March 30 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Matthew 28:16–20

Devotional

Jesus commends His spirit to His Father and dies. Three days later, the members of the Jewish counsel are required to have a meeting. They hoped that they had done away with Jesus once and for all when the Roman soldiers nailed Him to a cross. They did not expect to meet over the matter ever again. But frightened soldiers come to tell what they experienced at the tomb of Jesus. Did the Nazarite truly rise from the grave? If this is true, then this will be the last time they are seated in the judgment seat. The leaders succeeded to condemn Jesus to the most scornful death available at the time. But, if He is now raised, then this is for the Jewish leaders a great failure.

Did the crucified One truly rise from the grave? This cannot be, and surely, it may not be so. No! Because then they would have to acknowledge that they crucified the Son of God. Only God could do such a miracle. Jesus claimed to be God. If He rose from the grave, then He was who He said He was. Their deed, therefore, would be the worst possible act of cruelty. They would have to repent in dust and ashes and be an example to the people. The Pharisees would have to smite themselves on the breast and implore with the publican, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

If Christ rose from the dead, the scribes and the priests would also have to acknowledge that they were worse than the least of the publicans, for they had trampled the Messiah under foot. At the meeting of the Jewish leaders a decision is made. The soldiers must say that the body of Jesus has been stolen. Their proud hearts are deceitful enough to change the truth into a lie.

For the second time the Jewish leaders open the treasury of the temple. The first time was when they paid Judas thirty pieces of silver as a reward for his treason. This second time they dig deeper in the purse as a reward for the soldiers who are hired to spread the lie. Judas receives his reward for bringing Christ into the grave, and the soldiers receive their reward for keeping Christ in the grave. The cunning efforts of the Jewish leaders the first time were successful, for, Christ ended up in the grave; their second efforts were also successful, for “this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.”

To be sure, the story of the soldiers was a foolish story, for how could the sleeping watchmen notice that Christ’s body was stolen? But the deceivers had the advantage of dealing with man’s sinful tendencies. Man wants to be deceived, especially when it concerns eternal matters. Man prefers a lie above truth. It is his nature. Even in death he desires to shun the truth. The words of Matthew, “until this day,” are still in effect. The soldiers fulfill their wicked duty; the Pharisees are again giving thanks in the temple; the scribes are again discussing human institutions; the priests continue with their formal worship, and life continues normally as if nothing has happened. The reality of the resurrection has been made void. Man does not want to face the truth. Scripture is confirmed: “And he who is filthy, let him be filthy still.” And he who is hardened, let him be more hardened still, until he is completely hardened. That is how the members of the Sanhedrin were; that is how the Jews were, but this is how man is. We are of the same flesh and blood and above all—of the same spirit. Do we make God’s Word void or do we bow before it?

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.