Matthew 28:15, commentary and pictures

The guards accepted a large bribe from the chief priests and spread the story they were taught, that His disciples came by night and stole His body while they slept, and that saying was widely repeated among the Jews until the time Matthew wrote. They did this after first reporting truthfully to the rulers and to Pilate what they had seen and heard at the opened tomb, and the priests promised to protect them from the governor and from the death penalty for sleeping on duty. In taking the money they sold their integrity to help conceal the fulfillment of His words that He would rise and ascend. The lie condemns itself, for sleeping men could not know what happened, one waking guard would have wakened the rest, no soldier would confess a crime punishable by death, and priests finding guards asleep would have demanded punishment instead of passing it over. The denial came not from lack of evidence or ignorance but from a deliberate hiring of false witnesses, urged by Satan, because the leaders feared exposure as His murderers and wanted to keep the truth from the people.

Words and Historical Setting

The soldiers took the money and did as they were taught, repeating the account they had been instructed to give that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept. This saying was commonly reported and circulated among the Jews, and remained current among them until this day, meaning until the time Matthew wrote. The report they spread was the appointed falsehood and bribed lie given them by the chief priests and elders and rulers, who gave them large money to suppress the compelling evidence of the resurrection.

The verse belongs to the distinct history given in Matthew 28 of events after Christ's resurrection just before He ascended, when He appointed a time and place to meet His disciples in Galilee. It belongs to Matthew 28, the account of the risen Saviour, and to the brighter chapter of Matthew 28:1-20. That chapter is to be read and understood together with Matthew 17, Matthew 26:26-75, and Matthew 27. It shows that the Lord of glory made infinite sacrifices and suffered to open a way whereby salvation is possible, so that no believer should feel that suffering for faith or paying a high price for salvation is too much, since salvation means a life that measures with the life of God and requires willingness to make special sacrifices to save souls ready to perish in order to be counted worthy to enter the city of God.

The verse belongs to the account of the guards reporting that Jesus' tomb was empty after an angel rolled away its stone. Their report described the angel, the opened tomb, and Jesus' body gone. Their testimony confirmed that He had risen from the dead, and the Roman guards who witnessed the resurrection testified to it. The rulers who heard that testimony recognized that two-thirds of the prophecy concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled.

The Bribed False Report

The Roman soldiers who had witnessed the resurrection hastened first to the Jewish rulers with all they had seen and heard, burdened with truth and telling distinctly that the crucified one was the Son of God, and afterward they also went to Pilate and dared not conceal the particulars from him. The chief priests and elders and rulers counseled together and gave them large money to spread the appointed false account they were taught, that His disciples came by night and stole Him away while they slept, and the chief priests arranged for this report to be spread throughout the country. The priests, their faces as the dead, stopped the soldiers from telling what they had witnessed and bought their silence, inventing the lying report to take its place.

Sleeping on post meant death with no hope of pardon, so no soldier would willingly admit it and the soldiers at first shrank from the scheme. To overcome this the priests promised to protect them and to persuade the governor if the matter came to his ear, to secure them from Pilate and from punishment for the affirmed neglect. They even paid Pilate himself to keep silent and came into his presence urging him to make no investigation of the sentinels, and he who also did not want the resurrection known agreed to let the matter pass without investigation.

In taking the money the guards traded and sold their integrity and honor, agreeing for money to conceal the resurrection and going out with money and a lie on their tongues. Their choice made them witnesses to a lie about the resurrection, helping to conceal the fulfillment of Jesus' words that He would rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. The lie was intended to protect the leaders from being held responsible for Jesus' death.

A messenger carried the news of what happened at the tomb to Pilate, filling his soul with terror so that he shut himself within his home and wished to see no one. He held a private interview with the guard and learned all the particulars from them, for they dared not conceal anything from the governor for fear of losing their lives. Though fully informed, he consented not to prosecute the matter farther and did not pursue it, allowing the false report about the sentinels to spread. From that time he had no more peace or comfort.

Why the Lie Fails

The guards who took the money knew the story they were paid to tell was false, for they had themselves been rendered helpless as captives without sword or spear before the mightiest angel, had fallen as dead men beneath the glorious light, and had been permitted to watch heaven come down while the earth trembled and the hosts of darkness fled. They saw him lift the stone as a pebble, heard his cry for the Son of God to come forth because His Father called Him, saw Jesus come forth from the tomb in majesty and glory, heard Him proclaim over the rent sepulcher that He is the resurrection and the life, and saw the angel host bow in adoration and welcome Him with praise. They came away burdened with truth, telling distinctly what they had witnessed and that the crucified One was the Son of God, proclaimed by the angel as the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, and they testified to His resurrection even while they accepted the priests' money to repeat the claim that His disciples had stolen the body while they slept.

