About Jesus Steve Sweetman

About Jesus Steve Sweetman

This Section - Chapter 27

ch. 27:10-10 ch. 27:11-26 ch. 27:27-31 ch. 27:32-44

ch. 27:45-56 ch. 27:57-61 ch. 27:62-66

In verses 1 and 2 wee see that early in the morning, that would be Friday morning, the Sanhedrin had made the decision to put Jesus to death. So they bound Him and took Him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Once again, the Romans did not allow the Jews to execute anyone because of a crime they committed. Executions were only performed by the Roman authorities so this is why the Jews had to bring Jesus to Pilate.

The NIV in verse 3 says that when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned “he was seized with terror”. The KJV reads that when Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he “repented himself”. The word repent in the KJV, and the actions of Judas here suggest to some that Judas repented of His drastic sin and we will see him in heaven some day. But we need to understand these words in light of what Jesus said in chapter 26 verse 24. Jesus said that it would be better if His betrayer would have never been born, suggesting great punishment.

The Greek word “metanoee” is the word that is translated as “repent” in the New Testament. It simply means “to perceive after the fact”, or “to change your mind once understanding something”. This is not the Greek word that is used here. It’s another word. It is “metalmelomai”. This word is made up of two Greek words, meaning, “after”, and “to care fore”. Thus scholars translate this word as “repent of one’s self”. So the implication here is that Judas not only didn’t repent of what he did but of who he was.

So this is the question. Did Judas repent unto salvation, or did he simply feel bad? With Jesus’ words in mind concerning Judas, I don’t believe that Judas repented unto salvation. He repented unto suicide. Yes, the actions of returning the money shows that he did have a change of heart and mind. He was very sorry that he turned Jesus over to the Jews as he saw Jesus being led away, bound and ready for execution. I do believe that Judas repented. As I said in the last paragraph. He did not merely repent of what he did, but he repented of who he was, and that depressing thought sent him to suicide.

So Judas did repent, but he failed to put trust in Jesus. He failed to give Jesus his life once he repented. Repentance without faith does not produce salvation. You need both. Repentance is only half of the story of salvation. Faith is the other half. This is why I do not expect to see Judas in heaven. It’s a very sad story all around. I’m sure that Judas could have come back to faith, like Peter did, but it does not appear that he did. True faith most likely would not have led to suicide but to Judas falling at the feet of Jesus as He was being led away, and at that point, I believe that Judas would have been saved. But Judas did not do that.

In verse 4 Judas told the Jewish leaders that he had sinned by betraying innocent blood. Truly Judas did repent, did have a change of heart. He even confessed that to others, but once again, faith was not added with his repentance, or so I believe.

The Jewish leadership was very cold hearted in their response to Judas’ confession. They said, “what is that to us”. Basically they were saying, “so what. That’s none of our business. Feel the way you want to feel It’s all over now. We’ve got what we wanted. You do as you wish”.

They also said, “that’s your responsibility”. By saying this, they were cleaning their hands from the situation. They acknowledged that Judas might have sinned, but it was his responsibility to take care of that, not there’s. Of course the Jewish leaders participated in this sin as well, something they did not admit to as Judas did.

In verse 5 we see Judas throwing the money at the feet of the Jewish leaders. This suggests down right disgust on Judas’ part. At this point Judas was not only angry at himself, but angry at his Jewish leadership. He simply threw the money back at them and went out and hung himself. We do see repentance in Judas’ actions, but we don’t see faith.

In verse 6 we see the typical actions of hypocrites. The Jewish leaders told Judas that they could not receive the money back from him that he threw at their feet and put it in the Temple treasury. Duet. 23:18 and following states that such use of blood money was not lawful. It is clear that the Jewish leaders had no problem taking Temple money to kill Jesus, but they didn’t want the same money returned. So they did take the money and spent it on a secular use by buying property to be used as a grave site for Gentiles.

Acts 1:18 tells us that Judas bought a field “with the wicked money” he received for handing Jesus over. So we are uncertain just to how the field was bought. It is quite possible that the Jewish leaders took the money and bought the field in Judas’ name so their name would not be part of the transaction made by blood money. Or it might be possible that there was some agreement worked out between Judas and the Jewish leaders to how this money was spent. It might have been a joint action between Judas and the Jews.

