Matthew 27:62-66 62And the next day, which was after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63saying, “Sir, we remember that that deceiver said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will be raised.’ 64Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples after going might steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it secures as you know how.” 66So after going out, they made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and with a guard of soldiers.
The situation changes as Matthew focuses on the enemies of Jesus, the chief priests and Pharisees. Matthew records this story to add weight to the events that come next in chapter 28. This scene before Pilate and the soldiers before the tomb counter any argument that Jesus was not truly dead or that the whole thing was fake. The highest Jewish leaders went to the highest authority in the land. This was no backroom, secret plan of a small group of Galileans. This involved the leaders of the nation. That the Jewish leaders would go to such an extent as making sure Jesus’ body remained in the tomb shows that they understood the situation but were in denial. Their hearts had become hard, and they had deceived themselves to the point of becoming blind to the truth. They began this plan right away on the day of Preparation, so that was on Saturday morning which was the Sabbath, the day after the crucifixion. Pilate probably wanted the whole affair to be finished, but it just kept going and was not finished yet.
The intent of these Jews becomes clear in verse 3 by how they call Jesus the deceiver. They thought that what he taught was a lie and that he was fooling people into following him. Yet, they were the ones deceived by the great deceiver, Satan. They missed the truth because they were being protective of their power and position. They had heard the truth of what Jesus predicted about his resurrection but would not believe it. The disciples seem to have misunderstood what Jesus meant, but his enemies knew it but hardened their hearts against it. Why would they go through so much effort to have the tomb sealed? Their excuse is that they fear the disciples will steal Jesus’ body and claim that he rose from the dead. Sealing the large stone would make it difficult, and putting Roman soldiers in front of the tomb would make it nearly impossible to steal the body.
The Jewish leaders are actually the first to proclaim the gospel–He has risen from the dead!–but they did not believe what they said. It is not enough to say the words; this confession must be spoken out of faith, not ridicule or doubt. The use of the passive voice with the verb I will be raised (egeiromai) indicates that they even understood that Jesus would be dead and would have to be raised by an outside force. Only God can raise the dead, so in a sense, these Jews were denying the power of God. They saw the whole story of Jesus as one big lie.
They secured the stone so it could not be moved, possibly with some type of mortar, and then had a group of soldiers guard just in case. Having the tomb sealed with Roman soldiers was about as secure as possible. These soldiers were intimidating, and no one who valued life would dare try to cross them. Pilate gave the Jews all the authority they needed to secure the tomb. This fact adds more significance to the account of the resurrection and, in particular, that it was women who went there to check on the tomb. By recording this story, Matthew shows that it was impossible that the disciples ever stole Jesus’ body. There was nothing human about Jesus’ resurrection. Only God could do what was about to happen.
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