(#13) The Resurrection Story (Harmonized)

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[If I were to tell my children and grandchildren the resurrection story, harmonizing all of the accounts and adding some intervening puzzle pieces and some color it would go something like this. I would also do it with a map, pointing out the places and routes as we go along. You may want to see the preface... these are some of the asides I would say along the way.]

The Resurrection Story actually starts a long time ago, back when God created everything: the sun, the moon and the stars; the plants, the animals and Adam and Eve. God told them to take care of all of it, but there was one boundary. He had drawn a line in the sand and told them there would be grave consequences if they crossed it. Well, they did and all of those consequences happened just as God said they would happen. Death, decay and sin entered the world. It must have looked like all was lost to Adam and Eve, but instead of taking in a deep breath and letting out a roar of antihalation, evaporating everything and starting over, God took in a deep breath and breathed out a promise that a savior would come one day to make it all right again.

In the meantime, God said there would be a continual war between the seed line of Satan and the seed line of the Messiah. And what a war that was… and is! Many times, it looked as if Satan had won and the seed line of the Messiah was defeated. But God would not let that happen and He continued to nurture and protect that seed line until the time was just right. 

That is when Jesus came into the world and He began to push back at those consequences. He healed the sick and the diseased, He cast out demons and evil spirits, He made blind men see and the lame to walk. He even raised Lazarus from the dead.

And He spoke truth into a world that didn’t want to hear it. Increasingly, those who thought they had power began to try to find a way to do away with Him, and they finally thought they had. Jesus was arrested, brutally beaten, and hung on a cross to die… though He had done no wrong, they killed Him. His body was wrapped up and put in a cold tomb (A) and a huge stone was rolled in front of the entrance. 

Now, Jesus had predicted that He would rise again after three days, so the rulers wanted to make sure the disciples didn’t try to fool anyone by stealing the body. They had the Roman soldiers seal the tomb and then stand guard to make sure no one tampered with it.

The followers of Jesus were dazed by what had happened and filled with grief. Not only that, they were afraid for their own lives and had gone into hiding. 

But not the women. 

There were many women who had been following Jesus during His ministry, caring for Him and supporting Him. Many of them had followed Him to Jerusalem and had gone through the agony of watching the soldiers crucify Him. And they were there when Joseph and Nicodemus laid His body in the tomb and it was there they decided they would make spices to anoint His body. They all agreed to meet at the tomb first thing Sunday morning.

Then, they waited and mourned. It was a tough time for all of them—the women and the men. They had been with Jesus constantly, seeing Him heal people, hearing Him say words that burned deep in their souls, and watching Him stand up to the rulers, overturn tables in the temple, yet hold children in His arms. There never was a man like Jesus. They all had their own ideas of grandeur, of where this was going to lead, maybe even their place with Jesus in all of this.

And then, just like that, it was over. He was gone. Dead. Wrapped up in a cold tomb. The silence and loneliness must have been crushing.

On Saturday night, most of the disciples had locked themselves in the Upper Room (B). Peter, who was too ashamed to be with them, was staying at a home in the Lower City (C). John had taken Mary to Bethany to stay in the home of Lazarus (D), where Aunt Mary and her companions were also (D). But John was concerned about the depressed and miserable Peter, so had hunted him down and was staying the night with him (B). Magdalene, with her companions, were also staying in the Lower City (E) while Salome was staying in the Upper City with Joanna (F). 

And then came the morning.

At astronomical twilight, Magdalene and her companions headed out, winding their way through the streets of the Lower City, heading towards the Garden Gate (1). She was hoping to get to the tomb early enough so she could spend some time in prayer before the others groups arrived.

At nautical twilight, a great earthquake shook the ground, clapping its hands as Jesus rose from the dead. A dazzling angel appeared and rolled away the stone and then sat on it, staring at the guards. I don’t know if angels smile, but this one just might have been grinning at them. This was a triumphant moment. Jesus had just made the crowning blow of the war: He had defeated death itself! The guards were so terrified, they froze up like popsicles. The angel didn’t say “Fear not” like most angels do… he just let them shake. After a few more minutes of grinning, he departed and the soldiers slowly began to recover. They checked out the empty tomb and then they checked out—fled the scene, shocked and panicked.

