Matthew 27
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11-31 See Mark 15:2-20 and comment.
(Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17-24)
32-44 See Mark 15:21-32 and comment.
(Mark 15:33-41; Luke 23:44-49; John 19:28-30)
45-56 See Mark 15:33-41 and comment.
(Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)
57-61 See Mark 15:42-47 and comment.
62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day,73 was the Sabbath, Saturday. The last supper occurred on Thursday. The crucifixion and burial of Jesus occurred on Friday, the day of preparation. Then, the next day, Saturday, the Jewish leaders went to Pilate to ask for an extra guard of Roman soldiers.
63-64 They remembered that Jesus had said He would rise again (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34). They considered that Jesus was a deceiver (verse 63). They supposed, therefore, that His disciples were deceivers also, and that they would come and steal Jesus’ body from the tomb and then say, “Look, He has risen!” If that happened, all the people would believe that Jesus was the Messiah after all, and they would follow His disciples. The Jewish leaders would be disgraced. Therefore, the leaders wanted to make sure that Jesus’ disciples did not steal His body from the tomb.
In the end, it wasn’t Jesus and His disciples who were the deceivers. It was the Jewish leaders themselves who were deceivers. When the tomb was found to be empty on Sunday morning, they began to spread the rumor that the disciples had stolen the body (Matthew 28:12-13).
65-66 But Matthew in these verses proves that rumor to be false. The Jews had probably already placed their own temple guard at the tomb. Pilate’s words “Take a guard” can also be translated, “You have a guard.” In addition to the temple guard, Pilate apparently gave them an extra guard of Roman soldiers (verse 66). Therefore, there was no way the disciples could have broken into the tomb to steal the body.
These same guards would the next day bear witness that Christ had indeed risen. The Jewish leaders had called the guards to keep the tomb shut. Next day the Jews would have to pay them to keep their mouths shut! (see Matthew 28:11-15).