despite all the best efforts of the conspirators in sealing and securing the tomb, not to mention posting guards around the clock, Jesus rises from the dead. the guards are utterly at a loss as to explain how it happened. they are bribed by the chief priests to concoct a story that the disciples came during the night and stole the body. in other words, they are now having to spread the very lie that they had made every possible human effort to prevent from happening.
the chief priests tell the guards: "you are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep'. in essence, they are to tell everyone, not only that they "fell asleep"--the very thing the guards were not to do under penalty of death--but that the disciples broke into the heavily sealed tomb and snuck away with a body, all without their knowledge. this passage reveals that denying the resurrection, especially in the light of such irrefutable evidence as an empty tomb , is very hard work indeed. it takes a lot more faith to believe that the disciples rolled away a huge stone and unsealed a tomb which had been sealed so securely as to be unbreakable, all without the faintest knowledge of a whole legion of heavily armed, well-trained guards--than it does to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God.
we have all said to ourselves at one time or other that it is so hard to believe, but this passage makes clear that it is so much harder not to believe. we are only called to examine the evidence honestly.
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3 comments:
Thank you, Dulla.
I totally agree with you in that people would rather accept lies than the truth behind Christ's resurrection. It also surprises me how easily some would choose to believe something that is so outrageous and nearly impossible than to believe in the resurrection of Jesus, which if you think about it is also pretty out there, but it's the truth.
It also infuriates me that the chief priest still try their darnedest to discredit Jesus and his disciple to the very end. Oh well, I'd hate to be in the their shoes when they had to face Christ again but this time they were judged and sentenced. I realize no matter how hard they tried to discredit Christ and the gospel, they couldn't suppress it. It can't me contained.
Thanks for the post :) It just goes to show how far people are willing to go to carry out a lie. They just can not admit to the truth.
Dahla smn, your insight brings to mind something brought up in a discussion between Chuck Swindol and Rick Warren, that people refuse to believe in God because it means that they have to change somehow. I wonder if these priests and leaders of God's Holy law were trying desperately to cover up the truth because it means that they have to give up certain things or bend in some ways THEY don't want to. It's ironic how they were desperately trying to hold on to their way of life as they knew it yet failing to realize that it would only bring upon them eternal death.
I hope and pray as God exposes and opens us to His truths, we will bend and give in to His will so that we won't stubbornly hold on to things that bring death not life.
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