Daily Devotional For Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Good day. Today, our devotional reading comes from Matthew 27:62-66:
“Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, (63) and said, ‘Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ (64) Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.’ (65) Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.’ (66) And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone” (NASB).
One of the things that stands out to me in this passage are the religious leaders’ awareness of Jesus’ teaching on being resurrected from the grave 3 days after His death. I do not believe the religious leaders believed Jesus’ prophecy about His own Resurrection. In verse 64 they referred to Jesus and His disciples committing a scandal of deception. Jesus’ own disciples did not take Jesus’ words seriously on His Resurrection. They went into hiding for fear of their own lives. Even when the women tell them they have seen the resurrected Jesus, they do not believe them. When the 2 followers on the Emmaus Road tell them they had seen the resurrected Lord, they do not believe them. Thomas was not the only disciple doubting.
On the next day after the Preparation, Pilate received a request from the religious leaders to secure Jesus’ body in the tomb with armed Roman guards and a Roman seal over the stone. They feared the disciples would steal Jesus’ dead body and claim He had been resurrected. In Matthew 28 when the Roman guards reported what they had witnessed on Easter morning, the religious leaders bribed them with money to lie about what they saw (Matt. 28:11-15). The love of money is truly the root of all evil, lies and deceptions.
So, this lie that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ dead body now becomes the number one and probably the oldest lie that is used to refute the disciples’ testimony of seeing the resurrected Jesus. There are several problems with this lie:
- Had the disciples wanted to steal the body of Jesus to claim Jesus was resurrected, they could have done so earlier before these Roman guards were stationed at the tomb.
- The penalty for breaking the Roman seal on the tomb and losing the body was punishable by Rome with death. The Roman soldiers were executed with a bribe, not executed with their lives for losing the body.
- To claim that Jesus did not die but was only in a coma and was able to get Himself out of the 100 pounds of wrappings and chemicals used to secure the body and the wrappings, seems far-fetched. This is called the “Swoon Theory". Having been scourged within inches of his life and then crucified, no human would just wake up from a coma and then work themselves free and walk out. Besides, the stone covering the grave weighed between 1-2 tons. That required several strong men alone to move it, not one emaciated and near death man.
- In Matthew 28:11-15 these Roman guards testify what they had experienced and seen. According to Jewish law, a testimony was only valid if verified by 2-3 witnesses (Num. 35:30, Deut. 19:15, Matt. 18:15-17, John 8:17, 2 Cor. 13:1, 1 Tim. 5:19). With the religious leaders believing in the validity of the Mosaic Law, then they should have trusted the testimony of these Roman soldiers. When someone hates you, there is no length they will not go to discredit you.
- For these religious leaders to be working so hard as they are on the Sabbath, they are violating their own laws about the Sabbath aboug work. Shouldn't they be in the Temple or synagogue worshipping God instead of worshipping a plot of deception, lies and bribery? In 1808, Sir Walter Scott wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive.”
To seal the stone to the grave, then soft clay would have been placed between the back of the stone to the grave/cave impressed with the Roman seal. Then a rope or cord would have been wrapped around that clay to the seal and possibly attached to a soldier to know if the stone was being moved. This would make grave robbing a punishable offense and to allow it to happen on their watch, a punishable offense to the soldiers.
Matthew’s point in giving us these details is to prove the truthfulness and validity of the Resurrection. I am speculating here – in all likelihood this would not have been reported to Pilate. Why? So that under fear of punishment, these Roman soldiers would tell the truth about what they experienced which would include the religious leaders bribing them to lie.
I think Pilate might have had an emotional breakdown from the Roman soldiers’ testimony. He knew Jesus was innocent (Luke 23:13-16). He knew the religious leaders had brought Jesus to him out of envy (Matt. 27:18). He knew His wife had warned him not to have anything to do with harm coming to Jesus (Matt. 27:19). He was already in fear from his wife’s warning and now can you imagine if Pilate really thought Jesus was resurrected and would use that as a means to get revenge on him? I know I am speculating here, but like in the movie A Few Good Men, (Jack Nicholson’s character) Col. Nathan Jessup says in a trial to (Tom Cruise’s character), Lt. Daniel Kaffee, “You can’t handle the truth.” And the truth is, none of us can handle the truth, especially when it comes to our sins. Pastor and author John Stott writes this:
“So then, if you think it is a sin to say the word sin, let alone acknowledge your sin-sickness, you are a long way from cracking the riddle of self, let alone the mystery of God’s salvation offered in a crucified and risen Christ. Or if you acknowledge some sins in your life (you might prefer to call them slipups and character flaws), and you think you have an infallible alibi before the judgment seat of God (if such a thing even exists), that you can blame it on your brain, your genes, some hormonal imbalance, an inherited temperament, your parents’ failure to parent well, your awful education, or the neighborhood kids you grew up with, think again. There is “false guilt” (feeling bad about some sin you have not done) and there is “false innocence” (thinking you are forgiven because the peace-peace prophets of our day say that you are forgiven or that you have nothing you need to be forgiven of” (Source: John Stott, The Cross of Christ, p. 91).
Reflection Assignment: What does it take to bribe you to distort the truth about yourself? The Bible says we all are sinners. Are there sins in your life you excuse, or cast blame to others or get defensive about in your life? We can’t enjoy the Resurrection without first focusing on our evil sin on the cross. With a little money, the Roman soldiers were bribed to lie. What does it take for you to lie to yourself about your own sin?
Scripture To Meditate On: John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I need to come clean about all of my sins. If You call it sin, I will also. I will confess them to You and repent from them. I will no longer allow anything or anyone to bribe me into a deception about my sin. Thank You for saving and forgiving me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly