Page 145 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

Matthew records that a conference of priests, Pharisees and Pilate convened on the High Sabbath (the
Day of Preparation) to discuss the claim of Jesus that He would rise again on the third day after His
death. These religious leaders were more concerned about Jesus’ claim to rise after three days than
their willingness to violate the Jewish Sabbath with their involvement in such a meeting. Pilate allowed
them a guard to watch the tomb as well as to place a Roman seal on the stone covering the opening.
Anyone found breaking the Roman seal would suffer the punishment of an unpleasant death.

The Roman guard was a sixteen-man unit that was governed by very strict rules. Each member was
responsible for six square feet of space. The guard members could not sit down or lean against anything
while they were on duty. If a guard member fell asleep, he was beaten and burned with his own
clothes. But he was not the only one executed. The entire sixteen-man guard unit was executed if only
one of the members fell asleep on duty. For sure, they kept each other awake.

Welcome to the possible Garden Tomb

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:9-10, Mark 16:9-14, Luke 24:13-43 and John 20:11-25;
Matthew 28:11-15)

Three days passed as the tomb sat under the scrutiny of the Roman guard. Early Sunday morning Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might anoint the body
of Jesus. Perhaps they did not know that the tomb was sealed and guarded by Rome. When they
arrived at the burial site, they found the large stone rolled away from the opening of the tomb.
Matthew tells us that there was a violent earthquake and an angel rolled back the stone. The guards
saw the bright light of the angel and fell to the ground in terror, and feigned death. Evidently the
women arrived very soon after to see the angel and the open tomb. The angel announced, “He is not
here; He has risen, just as He said”.

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