In Bethany, just after the earthquake subsided, Aunt Mary and her companions started their journey to the tomb (2). 

Magdalene and her companions, who had been caught halfway by the earthquake, finally stopped holding on to each other and continued on (1), arriving at the tomb at civil twilight. To their surprise, the stone had been rolled away, but no one was in sight, for by now, the soldiers had fled and the angel had departed. What shocked them, though, was when they looked inside. The tomb was empty! Jesus’ body was gone! What had happened?  As the adrenaline surged in Magdalene, she yelled to her companions to wait there for the others and then she ran as fast as her legs could carry her to tell Peter (3)—no doubt a thousand thoughts of dread pounding in her mind.

Just then, Joanna and Salome (F) depart for the tomb (4), carrying their spices. They, too, were headed for the Garden Gate, but since they were coming from the Upper City, they miss Magdalene as she is running to tell Peter.

By full dawn, Aunt Mary and those with her arrive at the tomb from Bethany (2) and join up with Magdalene’s companions, who are now filled with dread and fear. Sitting alone in front of the tomb, they have been contemplating the terrible things that might have happened to Jesus’ body and what could also be in store for all of them. But, they all step into the tomb as Aunt Mary now sees the empty tomb and the vacant grave clothes. But this time is different, for frightfully they now see an angel sitting there. He speaks to them, telling them that Jesus has risen and that they are to go and tell His disciples.

It’s hard for us to imagine the emotions that must have been stirred up by all of this. Some were filled with great joy and some were filled with deeper fear. Magdalene’s companions were already stressed and this put them over the top. They decided to head back to Galilee (5) and tell no one. Aunt Mary was overjoyed and she and those with her went the fastest route they knew to the Upper Room, which was outside the city walls and in through the Essene Gate (6).

Not long after they departed, Joanne and Salome arrive at the tomb. They also see the stone rolled away and after they enter, two angels appear to them. They, of course, are filled with fear and bow down with their faces to the ground. The angels speak to them, saying that Jesus had risen and to go tell the disciples, which they quickly obeyed. But, they took the familiar route back through the Upper City (7).

The sun had now well risen, when Magdalen arrived at where Peter and John were staying. She was out of breath from running the entire distance, nearly a mile, but she blurts out to them that the tomb was empty… the Lord’s body was gone! Both Peter and John immediately begin running to the tomb. Magdalene was already spent, but she follows them, trailing behind (8).

Peter and John arrive at the tomb and find it just as Magdalene said. The grave clothes, the head cloth… and no corpse. Peter also wonders if the soldiers had done something corrupt to His body. John, though, seeing it all, knew something miraculous had happened.

Magdalene, finally catches up and arrives at the tomb, now doubly spent. When she asks Peter where they have taken the Lord’s body, all he can do is shake his head, with a blank look, for it has not yet dawned on him that Jesus had risen. Peter and John leave her there and begin to slowly make their way back (8), each caught up in their own thoughts.

Left now alone at the empty tomb and totally empty herself, the weight of everything begins to crash down upon her—Jesus being put to death, His body now possibly desecrated and thrown who knows where. She had thought things couldn’t get worse, and yet they had… and with that, she broke down and wept deeply. As she was sobbing, she aimlessly looked back into the tomb and saw two angels sitting where Jesus had lain. In her grief, she didn’t understand who they were and cried out asking where His body was. Jesus then appeared behind her and gently speaks her name and she turns around… and there He is! Alive! Oh, my! What a day! I suppose no one can truly imagine what this interaction must have been like. Afterwards, Jesus tells her to go tell His brothers and then He departs. Magdalene then sits on the ground and begins to laugh with joy and begins to weep again, but they are now tears of joy. Eventually, she gets up and begins to head to the Upper Room (10)… no longer running, but now almost skipping.