It is interesting to me that Judas killed himself and was buried in a field that was designated for Gentiles. We don’t know for sure if there is any significance here, but Judas “repented of who he became” as noted in verse 5. So part of this repentance might well have been being buried in a Gentile grave yard instead of a Jewish grave yard.

Verse 8 tells us that the field was called the Field of Blood and it was still so named when Matthew was writing these words. The field was literally a bloody mess because of the intestines of Judas spilling out onto the field. It was also a field of blood because it was bought with blood money.

Verses 9 and 10 tell us that the purchase of this field was prophesied by Jeremiah centuries earlier. The quote is most from Jer. 32:6-9. If you read this passage without knowing what Matthew has just said, you’d have no real idea that what you read in Jeremiah has anything to do with the purchase of this field. This tells us how complicated prophecy really is. It is quite clear that Old Testament prophecies have an immediate fulfillment as well as a fulfillment that is farther out into the future, and this certainly does show this to be true. Some prophecies actually have more than one fulfillment.

Jesus Before Pilate (ch. 27:10 - 26)

In verse 11 we see that Jesus is now before the Roman governor named Pilate. Pilate asks Jesus if He were the King of the Jews. This would normally be seen as treason against the Roman government since there was only one king and he was Caesar.

Jesus answers the question in the same way that He answered the question when Caiaphas asked it. Jesus replied to Pilate by saying, “yes, it is as you say”. Once again, Jesus puts the confession of who He is in the mouth of his accuser. He is saying that Pilate was the one who was making the confession, and He was merely agreeing with what Pilate said.

In verse 12 Matthew tells us that when Jesus was accused by the Jewish leaders that He gave no answer. This is true. Jesus was silent for the most part except when He was asked if He was the Christ, the Son of God. The question is not exactly the same as the question that Pilate asks here, but it is similar.

In verse 13 Pilate asks Jesus if he didn’t hear the accusation that the Jews brought before him. Pilate was probably wondering how Jesus could be so silent. Why would He not defend Himself in this very important matter. But we know why Jesus acted as He did. He had resigned Himself to be the sheep that was willingly sent to the slaughter. He had faced the fight in the garden. The fight was over. He was now willingly going to His death without any defense.

In verse 14 we see Jesus in total silence concerning the charges that the Jews were presenting Pilate with. Matthew tells us that Pilate was totally amazed at Jesus’ silence and his lack of willingness to defend Himself. This is to be expected. Pilate knew nothing of God’s will for Jesus.

In verses 15 to 18 we see that it was the custom by the Romans to release a prisoner back to the Jews at Passover in a spirit of concession. We don’t know much about this custom, how or why it started.

We do know that the Jew’s charges against Jesus was treason against Rome , that is, Jesus is King of the Jews. It is clear that Pilate did not put a lot of stalk into this accusation. He felt that Jesus was more of a simpleton or a lunatic than anything else.

Now Barabbas was a legitimately convicted criminal against Rome . He most likely did lead in a rebellion, something that Jesus was charged with but unfoundedly so. Barabbas should have been the one who remained in prison while Jesus should have been freed.

It’s always the tendency of man to align one’s self with your enemy if your enemy can be a benefit to you. The Jews aligned themselves with Rome in this matter. Rome was normally hated by the Jews.

In verse 18 we see that Pilate had figured things out. It was out of “envy” that the Jews handed Jesus over to Him, and he knew it. They were jealous of the crowds that Jesus was getting. Pilate might well have seen or at least heard of the great crowds that both followed Jesus into Jerusalem and came to meet Him as He entered the city.

In verse 19 we see that Pilate’s wife sent him a message while he was sitting in the judges seat. Apparently she had some sort of bad dream concerning Jesus and what might happen to her or Pilate. We’re not told what the dream was about, but only that she suffered a lot in the dream because of Jesus.

Pilate’s wife called Jesus that “innocent man”. (NIV) Some other translations use the term “righteous man”. This tells me that part of the dream concerned Jesus as being righteous and being falsely accused. We could speculate all we want about the dream, but we just don’t know its details. The dream seemed to have added to Pilate’s suspicions as well.

In verse 20 we see the mind control that the Jewish leaders had over the crowd. We don’t know who was in the crowd. It might have been a hand picked crowd. It could have been part of the crowd that had been with Jesus when He entered Jerusalem with great triumph. Yet to say that this was the same crowd that greeted Jesus with such great joy is speculative. We just don’t know. If it was, we might well ask, what changed their thinking so quickly. They told Pilate, at the pressuring of their leaders, that they wanted Barabbas freed and Jesus dead.

