What Jesus Did! 'Verified by No Lie' — Matthew 27:62-66

Isn't it interesting how Satan gets defeated at every turn in Jesus' death and resurrection? The disciples don't have any expectation of Jesus' being raised, but his enemies are concerned the disciples might try to make people believe he was raised. So to suppress any possible rumor of Jesus' resurrection, the Jewish leaders call on the mighty power of the Roman army* to keep anyone from stealing away the body.

Brilliant plan isn't it?! Unless, of course, Jesus is actually raised from the dead!

Incredibly, all through the Good News story and the story of the early church, when Roman soldiers are given the opportunity to truly examine the story of Jesus and of his people, they are at worst friendly and quite often become disciples themselves.

The failure of the plan to defeat Jesus, his disciples, and his triumph becomes the assurance to skeptical Romans that Jesus had to have been raised. After all, how could a bunch of scared and helpless Galileans overpower the Roman army's finest? They couldn't, of course; the empty tomb was — and is — convincing evidence that God and his angels were behind it!

* That the "guards" in today's verses were likely Roman soldiers (and not the Temple soldiers) is probably indicated by Matthew 28:12-14. Otherwise, there would have been no need for the priests to bribe them to lie and then defend them to the Roman governor for failing in their duty.