risen. This united testimony established the certainty that Christ Himself had risen and gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, so that from that time men have believed it was the Son of God who was crucified.
The promise to persuade the governor and secure the soldiers belongs to Satan's effort to conceal the fact that Christ had risen. Under his influence the priests persisted in claiming Jesus was an impostor and in accusing His disciples of stealing the body, to evade the people's anger and keep the guards' report from persuading the people. It stands as an example of using deception and false claims to deny, discredit, and disprove the miraculous events of Jesus' life.
This gospel story belongs to the brighter chapter after Christ's suffering, part of the account of the Lord of glory's infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved. Faithful study of it blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid. The salvation thus opened is a life that measures with the life of God.
Warning and Present Application
The promise to persuade the governor and shield the guards shows professedly pious leaders using deception to conceal the truth, and their religious profession did not excuse conduct contrary to God's law, by which lawyers and church members are judged by the same rule.
The verse illustrates how people can smother true evidence and spread error instead, and such acts will testify against them when truth is revealed, though then it will be too late to make things right.
Those who sought to deny the resurrection were left trapped in continued opposition to Christ.
To secure the false evidence they wanted, the leaders assured the soldiers of safety from punishment if their sleeping-at-their-post story came to light.
The soldiers were horrified at bearing false witness, because sleeping at their post was punishable with death and placed their lives in peril, and they had kept watch with sleepless vigilance.
The leaders assured them that the governor would no more want the facts of the resurrection circulated than they did, and for money the guards agreed to conceal the resurrection and spread the false claim that the disciples had stolen the body while they slept.
They thus sold themselves and their integrity, coming in with the startling truth that the crucified one was the Son of God and going out with money and a lying report on their tongues given them by the priests.
The evil work did not triumph, because the multitude of captives who rose from the dead 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.
The lie was an effort to conceal the fact that Christ had risen, but it failed and had little effect, because others also testified that Christ had risen and gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God, so that from that time men have believed that it was the Son of God who was crucified.
The governor himself heard that Christ had risen, believed the testimony, and was left in despair over having condemned the Son of God.
The verse stands in the brighter chapter after Christ's suffering, as part of the account of infinite sacrifices to open the way whereby sinners might be saved, and faithful study of that story blesses those tempted to think they suffer more than Christ suffered or pay a higher price for faith than He paid, showing a salvation that is a life measuring with the life of God and requiring willingness to make special sacrifices to save souls ready to perish in order to be counted worthy to enter the city of God.