The attempt to keep Christ in the tomb was a fool’s errand

You really couldn’t blame them for trying. Having crucified Jesus, the priests and leaders of the day really wanted to make sure that there would be no further “issues.”

Matthew 27:62-64, “Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.”

That Jesus was dead was a verified certainty. The crucifixion had done the job, and the spear rammed into his side and piercing his heart had served as a double confirmation. The soldiers had made sure he was dead. The chief priests and Pharisees testified to his death with the words “While he was [past tense] alive.” And yet, knowing that Jesus had promised to rise again on the third day, they quickly approached Pilate and asked for the means necessary to ensure that his body stayed right where it was at. And when they did, they used a pretty interesting word. When they said, “Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day,” that word “sure” is from the Greek root word asphaltos. We get our English word asphalt from it. They were basically asking that the tomb be as firmly sealed as if it were paved over. They were not interested in taking any chances whatsoever.

Their stated fear was that the disciples would come by night and steal Him away and thus “stage a resurrection.” Obviously, that was a ridiculous fear. There were only eleven regular followers of Christ left, and all of them were scattered in terror. Only one of them even made it as far as the cross to see his Lord die. And even at their very best while Christ was still alive, all of them were just common laborers, and all of them were erratic and unreliable.

When we look at the disciples, we usually shake our heads and wonder what Christ was thinking. He had a handful of fishermen, one tax collector, a doubter, and not a single soldier fighter or strategist among them. If Jesus had assembled twelve brave, loyal, strong, highly trained fighters as his disciples, and then suddenly his body was no longer in the tomb, it would be reasonable to assume that they might have overpowered the guards and broken into the tomb and stolen the body.

But Jesus didn’t have twelve brave, loyal, strong, highly trained fighters as his disciples; he had the theological equivalent of the Bad News Bears. Anyone who believes that those guys managed to pull off the greatest heist and most long-lasting con job in history also probably believes that the Nigerian prince who contacted them over email actually intends to give them thirty million dollars.

Pilate’s response was, “Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.” He gave them a guard, a contingent of Roman soldiers. These guards of soldiers were made up of as little as four and as many as sixteen Roman soldiers. Pilate granted them between four and sixteen of the most fierce, highly trained men on earth to guard that tomb.

They would have once again verified that the body was there. Mind you, there had been no opportunity for it to be anywhere else, but they still would have checked since everything was riding on this. And the stone would never have received the official seal of Rome until everyone there knew for a fact that the body was in the tomb. Once all that was verified, they sealed the stone. This means that they placed the seal of the governor in such a way that any tampering would be detected. This was usually done by putting wax onto the gap and then pressing a signet into it. Any moving of the stone whatsoever would thus be easily detectable, and whoever tampered with the Roman seal in such manner would face the death penalty.

Once all that was done, they set their watch, meaning the soldiers stepped into place, and they would rotate in and out as needed keeping a certain number of them awake and in front of the stone at all times.

So what do we have? We have the verifiably dead body of Christ verifiably laying in that very tomb. It is hewn out of rock; the entrance to that tomb over which the rock lays is the only way in or out. A gigantic stone has been rolled into place over the mouth of that tomb and has been sealed with wax, and the signet of the governor has been pressed into that seal. Sixteen or so Roman soldiers have stepped in front of that tomb to make sure that the body stays right where it is.

In other words, we have a fool’s errand. What good can a stone and wax and a contingent of Roman soldiers do when it is Jesus laying in there? He was the one who could not die until he voluntarily gave up his own spirit. He had such command over death that he had already raised Lazarus after four days of it. He walked on water and gave sight to the blind and gave hearing to the deaf. He was the one before whom demons trembled in fear and begged not to be cast into the deep. He was the one who was born of a virgin and was as fully God as he was fully man. He was the one who had existed from eternity past. He was the one who, in the very beginning, was not just with God but was God. He was the one who spoke to nothing because there was nothing to speak to and had nothing suddenly become everything. He was the one who put 2 trillion galaxies and 200 billion trillion stars into place with a flick of the wrist. He was the one that Isaiah called the “wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and Prince of peace.”

Bless their hearts; they really did try; they just didn’t know who they were dealing with.

And that made their best efforts to keep him in the tomb a fool’s errand.