Page 106 - Life of Christ - textbook (3)

The day after Jesus’ burial, the chief priests
and Pharisees went to Pilate to request that
the stone Joseph had placed in front of the
tomb be sealed, and a guard posted, for
three days. They cited Jesus’ assertion that
He would rise after three days and claimed
the disciples might attempt to steal the
body in order to fabricate a resurrection
(Matthew 27:63–64). Their precautions
were for naught, as Jesus rose from the
dead on the third day, just as He had
predicted (Matthew 28).
Gordon’s Tomb very close to Calvary
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 Garden Tomb

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