FBC Morning Light – February 8, 2023

Well, a good Wednesday morning to you. We are in the middle of this, another work week, and looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in and through us through the course of this week. Today we're reading in Matthew chapter 28, at least that's where I want to focus our attention this morning, and there is this really interesting incident after the resurrection where those guards, remember the guards at the tomb who, they encountered an angel who powerfully rolled away this stone, struck them as dead men.

They were so startled and probably terrified by what had happened here, and they come to the chief priest, these soldiers do, they come to the chief priest and they tell him everything that happened. Well, you can imagine the trepidation on their part as they come before the chief priest.

And by the way, just to clarify, this guard that came, the guard that was at the tomb, they were a temple guard. These weren't Roman soldiers, but they were responsible for upholding the law and regulations and so forth, and were held accountable even by the Roman authorities.

So if things got out of hand that they were supposed to keep in hand, they would be held accountable by the Roman authorities. But this wasn't, these weren't Roman soldiers, these were temple guards. So the temple guard, they come to the chief priest and they tell them what had happened.

Can you imagine that conversation? Can you imagine their astonishment? Can you imagine their fear? Not only because of what had happened, but because now there's no corpse in that tomb, and they were told to guard it and keep anything from happening to that corpse.

So this scene, which had to be packed full of drama and emotion, is just very succinctly described for us here, as it says, they came and told all that had happened. And how did the chief priest respond to that?

Did they respond with fear that maybe we were terribly wrong? We must have made a terrible, terrible mistake. Oh my goodness, what in the world is God going to do to us? We are accountable for this. This one whom we wanted executed, we cried out for his crucifixion, he's risen?

He's been miraculously delivered from the grave? My goodness, what have we done? That's not how they responded at all. No, not at all. Instead, they pulled together a bunch of money, they got money from the temple treasury, divvied it up among these soldiers of the temple guards, and told them, lie.

That's what it is, you lie about this. Here's what you need to say. You need to tell them that his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. That story is fraught with problems on the part of these soldiers.

In the first place, they're having to admit that they failed in their responsibility. That's a hard thing for a proud soldier to do, when he has not failed at his duty. He did not fall asleep at his duty.

They stayed awake, they were alert, but they're supposed to tell everybody, we fell asleep. While we fell asleep, we were sound asleep, and his disciples came and they rolled that stone away, and they took the body before we...we didn't even hear them.

We were so sound asleep, we didn't even hear them. This would be very humiliating for the soldiers to say, but with that large sum of money, they agreed to do it. It's exactly what they did. And the chief priests say, and if this comes into the governor's ears, don't worry, we'll cover your bases for you.

We'll appease him, you won't get in trouble for this. So, verse 15 says, they took the money and they did what they were told. And that's the story that was circulated pretty commonly during that time, that it was his disciples that came and stole the body away while the soldiers slept.

You ever wonder how in the world those soldiers lived with themselves from there on out? Do you wonder if any of them ever eventually came to faith in Christ, and when they did, they came clean? We don't have any record of that, and to assume that would be total speculation.

But you have to wonder, don't you? I mean, you don't necessarily wonder, you know, and have to speculate that they came to faith in Christ, but you do have to wonder, how in the world did they live with themselves?

How did they keep the truth quiet for the rest of their lives? I wonder, did they tell their wives? Did they even tell their wives and let their wives know the truth? Well, the truth has evidently gotten out, because after all, we believe in the resurrected living Jesus because of the truth and the fact of the resurrection.

So their story didn't hold up in time. But nevertheless, here are these guys. I wonder, I wonder, did they have a conscience? Did they ever tell the truth? Did they ever renege? Did they ever come clean?

I would hope they did. But nevertheless, according to this testimony before us, they at least took the bribe, and they were willing to lie for the sake of some money. What people don't do for some shekels, huh?

The Bribe of the Temple Guards and the Cover-Up

Well, our Father today, we are amazed sometimes at just the lengths people will go to deny the truth, and how they will squelch their own conscience just for the sake of a few shekels. Lord, I pray that you would deliver us from that kind of a mentality.

Instead, be faithful and diligent in upholding the truth. So Lord, thank you for this challenge today, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Wednesday. I hope the Lord will bless you.

Good day.