The religious leaders in Jerusalem were worried. You see they remembered that Jesus had promised to rise from the dead and so they went to Pilate and they said to him, ‘”We remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after three days I will rise again.’ And then they told Pilate, ‘Let’s make that sepulcher as sure as we can. Let’s guard it and seal it because we don’t want his disciples to come and steal his body and then they’ll start telling everybody, “See he arose from the dead”‘” (Matthew 27:62-64, paraphrase). Here’s an interesting scene. You find it described in Matthew 27:62-66.

You see these men remembered what the disciples had forgotten. The disciples forgot that Jesus said He would be raised from the dead and between Good Friday and Easter Sunday they were walking in the valley of the shadow of death. They were wondering, what is going on? They were not holding on to the promise of His Word. Why would the disciples forget what He said? Well, they had their own ideas about what Jesus should do. They thought He should establish a kingdom. They thought He should perhaps conquer the Romans. They remembered? No. They forgot, and they’re the ones who should’ve remembered! Secondly, these religious leaders in Jerusalem anticipated what the disciples never even imagined. The disciples never thought of stealing the body and then trying to make as though Jesus had come back from the dead. They never thought of such a thing.

Ah, but the enemy thought of it. They knew that a resurrection or even the story of a resurrection would have tremendous impact. But you know they attempted what could never really succeed. They tried to keep Jesus from being raised from the dead. They sealed the tomb. They put a guard there. It didn’t make a bit of difference. God opened the tomb and we could come in and see that Jesus was gone. They finally did concoct a story that the body of Jesus had been stolen. It’s a foolish story because the disciples never believed in the resurrection before it took place. They never anticipated doing such a thing. They were too afraid to do it and they could not have done it. No, Jesus came out of the tomb alive and the angel opened the tomb to let us see that He is alive and we serve a risen Savior and He’s in the world today and we want to serve Him with our whole hearts.