Jump Start # 85

Matthew 27:64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.’”

  Jesus is dead. It seems that Satan, Rome and the Jews were victorious. The Jews are afraid. They want Pilate to secure the grave lest the disciples steal the body and spread false rumors. When people are afraid, panic drives them. They will go to all extremes when they are running scared.

  Our passage reveals what the Jews actually felt about Jesus and His disciples. Fear has a way of making people say things they never would at other times. Jesus was righteous. Pilate declared that He was innocent. He never did anything dishonest, deceptive or questionable. Jesus preached righteousness. He wanted His followers to be righteous. These Jewish leaders are afraid that the disciples will: (1) steal the body of Jesus; (2) spread lies about His resurrection; (3) deceive the people. All three acts are unrighteous. We’d expect this from these Jewish leaders. They have already proven how dishonest they can be by bringing in false witnesses at the trial of Jesus and then switching the charges against Jesus. They have shown that they can bend the rules, lie and be dishonest. The Lord’s disciples have not shown that. Fear is making things up in their minds. They are expecting the disciples to act as they would. They fear that these lies and deceptions will be so believable that “the people” will be persuaded. But what kind of faith and religion is that? A faith that is based upon lies, theft and dishonesty is of little value and help. To prevent such things, God gave proof. Lots of proof. The risen Jesus was witnessed by hundreds of people. The apostles were “witnesses” to the resurrected Christ. The religion of Jesus Christ is founded upon proof not dishonesty, lies and theft.

  The end of our passage today is interesting. The Jews proclaim, “the last deception will be worse than the first.” They have in mind two deceptions. The first deception they claimed was the belief that Jesus was the son of God. To the Jews that was blasphemy and simply not true. It was a deception. Multitudes were following Jesus. They had been deceived, these Jews thought. But  the “last deception” would be worse. That has to be the resurrection. They felt that the news of His resurrection would spread across the country like a grass fire. There would be no stopping it. This deception would be worse than the first. When people wanted proof of His resurrection, the disciples could point to an empty tomb. The Jews had no response to this if the body was stolen. Little did they know that the disciples would not point to the empty tomb, but rather to the risen Savior Himself. That was their proof. He was not taken away in the middle of the night never to be seen again. He stood before multitudes. He talked with people. His presence after His death was the proof. The Jews could not stop that.

  A sealed tomb is no match for the powerful God.

  A faith based upon fear and lies or a faith based upon truth and evidence. The Jews and the disciples. One running on fear, the other living on hope. Do you see yourself in this?

Roger