Thursday, April 05, 2007
Matthew gives us an interesting account of the Jewish leaderships reaction to the news of the resurrection on that first Easter morning. Chapter 28 vs. 11 thru 15 recounts the guard team's report back to the Chief Priests on the events at the tomb. Matthew makes it clear (v.11) the report was a complete accounting of all that happen. The response is a bribe and cover story.
What I find interesting is this. Matthew wrote his biography of Jesus somewhere between 55 and 60 AD. Matthew states in verse 15 that the story of the disciples stealing the body of Christ was still the party line these 20 plus years later. The significance of this should not be over looked. First of all it means they never found a body. I would suggest they never looked because the guards accurately reported the facts of the resurrection.
A second point to make is the priests never made that accusation to the disciples themselves. Luke, in his history of Christianity (the New Testament Book of Acts), relates two attempts by the priests to silence the disciples proclaiming the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection for the redemption of man kind. Both times they ordered them to stop talking about Jesus, but not once brought up the official story of stealing the body. Why?
My take on it is this. The priests knew it was not true and did not want to have to back up their claim and be exposed. The priest knew the resurrection happened because the guards saw it happen and had reported it. They could not afford to have eyewitnesses called to defend the lie they were spreading.
What I find interesting is this. Matthew wrote his biography of Jesus somewhere between 55 and 60 AD. Matthew states in verse 15 that the story of the disciples stealing the body of Christ was still the party line these 20 plus years later. The significance of this should not be over looked. First of all it means they never found a body. I would suggest they never looked because the guards accurately reported the facts of the resurrection.
A second point to make is the priests never made that accusation to the disciples themselves. Luke, in his history of Christianity (the New Testament Book of Acts), relates two attempts by the priests to silence the disciples proclaiming the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection for the redemption of man kind. Both times they ordered them to stop talking about Jesus, but not once brought up the official story of stealing the body. Why?
My take on it is this. The priests knew it was not true and did not want to have to back up their claim and be exposed. The priest knew the resurrection happened because the guards saw it happen and had reported it. They could not afford to have eyewitnesses called to defend the lie they were spreading.