If it was the same crowd, they most likely were so disappointed in Jesus because He did not turn out to be the Messiah that would save them from Rome as they expected.

Verse 21 tells us that Pilate asked the crowd who they wanted free and they responded by saying they wanted Barabbas, the real criminal to go free.

Pilate asks them the natural question. What should he do with Jesus then. If Pilate is let go free what should he do with the innocent man. Pilate believed Jesus was innocent. That is clear.

In verse 23 Pilate asks, “what crime has he done”. The Jews had already presented Pilate with the charge of being King of the Jews. Pilate had rejected this to be the real case. Even though that Jesus agreed that what Pilate said concerning Him being the Jewish King was true, Pilate felt that Jesus was diluted. Pilate did not feel that he could execute a insane or mentally disturbed man. The only logical choice was to let Jesus go free and keep Barabbas in prison, but that was not the will of the Jews. The Jews only shouted louder than ever, “crucify Him”.

In verse 24 we see the crowd getting more agitated and Pilate could see that as well. It was for this reason that Pilate gave into the wishes of the crowd against his better judgment. He did not want a riot on his hands. This would not look good in the eyes of Rome , so he washed his hands of this affair. Literally he washed his hands and told the crowd that he is not responsible for Jesus’ death, but they were.

In verse 25 the crowd of Jews was quite willing to take responsibility for the death of Jesus. They said, “let his blood be on us and our children”. There words were prophetic in one strange sense of the word, for their actions did produce lasting consequences for them and their children. The judgment of God was on the Jews because of what they did to Jesus, and the Jews freely encouraged if with these words.

This section ends with verse 26. Pilate released Barabbas, flogged Jesus and handed Him over to be killed.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus (ch. 27:27 - 31)

Jesus had already been spit on, slapped and mocked by the Jews, now here in verses 27 to 31 we see the Gentile soldiers do the same, but from what is said more is done to Jesus by the Romans that was done by the Jews.. He is dressed in a scarlet robe which is meant to represent royalty. He’s given a staff. A crown of thorns is placed on His head. Soldiers fall before Him and pretend they’re falling before their king. They then take the staff from His hand and progressively strike Him with it.

After mocking Jesus they strip him of the fake king’s clothes and put His old clothes back on him and then lead Him to be crucified.

So now we’ve seen both Jew and Gentile come against the one and only Son of God. Yet we cannot forget that this was all part of God’s plan. Neither the Jews or the Gentiles killed Jesus. It was God Himself who wanted to put Jesus to death, all because of His great love towards us.

The Crucifixion (ch. 27:32 - 44)

Jesus was forced to carry the cross he would be executed on. It would have been very heavy and at some point He could no longer carry it. A man named Simon “was forced” to carry the cross. This man most likely did not understand the significance of what he was doing, but I would not be surprised in the least that they Holy Spirit spoke to this man at some future point.

Mark mentions Simon’s two sons which we note in Paul’s writing, or at least appears to note. It has been suggested with good evidence that these two sons became Christians, thus we might be able to conclude, although it is conjecture, that Simon himself became a Christian after he carried Jesus’ cross. That’s not surprising to me. This must have been some experience for Simon.

In verse 33 we see that the place where the cross was planted into the ground was called “ Golgotha ”. Matthew tells us that Golgotha means “the place of skulls”. This place was so named because this was the place where the Roman authorities executed criminals. Rome executed such criminals usually in very public places, normally where two busy roads would cross. It was meant to be a public spectacle, a warning for other would-be criminals.

In verse 34 we see that certain soldiers offered Jesus wine mixed with gall. This would not have been good wine. This was probably more vinegar than anything else. No one would offer a dying criminal good wine. The gall mentioned here was a yellowish herbal liquid that some suggest might well have been opium. The reason for the wine and gall would be to put the dying criminal in stoned state of mind that would lesson the pain of such a death. Jesus refused to drink this mixture after taking a little sip. Jesus clearly did not like the taste, but He might well not have wanted to give up control of His mind in such a crucial situation.

Verse 35 tells us that after Jesus died, the soldiers divided up his clothes by casting lots for his garment. This was to fulfill Scripture, but this was also the common practice. If the dying criminals had anything worth keeping, the soldiers who put them to death got to keep the goods.

