Articles
Man's Plan to Deny Resurrection
About a month ago I wrote an article looking at Gamliel and how his story can be a great tool to use in our evan-gelism. Gamliel isn’t someone that we would probably think of as being able to help us reach the lost, yet we exam-ined how he is actually a great help in evangelism. He supposed that if God was behind the work of the apostles, then there was nothing that man could do to put an end. He also supposed if God wasn’t behind the work of the apostles that the work would naturally die out on its own. We know which of Gamliel’s two ideas became reality. In this article I want to examine another story, a story we may not immediately go to for evangelism’s sake, but one that will be powerful for many doubt-ers of the Word of God.
An absolutely essential piece in the life of a Christian and the life of any man for that matter, is the believe on wheth-er Jesus Christ rose from the dead or not. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 15:13-17 that if Jesus was not raised from the dead than the preaching and the faith were in vain. That our faith is worthless if Jesus did to rise from the dead. The question of did Jesus rise from the dead or not is a question that every man must answer. To have the answer “I don’t know” is never going to be sufficient with a mat-ter this important.
One common “answer” to disprove the empty tomb is that Jesus’ disciples came to the tomb, removed the stone, took His body out and proclaimed He had been risen from the dead. Those who hold to this thought easily overlook the presence of the guards, the sealing stone which would’ve been according to most estimations somewhere between 1,000-3,000 pounds, the fact that the disciples were willing to be persecuted and in most cas-es die for this proclamation of His resurrection, along with the countless other factors one would have to have an answer to. Perhaps what’s most amazing though is this thought that Jesus’ body was taken out of the tomb by His disciples is not a new thought. It didn’t come about for the first time in the 21st Centu-ry, 11th century, or even the 3rd century. It was expressed just a few hours after Jesus had been crucified! That is so profound!! That one of the biggest arguments against the fact (Acts 3:15) that Jesus rose from the dead was presented shortly after Jesus died. It was shown to be foolish in the Scriptures and it’s foolish still today. Let’s examine the Scriptures.
By Matthew 27:62, Jesus has been crucified, and Joseph of Ari-mathea has buried the body of Jesus in his own tomb. Matthew 27:62 begins with a new day and a gathering that was had among the chief priests, Pharisees and Pilate. They came togeth-er to tell Pilate of a concern that they had, and we can clearly see by their choice of words, that their hatred of Jesus hadn’t quenched even after He had been killed. They told Pilate “Sir, we remember that when that deceiver was still alive, He said ‘After three days I am rising.” They continued speaking and told Pilate that since this was the case, the tomb needs to be guarded until the third day. They were afraid that Jesus’ disciples were going to come and steal the body of Jesus and then proclaim that He was risen from the dead. They said if this were to occur “the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate doesn’t give them any of his own men to guard the tomb, but he does tell them to go and secure it as they know how. Matthew 27 ends with the tomb being secured with the guard and the sealing stone to the tomb.
In Matthew 28, we see the tomb in which Jesus was laid is now empty. The One who died for the sins of the whole world is now living again in the flesh. In Matthew 28:11-15, we find the focus of this article. Some of the men from the guard came to report to the chief priests what had happened at the tomb. After they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they go into trying to cover this up. They gave the soldiers a large sum of money and tell them to tell people that the reason the tomb was empty was because of Jesus’ disciples. That His disciples came and took His body while they (the guards) slept. They even as-sure these soldiers that if this were to make it to the ears of the governor, that the chief priest and elders would keep them out of trouble. The soldiers follow along with what they are told, and this story became widespread. Think about that! This tactic is something we see time and time again today. When someone doesn’t want the truth to get out, they offer money to keep that person or group of people quiet. This happened in relation to the empty tomb! Notice even the chief priests and elders don’t deny it but are so focused on how they can cover it all up.
This explanation for the empty tomb is taken by many that walk among us today, but I’d venture many of them don’t even know what Matthew 28:11-15 says. This view that they’ve taken may be very intelligent, complex, and/or original in their minds, but by showing them the Scripture, they can see for themselves how this view isn’t intelligent, it isn’t complex and is most certainly not original. We must be the ones to help them see Jesus, like how Phillip helped Nathanael see Jesus in John 1:46. An explanation given to try to deny what the Scripture teaches is just men not willing to accept what is truth and what that truth means in rela-tion to their own lives. Many aren’t willing to accept the truth, but will that be said of you and me? Are there those we can help reach with this truth? Let’s make it a goal this week to share that truth!