At the time all of this is happening, Aunt Mary and her companions breathlessly arrive at the Upper Room (6) and explode with the news. All four women begin talking at the same time to the nine disciples about “an angel” and “an empty tomb”. The disciples look at them as if they are crazy. 

But then it gets crazier.

Joanna and Salome then burst into the room. They, too, are wild-eyed with excitement, gushing with details of an empty tomb and “two” angels. Aunt Mary and her companions, had stopped to hear all of this, but now break loose to Joanna and Salome all they had seen and heard and the room was immediately filled with their excited voices and bouncing up and down and hugging… who can blame them? And the disciples are watching all of this shaking their heads.  

There then ensued a great deal of confusion and talking as the women all tried to convince the disciples. 

Now, while this was going on, Peter and John, were on their way over to the Upper Room (9). During their long talk on the way back from the tomb, John had convinced Peter that they needed to go tell the disciples, despite Peter’s shame. So, in the midst of the loud conversation between nine disciples and almost as many women, Peter and John walk in and everything stops dead. All eyes turn to Peter and while he looks around at the gathering, one of the disciples tells him that the women are mad. Ignoring him, Peter calmly says “John and I went to the tomb. It’s empty.” There is a moment of stunned silence and then the room erupts again as the women begin to tell their stories now to Peter. 

After a while, the conversation begins to subside as there is nothing left to tell and each began to ponder all of this, some in quiet side conversations. Aunt Mary decides she needs to go back to Bethany to tell Mary the news and she and her companions leave. They go out the Essene Gate and take the route outside the walls (11). Cleopas and another of those that were gathered with the disciples, feeling there was nothing else, headed home to Emmaus via the Garden Gate (12).

But then, just when everything had started to calm down, Magdalene arrives at the Upper Room, her face aglow. Everyone gets quiet as she stands there. Then she says breathlessly: “I’ve just seen Jesus.” And everyone just stands there looking at her in astonishment. Magdalene looks back at them and begins to joyously laugh and says “He’s alive! I touched Him!” And the room erupts again as question upon question are fired at her from both the men and women, who then begin to relate their experience to Magdalene as well.

Peter, though, is quietly taking all of this in. He then turns and walks out, heading back to the tomb (10). While there, he takes his time, examining again the shroud and the head cloth and thinking through all that the women and Magdalene had been saying. It was beginning to dawn on him. After a long time sitting in the tomb, Peter begins a slow walk home (8), lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Aunt Mary, and the women with her, have gone out the Essene Gate and had travelled a short way outside the city walls on their trip back to Bethany (11). Everything they had seen and now Magdalene’s story had them all lost in thought. Then, out of nowhere, Jesus appears (G). In the midst of their astonishment and joy, they are overwhelmed with the deep reality of who He truly was. They fall down and worship Him. This, too, must have been quite a moment. At the end of it, Jesus then tells them that He will see them all in Galilee and to go back and tell His brothers.

It is late morning when Aunt Mary and the other women rush back into the Upper Room (11), their faces glowing as well. It is impossible to contain them as each gush forth the news that they, too, have now seen Jesus. They had touched Him. He had talked to them. This time the disciples were listening for they were finally beginning to think that something incredibly amazing was going on. 

After a while, Aunt Mary and those with her head out to Bethany again (11), now with incredible news for Mary.

It is now late morning and it is hard to imagine all that has happened since the early rays of the sun began to wake the world up on this day.

For a moment, though, we must move our attention back to the soldiers. Sometime later, after fleeing the tomb, they began to realize that their only hope of escaping death for a failed mission was to report what had happened to the Jewish leaders. When they did, they were bribed to say that the disciples had come and stolen the body. That lie still persists even to this very day.

By noon, Cleopas and his companion were well on their way to Emmaus (12), when they, too, encountered the risen Jesus, although they didn’t know it at first. He opened the Scripture to them and when they stopped to eat and Jesus broke the bread, their eyes were opened and they knew it was Him. In the early afternoon, they abort their trip and head back to Jerusalem as fast as they can go.

