The eyewitnesses to the resurrection were a very unlikely group of people. Jesus’ disciples, who He had tried to share details with, were nowhere to be found; they were hiding in an upstairs room with the door locked. The actual eyewitnesses were placed at the tomb by the people who heard what Jesus said, and were the most nervous about it. The religious leaders and chief priests placed guards by the tomb to make sure that it was not disturbed.
Something I find interesting about this event is about what gospel actually includes it: Matthew. Of all the gospels I would have expected to find this in, the most likely one would be Luke, the researcher and interviewer of the eye-witnesses to Jesus’ life.
But Matthew is the one to share about this event, which makes me wonder if he made friends with one of the guards who was bribed, and learned what happened surrounding the chief priests bribing the guards. Or perhaps Matthew, being a tax collector by trade, noticed the shift in lifestyle that the eyewitness guards had following this event, and he concluded that a large sum of money changed hands because the guards now had a greater level of luxury – something that if it had been anyone else would have created higher taxes for them.
But I also wonder if one or more of the guards actually converted to Christianity following this event. I wonder if some of them helped start the rumor, but when Jesus began appearing to people during the weeks following the resurrection, they gave up the lie in favor of sharing the truth. I wonder if being an eyewitness to the actual resurrection actually changed the hearts of some of these rough, calloused soldiers.
For Matthew to have known and included this detail when Luke did not tells me that Matthew included it for a purpose, and that purpose was not only to describe how far the priests and leaders had gone to rejecting Jesus, but perhaps also to let us know that not all of the guards held fast to the lie. Some of them may have even become followers of the resurrected Christ!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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