The invented account condemns itself, for sleeping men could not know how the tomb became empty. If one sentinel had been awake he would have wakened the rest, and offenders guilty of sleeping on duty would never proclaim a fault punishable by certain death with no hope of pardon. Priests who truly found guards asleep would not have passed it over lightly but would have demanded thorough investigation and the full penalty of the law.

Their failure to arrest and punish the disciples or to call the guards to account proves the disciples innocent and proves the priests invented the lie from necessity to meet the growing evidence for the resurrection and for Jesus' claims as the divine Son of God. The falsehood was diligently circulated until very many believed it, yet all thinking persons not blinded by bigotry detected it.

The evil bribed lie did not triumph, because God made the resurrection certain and impossible to conceal. The multitude of captives raised with Christ went into the city and appeared to many, testifying that Christ was risen and had called them from the grave by His power, with authentic reports from people who saw and talked with them and heard their testimony. Jesus' repeated appearances to His disciples, and His appearance to more than five hundred at once, gave incontrovertible proof that He was the Son of God and planted the truth in willing minds.

The very efforts to secure the tomb and suppress the resurrection strengthened the testimony that Christ had risen, for the more soldiers guarding it the stronger the evidence. The collapse of the power of the priests and rulers and their guard exposed the falseness of the bribed saying that continued among the Jews despite those precautions.

Motives Behind the Denial

The denial of the resurrection did not come from lack of evidence or from ignorance of the truth, but from a deliberate hiring of soldiers to bear false witness. The leaders wanted to keep the people from knowing the truth, because the truth would expose them as murderers and hold them responsible for Jesus' death. To protect themselves they persisted in calling Jesus an impostor and accusing His disciples of stealing His body to practice deception upon the people. They did this because they feared the people's reaction and anger at the truth of the resurrection, and as the news of Christ's resurrection spread from city to city and from town to town they feared for their own lives while concealing the hatred they cherished toward the disciples.

Satan worked on the priests' minds so they would persist in denying the resurrection and accusing the disciples of deception. The lie put into the mouths of the guard was Satan's effort to conceal the fact that Christ had risen. Yet from the guards' testimony the rulers recognized that two-thirds of the prophecy concerning the Messiah had been fulfilled. Those who wished the lie to be true accepted it, so the false report was diligently circulated and widely believed, with very many believing it, even though many people had heard the soldiers' testimony to the resurrection. The priests tried to silence the witnesses to the resurrection, but reports of the soldiers' testimony and of those raised with Christ still reached many others.

The false saying that the disciples stole the body to deceive the people gained ground against them and left a stigma resting upon them. After seeing their Master die on the sixth day and finding themselves deprived of His body on the first day of the succeeding week, they feared they could not correct the false impression. They despaired of ever correcting it.

Scripture Connections and Warning

The bribery and the spreading of the false account of the resurrection belong to the history of people who professed piety, and their conduct shows that God's law judges all by the same rule, including those in positions of influence. It exposes the way of false teachers, who are afraid to trust the people with knowledge and seek to hide the facts that would show the error of their position. The denial was not for lack of evidence and not from ignorance, but from deliberately hiring soldiers to bear false witness in order to keep the people from knowing a truth that would expose the leaders as murderers. Compelling evidence of the resurrection was thus suppressed and a false report spread, a pattern of opposition to truth that can recur even among people who once believed it.

It was a deliberate falsehood to deny the resurrection, just as later claims deny anything miraculous about the Saviour's birth, death, and resurrection and make His life seem no more than ordinary. Bribed men were used to put Jesus in the background and to circulate among the Jews the instructed saying that His disciples stole His body while the guard slept, a saying still current when Matthew wrote. The same work continues when deluded followers of pretended spiritual manifestations repeat that denial. They attract attention to themselves and to their own miracles and lying wonders, which they declare far exceed the works of Christ, so that the world is taken in the snare and lulled into security, not finding out the awful deception until the seven last plagues are poured out.

Set with Christ's promise to be with His people always even unto the end of the world, this history bears on the Christian experience to be gained from the ministration of the promised Holy Spirit. That ministration is the earnest of the spirit of life through Christ which every soul needs now, leaving not the least excuse for departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. It calls for sincere belief in Christ's personality, though unseen, viewed by the eye of faith. Since the Lord of glory made infinite sacrifices and suffered to open the way of salvation, no believer should feel that suffering for faith or paying a high price is too much, for salvation means a life that measures with the life of God and requires willingness to make special sacrifices to save souls ready to perish in order to be counted worthy to enter the city of God. The bribed report that the body had been stolen while the Roman guard slept also explains why the priests were displeased when Peter and John preached that Jesus had risen from the dead.