In the early evening, as Peter is sitting in his room (C), trying to contemplate all that has happened and in deep prayer, Jesus appears to him. What an amazing reunion that must have been! How Peter must have been filled with both joy and grief—so sorry for denying the Lord, yet so overjoyed to see Him. What grace and love must have been shown to Peter and the beginning of the healing of a man that the Lord was going to use for the Kingdom. After Jesus departs and Peter’s shame was now removed by the forgiveness of the Lord, he rushes to the Upper Room to tell his brothers (9). And as he tells them, the disciples are in rapt attention, finally beginning to believe. Their questions are now measured, contemplative.

Then, as the questions die down and they are again lost in their thoughts, in bursts Cleopas, totally exhausted from a hurried trip of nearly seven miles, yet his face still lit up with the experience they had with Jesus. As he relates everything to those present, the disciples begin to catch the reality of what was happening and along with it, a growing joy.

I imagine that all of those who experienced these things surely thought that no one in the history of man had witnessed a day like this. But, it was not over, for all of a sudden Jesus was standing there in their midst. Jesus. Alive. Right there. And He talked with them and even ate some fish! Oh my! What a day!

Several days later, Thomas, who had not been there that night, met with some of the disciples who were telling him all that had happened. Thomas, having not been through the experiences of that day, was skeptical of it all. He had to put his finger in the nail holes before he would believe.

Well, a few days after that, while all of them were again in the Upper Room, Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst. Jesus had Thomas touch the nail prints in His hands and where He had been pierced by the sword in His side and Thomas cried out “My Lord and my God!” What a night that must have been!

The Feast of Unleavened Bread had now come to an end, so the disciples, as Jesus had told them, headed up to Galilee. As the days passed waiting for Him, seven of the disciples decided to go fishing. It was there that Jesus appeared again, sitting on the shore, preforming a miracle with the catch of fish, sharing a meal with them… it must have been another incredible time with the Lord, and especially for Peter.

We don’t know how many times Jesus met with them over the next several weeks, but Luke says He appeared to them many times over a period of forty days. The main event, however, was on a mountain top, where the disciples and over 500 had gathered on an appointed day. Jesus appeared to all of them and it is here Jesus issued what we have come to know as the Great Commission. Afterwards, Jesus told His disciples to return to Jerusalem.

Now somewhere during this time in Galilee, Jesus appeared to his younger brother, James. This is quite amazing for none of His brothers had believed in Him. But now, James had a moment with the risen Lord, his Lord, and was radically changed. James eventually became a pillar in the church.

Back in Jerusalem, some days later, Jesus appeared to the disciples, taught them a few final things and then told them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them. He then led them to the top of Olivet, and after some parting words, ascended into heaven. While they were standing there gawking, two angels appeared and told them, basically, to “get on with it”. 

Probably wise words for us, too.

I suppose we should extend the resurrection story another week or so, when, on Pentecost, the disciples and Mary and the women and Jesus’ brothers (catch that?) were all together when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The disciples were never the same again, most eventually put to death for their testimony of the risen Jesus. In fact, it is safe to say that the Resurrection Story changed the history of mankind forever.

I hope it changes you, too!

