Creator, Father, King #244

They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’”

IMAGINE IF YOU SAW an angel.

Wow! That undoubtedly would be the most memorable experience of your life. Could you even consider not telling everyone you know?

Well, the Roman soldiers assigned to guarding Jesus’ tomb wanted to keep the news to themselves.

Early on Resurrection Sunday, two angels appeared at Jesus’ tomb, causing the terrified soldiers to faint. When they awoke, the large stone at the tomb’s entrance was rolled away and Jesus’ body was gone.

Uh-oh. For Roman guards, dereliction of duty was a serious offense. So they ran to the Jewish chief priests for help.

The Sanhedrin hastily convened a meeting. Eventually, the wicked council agreed to bribe the soldiers into spreading a lie (see today’s verse). You can read about this story in Matthew 28:1-15.

Imagine that: faced with incontrovertible evidence of an angelic visit and the empty tomb, the soldiers and religious leaders decided to stubbornly deny the life-changing truth of Jesus’ resurrection.

So sad.

What’s It Mean?

Nearly two thousand years have passed since then, and things haven’t changed. The world is faced with overwhelming evidence about Jesus’ resurrection, yet most people still ignore or outright deny its reality.

But the historicity of Jesus is indisputable. The entire biblical canon, especially the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, attests to the authenticity of Jesus. If that weren’t enough—and it is because “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV)—many extrabiblical sources affirm Jesus’ life and death, too, such as Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, the Babylonian Talmud, and Lucian of Samosata.

But it’s not enough to simply acknowledge the historicity of Jesus. Head knowledge doesn’t equal heart change.

To be saved from your sins, you must believe in the atoning work of Jesus’ death and resurrection on your behalf. You must submit to God’s Son as your Lord and Savior. You must proclaim his name until he returns.

Don’t stop at the historical veracity of Jesus’ resurrection. Trust in its redemptive power for you!

Now What?

Read Romans 1:18 to see the fate of everyone who suppresses God’s truth, including Jesus’ resurrection.

Did You Know?

Josephus was an ancient Jewish historian. Tacitus and Pliny were Roman politicians. The Babylonian Talmud is a collection of rabbinical Jewish writings compiled between approximately AD 70 and 500. Lucian of Samosata was an ancient Greek writer/speaker.