Matthew 27:62-28:15

⁶² The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate ⁶³ and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶ So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. 

¹ Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴ And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” ⁸ So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

¹¹ While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. ¹² And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers ¹³ and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When Jesus died on Friday, things happened quickly and somewhat haphazardly because the Sabbath was about to begin at dusk. Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and laid it in his own new tomb (Mt. 27:57-61). Jesus had His Sabbath rest in that tomb from all the work that He had done (Gen. 2:2), but the chief priests and Pharisees don’t rest because they can’t rest. Instead, they work. They work like busy, busy bees. Even though it is the Sabbath day (and a high Sabbath because of the Passover), they go to Pilate and ask that a guard be set because they remember that Jesus had said He would rise after three days (Mt. 27:63-64). In a sad twist of irony, the enemies of Christ take His prediction of the resurrection more seriously than Jesus’ own disciples do.

Pilate seems to be a little annoyed by the request. He figures Jesus is dead and is no longer a threat, but here are these chief priests completely obsessed with a guy who has been crucified and is dead. So, Pilate says, “You have a guard of soldiers.” The Greek here is a little ambiguous. Pilate’s words there could be either a statement – which is how it is in our translation – or a command, “Here, have/take a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.”

I bring this up because it would make a difference as to which soldiers are stationed to guard the tomb. If it is a command, “Have a guard of soldiers,” it would be Roman soldiers. But if it is a statement, “You have a guard of soldiers,” then it would be soldiers from the Jewish Temple guard. I used to think that they were Roman soldiers (probably because of all the artwork I’ve seen depicts them as Roman soldiers). It could very well be that they were Roman soldiers, but I think there are enough clues to see that it is a real possibility that these guards are part of the Jewish Temple guard, and that is the assumption I’ll be using through the rest of the sermon tonight.

Toward the dawn of the first day of the week, the women go “to see the tomb” (Mt. 28:1), but they are invited by the angel to see that the place where Jesus lay and rested was now empty because Jesus has risen (Mt. 28:6). The angel sends them to tell the disciples the good news, but on the way, Jesus meets them. If you want to hear more about that exchange (which is so rich and beautiful), you’ll have to come back tomorrow morning.

While the women restart their journey to tell the disciples, the guard that had been stationed at the tomb go not to Pilate but to the chief priests and report everything that had taken place (Mt. 28:11). And the chief priests don’t accuse the soldiers of being crazy or drunk. Imagine someone came to your front door and said, “I was in the cemetery, and a guy came out of his grave,” your first reaction would not be, “Here’s some money, don’t tell anybody.” But that is what the chief priests do. They pay the guards to lie about what had happened, and it took a significant payment. Our text says, “a sufficient sum of money,” or, literally, “silver” (Mt. 28:12). That “hush silver” was the price of the soldiers’ lie. The chief priests instruct the soldiers to say, “Jesus’ disciples came while we were asleep and stole the body.”

This is why I think these soldiers were part of the Temple guard. Roman soldiers knew that falling asleep while on duty was a death sentence. Roman soldiers were well-trained and well-armed, so even lying about a bunch of fishermen being able to steal what they were guarding would be humiliating. And excuses from the chief priests would not satisfy Pilate to keep them out of trouble (Mt. 28:14), no matter how elaborate those excuses were. But the soldiers take the silver, and the “stolen body theory” spread to deny the fact of Jesus’ resurrection.

Now, all of that was to set this up: Everyone has a price. Judas’ price to betray Jesus was thirty pieces of silver (Mt. 26:15). The soldiers’ price to lie and defame their own honor was a large sum of silver (Mt. 28:12, 15). Now, ask yourself, “What is my price?” 

I don’t think anyone here would betray Jesus, like Judas did, for any amount of money. And I would guess that all of us would say that we are willing to die rather than deny Christ, but so did Peter (Mt. 26:35). We might not think that we have a price. And yet, we are all bought with a lower price for lower things.

Every time we sin, we are easily bought. We sin and despise God’s Word by skipping church and neglecting to gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ because we don’t want to pay the price of getting extra sleep on Saturday night, missing our kids’ tournament, or researching to find a church while we are on vacation. We sin and lie because we aren’t willing to pay the price of our reputation when the truth will cost us. Whenever we fall into sin, we sell our souls for the deadly wages that sin pays us (Ro. 6:23). Dear saints, repent.

Repent and know that the price of your sins has been paid by Jesus. Everyone has a price, even God. The story of Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22:1-18) showed what kind of price, what kind of sacrifice, was needed. There, Abraham places his son on the altar, and even though God stopped the sacrifice of Isaac, it gives us an idea of the price and what kind of sacrifice needed to take place for our redemption.

God the Father took His Son, His only Son, Jesus whom He loved and sacrificed Him on Calvary. God didn’t just forgive your sin willy-nilly. No. He sent Jesus to pay the price for every sin you have committed. Your God and Lord has paid the debt you owed to Him. And because the price has been paid, you are now Jesus’ brothers and children of God.

And the resurrection proves that God has accepted the payment. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, you have been brought out of slavery. You have been delivered through the sea of your Baptism and through the flood of God’s wrath against your sin. You have been saved from the fiery furnace and brought to dawn of the New Creation and into the life everlasting.

And now that the, you are invited to your seat at the Lord’s table where Jesus gives you His Body and His Blood. God invites you, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is. 55:1). And you have this invitation because Jesus, your crucified and risen Savior, has fully paid the price for you.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.