Verse 36 merely says that the soldiers sat down and kept watch over Him as Jesus died. The process of death for Jesus was much faster than normal. This was clearly part of His doing. Scripture tells us that “He gave up His Spirit”, as to say, He freely died on His own accord. He didn’t die a slow death as His body gave way.

In verse 37 we note that they put a sign above the head of Jesus on the cross. The sign read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”. Matthew doesn’t tell us, but the one who made the decision to put up this sign was Pilate. It appears he did it out of spite to protest the pressure that the Jews had put on him to execute Jesus. He felt trapped and this was one way to announce his disgust with the whole situation.

Although Pilate didn’t understand the words he erected, the words were a prophetic announcement to those who saw Jesus die. He was the King of the Jews, but He was also the Saviour of the world.

Verse 38 tells us that two robbers were crucified with Jesus. Here, the Son of God, the Jewish Messiah, the world’s Saviour was executed as a criminal, with two other criminals. This echoes the words of Paul when he writes in Philippians 2 when he says that Jesus suffered death, “even the death of the cross”. This kind of a death was a criminal death. God came to earth in Jesus and was killed as a criminal.

If being killed as a criminal wasn’t bad enough, those who passed by ridiculed Jesus by reminding Him that He would destroy the Temple and then in three days build it again. They said if He was really the Son of God then come down from the cross. Little did these people know that He would rise from the dead, and the Temple that He spoke about, being the Temple of His Body would be rebuilt, and it would only take three days.

To add insult to insult it wasn’t only those who passed by who mocked Jesus. The Jewish leaders mocked Him as well with similar words. They sarcastically said that Jesus saved others, but could not save Himself. Clearly, they did not really believe that Jesus saved others, and therefore they did not expect Him to save Himself either.

They told Jesus that if He came down from the cross then they would believe. But Jesus did many miracles, including raising others from the dead and these Jewish leaders failed to believe then. How could they believe now. Besides, Jesus never did what the Jewish leadership demanded Him to do, and it was not time to start now. Jesus did what His Father wanted Him to do. He did not bow to public opinion or public demands.

It’s my guess that if Jesus had have come down from that cross at that very moment, the masses would have fallen at His feet and the Jewish leaders would have been more angry than ever. They already publically told the people that Jesus had a demon. If He had have come down from the cross, the Jewish leaders probably would have said that satan himself entered Jesus to cause this to happen. They would have viewed this as satan incarnate. Obviously this could not have happened. There was more work of salvation to be done as He hung dying on that cross.

In verse 43 the Jewish leaders ridicule Jesus’ claim to being the Son of God. If He was really God’s Son then He should be able to call out to His Father and God His Father would rescue Him. But Jesus did that in the garden. He had already fought that battle and gave into God’s will, and God’s will was for Jesus to hang on that cross until He died. God did not save Jesus because He was not His Son. God didn’t rescue Jesus because this was His plan to save mankind, not Jesus. So here is one of the great exchanges made by Jesus on the cross. Jesus was not rescued by God so that we could be rescued by God.

Satan was behind these words that came from the lips of the Jewish leaders. It reminds me of Jesus’ battle with satan in the wilderness after His water baptism. Satan at that time confronted Jesus on His claim to deity as well. Satan hasn’t given up yet. He continues, using the Jewish leaders as his agents.

In verse 44 we see that at this point the robbers on the crosses beside Jesus heaped insult on Him as well, although we do know that one of these robbers had a change of heart that led him to his salvation.

The Death Of Jesus (ch. 27:45 - 56)

In verses 45 we see that darkness covered the land from the sixth hour. (12 noon) to the ninth hour (3 PM) This was while Jesus was hanging on the cross. This darkness was an oppressive darkness, a darkness that was a result of what was taking place on the cross. The darkness of sin was totally destroying the physical body of Jesus, so much so, as Isaiah says in Isa. 52;14, Jesus was so marred that He could not be recognizable. God’s judgment was upon Jesus during those three hours. This judgment was due to our sin. Jesus was punished in place of us. This in one sense of the word was the saddest time in world history. It was a dark event, and darkness covered all the land.

You might recall Jesus saying earlier that the day would come when “darkness would reign”. Well, this was that time. Darkness reigned during these three hours.

