Seeds for 03/19/2024 - Matthew 27:62-66
Scripture: The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”
“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.
Observation: Jesus has died by execution and the collusion between religious leaders and government officials isn’t done yet.
The Pharisees have determined that Jesus is a deceiver. Intriguingly, they get that His words could be interpreted as bodily raising from the dead, which they understand to be a lie or a delusion. Therefore, they need to take adequate steps to prepare for the potentiality of His loyal followers continuing the deception by stealing the body.
They enlist Pilate’s aid to keep Jesus’ body in the tomb. There is power in the resurrection. Without the resurrection, the cross is meaningless. So, if Jesus’ disciples could deceive people into believing He has raised from the dead, the Pharisees would be absolutely correct in asserting that “this last deception will be worse that the first.” Their fears about the news of a resurrection are a testament to its power. If it proved true, then it would be a world-changing event indeed! The remedy to this concern is to “make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Consider this idea from a devotional perspective. How many people sense the potential implications if Jesus is resurrected but doubt or resist believing because they would like to go on living as they are now? How many believers grasp the power of Jesus’ resurrection but want to prevent it coming to bear on how they prioritize their time and money? On how acknowledging its truth would impact how they conduct themselves in marriage or in dating? As parents to their children and/or as children to their parents? On how they treat enemies?
Yes, if it got out that Jesus was raised from the dead, the Pharisees are correct. That news would certainly be powerful. All the more so if it’s actually true!
Application:
What are you tempted to shield from the power of Jesus’ resurrection? What in your life are you tempted to protect from transformation?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, soften my heart so that I put no obstacle between the power of your resurrection and my life. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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