I believe also that Jesus was in a battle with satan during these three hours of darkness. This truly was one of the most important three hours in universal history.

Jesus died around the ninth hour. Most people took up to three days to die a slow death, but not so with Jesus. In verse 46 we see Jesus, around the ninth hour, cry out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me”? Lots have been said about this verse, and we need to understand what really happened here.

There are some people that believe that Jesus died spiritually as well as physically. This is called “the spiritual death of Jesus”. I don’t believe that to be true. We need to understand what is meant by the word “forsaken” here. God did not forsake Jesus in the sense that He withdrew His Spirit from Jesus. This would have meant that Jesus was no longer God in human flesh. Jesus could not have done what He did if His union with God was completely severed. This was not a task that mere man could perform.

We need to understand these words in the sense that God the Father turned His back on Jesus. God the Father was not there to help Jesus out of this situation, but was there to help Jesus through this situation. That is much like God the Father does with us. He does not always rescue us from trouble, but helps us through the trouble. Jesus did not die spiritually at this point.

In verse 47 many of those who stood by Jesus thought that He was speaking to Elijah for help. This is understandable since the Jews held Elijah in such great esteem, understanding that he’d be the one that would come before the Messiah to announce His coming.

In verses 47 and 48 we see that some soldiers offered Jesus “wine vinegar” on a sponge that was place on a stick. We should note that this was not just wine. It was “wine vinegar”, that is, wine that had gone bad. A note about wine here is in order. In this verse the wine is specifically called “wine vinegar”, not just wine. This tells me that in other places, such as, when Jesus turned the water into wine, it was real wine. There is no adjectives to state what kind of wine it was. It wasn’t old wine, or new wine. It was alcoholic in nature. My point is that if wine was meant to be understood as grape juice, that would have been clearly stated.

We also see soldiers telling other soldiers to wait and see if Elijah would really come to help Jesus out. There was clearly some kind of suspense going on here. And we do know that there were people who came to faith because of what they saw as Jesus was hanging on the cross.

In verse 50 Jesus dies, but He just doesn’t slowly fade away. He gave up His spirit. He died intentionally. It was not as if His body finally gave up. No, it was that moment that Jesus was to die, and He died on His own account in accordance with the will of God His Father.

Also in verse 50 Matthew tells us that Jesus cried out in a loud voice. What Jesus said is not recorded by Matthew, but we know from other accounts that Jesus said something to the effect that He was now placing His spirit into the hands of God. This too tells us that Jesus’ body did not just give up, but Jesus died intentionally at a specific predetermined point in time.

I believe at this point that Jesus left His earthly body to be with God the Father.

Paul, in Eph. 4:9 speaks of Jesus “descending into the lower parts”. Some suggest that Jesus left His body on the cross, and His spirit descended into hell and loosed those who were captive, that is, the saints in Hades. How do we correlate those words with what I just said concerning Jesus going immediately to His Father when He committed His Spirit into God’s hands? I don’t see a problem here. I don’t believe Jesus would have had to leave His earthly body to go anywhere, especially Hades, because Hades might not be a physical earthly place as we understand places. Hades is most likely a spiritual place in the spiritual world that presently surrounds us. So if this is indeed the case, Jesus did not have to actually go anywhere in spirit. When Paul speaks of “descending”, he might well be speaking figuratively.

In verse 51 we see there was an earth quake at the moment of Jesus’ death. This is yet another physical and natural occurrence that was brought about by what was happening in the spiritual world.

Another event that took place was the ripping of the curtain in the temple. We need to understand that this curtain was not a thin sheet, like a bed sheet. This was a very heavy duty curtain that would have been very hard to rip. And we should note that it was ripped from top to bottom. This is significant in that it suggests that the ripping was done by God and not by man. If man would have ripped the curtain, it would have been ripped from the bottom up sense a man would have been standing on the floor.

This ripping is symbolic of the fact that now, since the death of Jesus, all men, not just priests, could enter the most holy place where God is. If you study the design of the Temple in the Old Testament, you will note that God was extremely explicit in how it and also the Tabernacle was built. Now God was ripping down what He had built. Any such ripping by a human being would have been a major sin. But God rips down what He had instructed to be built, and that is His choice. It’s not ours.

The ripping of the curtain means the whole Temple had lost its significance and importance. It was just one more event that shows us that Old Testament thinking had now been replaced by New Testament thinking. A ripped curtain in Old Testament times would not have been suitable in the eyes of God. It would have meant that the whole Tabernacle or Temple would have been blasphemed against or abominated. So in one real sense of the word God, abominates His own Temple . And one other thing to note. He finished the job in 70 A D.

In verse 52 Matthew states something that the other gospel writers leave out for some reason. He says that at the death of Jesus, many people came out of their tomb. To understand this we refer once again to what Paul says in Eph. 4:8. Paul tells us here that Jesus led certain captive people free when He descended into the lower parts. I think that those coming out of the tombs as Matthew states were those Jesus released.

Verse 53 is a bit hard to understand, so we just accept it as it is written. Those who came out of their graves did not go to paradise, or heaven. They stayed on the earth, and after Jesus rose from the dead they actually entered the city of Jerusalem and was seen by many. Liberal theologians would deny that this event had ever happened. I believe and take these words to be literal. Dead people rose from the dead and walked through the streets of Jerusalem . Why these people did not go immediately to heaven but walked on earth first is only speculation.

In verse 54 we see that many of the soldiers and people who were standing at the cross were terrified at the earth quake and all the other things that were taking place when Jesus died. We often think that the return of Jesus will be extremely dramatic, and that it will be. But I think that His death might have been just as dramatic as His return will be, or at least close to it.

Because of how the soldiers and others felt, many of them confessed that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Does this mean that these people were saved at this point. Well, it might suggest that. If not, it was a major stepping stone in their salvation. I do believe that those who made this confession were saved, if not at that point, later. Personally, I think they were saved right then and there, and it was in answer to Jesus prayer, “forgive them for they know not what they do”. God the Father brought these people to a place of repentance and faith at the foot of the cross of Christ. You might well consider the cross to be the most powerful altar call in human history.

Verses 55 and 56 tell us that many women were there watching from a distance. Jesus’ mother Mary was one of these and at one point, as John states, before Jesus died, He asked John to take care of His earthly mother.

We note that these women took care of Jesus’ needs, and that is what these women did throughout the three year ministry of Jesus. We need to understand that women played an important part in the life, ministry and death of Jesus.

The Burial Of Jesus (ch. 27:57-61)

In verse 57 we see a rich man named Joseph from Arimathea. We learn elsewhere that he was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was also a disciple of Jesus as Matthew tells us here. So there were some of the Jewish leadership that were followers of Jesus.

Joseph asked Pilate if he could have the body of Jesus to bury. This would have been at some point after Jesus died at 3 PM and before sundown when the Sabbath began. Joseph would have had to prepare the body of Jesus quite quickly to get it all finished before the Sabbath.

We see in verses 59 and 60 that Joseph prepared Jesus’ body and put it in his own new tomb. This would be in fulfillment of Isa. 52:9 that said that Jesus would be buried with the rich. A large stone was placed in front of this tomb. This stone would have been a flat wheel shaped stone that would have been placed in a groove in the ground that made for easy movement of the stone from side to side.

Verse 61 tells us that Mary Magdalene along with three other women watched all this take place. These women wanted to know where Jesus was buried. We know that on Sunday, after the Sabbath, they returned to this tomb with the idea to anoint the body of Jesus.

The Guard At The Tomb (ch. 27:62 - 66)

In verse 62 we see that the Jewish leadership went to Pilate. It was the “day after Preparation Day”. Preparation Day would have been Friday when the Jews would have “prepared” for the Sabbath, since they were not allowed to labour on the Sabbath.

In verses 63 to 65 the Jews remind Pilate that Jesus said that He would rise the third day. Of course they did not believe this would happen, but they feared that the disciples of Jesus would come back to the tomb and steal His body and spread a false roomer around that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. That would defeat the whole purpose of Jesus’ death in the eyes of the Jewish leaders. They told Pilate that if the body of Jesus was stolen and people thought that He had risen from the dead, this would make things worse than ever. So they asked Pilate to have the tomb secured by a guard.

In verse 65 Pilate agrees and let’s them have a guard. Pilate tells them to secure the tomb the best they know how. Pilate might well have thought that if Jesus’ body was to be moved from the tomb that it would be by a miracle and not by some taking it out.

Verse 66 tells us that the Jews did secure the tomb. So we know for a fact that no one did remove Jesus’ body from the tomb. The guard and the Jews would have prevented that from taking place.

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