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If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#1) the Seal Was Broken
We don’t spend much time talking about the seal that was placed upon the tomb, but I think it is significant. Here is the historical record: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Matthew 27:62-66 The historical account states that the chief priests and the Pharisees “made the tomb secure by sealing the stone…”.  This seal was most likely several ropes that were drawn across the stone and then affixed to the tomb walls with a soft clay imprinted with some symbol of authority. It was also likely that the ropes were also sealed at their juncture in front of the stone. In this way, no one could move the stone or the ropes without breaking the dried clay and destroying the “seal” affixed upon the clay.  The seal was there to “put on notice” that no one was to mess with the tomb. Rome could deal quite nastily with those who did so. Now, this doesn’t mean much to us today, for we are long past the norm of using “seals” as they were utilized in ancient times. but in those days, a seal was inviolable. It represented authority, authenticity, and finality. No one messed with a seal. In the book of Esther, when King Ahasuerus issued the order to save the Jews, he commanded them to “seal it with the king's ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king's ring cannot be revoked.” When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den, “… a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel." In the vision concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the Scripture says this: And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, “Read this,” he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” Isaiah 29:11 The permanence of a seal against all who were unauthorized to break it was an inviolable part of their world.  It becomes even more apparent when John is caught up to heaven and there beholds the scroll with seven seals. John begins to weep because there was “no one worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.” Of course, we find that the Lamb, “standing as though it had been slain”, was worthy to break the seals. And when each of those seals were broken, great calamity came upon the earth. Seals in the Scripture mean something. And John had wept, because the seal represented an inviolable wall to anyone who did not have the authority to break it. Seals show authority. They show authenticity. And they show finality for all except the one who had the authority to break them. And so, we now come back to the tomb. The seal, whether it was a Roman seal or the High Priest’s seal, represented a fixed closure that no one was allowed to breach. When it was set upon the tomb, there was a finality, a stamp of ultimate authority, that said, “this tomb is closed”. Ah, but God is not subject to the laws or seals of man. I can imagine that when the earth began to shake and the stone was rolled aside, that those clay seals with the authority of man impressed upon them broke into a thousand pieces and lay as trash littering the ground. If Jesus rose from the dead, then the seal of man, meant to keep Him in the grave, had been utterly and completely destroyed. But there is one more thing that must be mentioned regarding “seals”.  In John 6, Jesus said this: Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” John 6:27 If God seals something, it is sealed! In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, Eph 1:13 “… it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Cor 1:21 This is God’s seal of authority, authenticity, and finality. You are His, sealed with His guarantee. Oh my! [previous] [next]
7
If Jesus Rose from the Dead, then (#3) the Guards Knew It
When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, it should come as no surprise to anyone that it is here we find a focus of critique and skepticism. Yes, there is also critique regarding other aspects of Jesus’ life, primarily wherever there are miraculous events, like the virgin birth, walking on water or healing a man born blind. But, because the death, burial and resurrection are the foundational historical events for Christianity, without which there is no Christianity, they draw the heaviest fire.  We now arrive at one of those as we deal with the record of the guard at the tomb. Let’s look briefly at the critique before we move on. To do so we will need to examine the historical record left for us by Matthew where the story of the guards begins: The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” So, they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. Matthew 27:62-66 Moving now to the morning of the resurrection, the guards are referenced again: Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:1-6 And, finally, the end of the guard’s story:  While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So, they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day. Matthew 28:11-15 Here is the sum total of what we know about the guards at the tomb. And it is because of this that we find the first of the two key arguments launched against the story of the guards: it sits alone in Matthew and is not found in the other gospels. The argument is that surely this key element would have been mentioned in the other accounts and because it is not, it must be legendary rather than historically true. First, historical truth is not determined by the number of sources. Certainly, the more sources, the more the historian is pleased. But it doesn’t give carte blanche reason to throw it out. By my count, there are around 100 things that are mentioned in only one of the Gospels. For example, Jesus washing the disciple’s feet at the last supper is only found in John. Are we to therefore conclude it didn’t happen? John ends his gospel stating this: Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. John 21:25 If this is true, then how are we to demand that gospels of a mere forty pages in length, give or take, should all select the same small percentage of events?  And, importantly, each gospel is written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for a particular audience, using selective events for that purpose. Who is to determine what “key” events are needed to support that purpose other than the Author? Who are we to determine an event to be “key” and demand that it be found in other gospels as well? It appears that it is only Matthew who was interested in answering the charge that the disciples stole the body from the tomb. He then moves directly to the “Great Commission” (only in Matthew) and then ends. The others treat the empty tomb as obvious fact and move on, some to emphasize more of Jesus being alive and interacting with people after His resurrection. Those who do not believe in the inspiration of Scripture, however, try to use the fact that something only appears in one gospel as evidence that it didn’t happen. But when one puts together the entirety of the gospels and the rest of the Scripture, and those things that appear only once are substantiated by the weight of the others, it supports the plausibility of that one event.  So, in light of the other three gospels, John’s record that Jesus washed their feet on that night seems quite plausible, even to the skeptical historian. The second key criticism of the guard account centers on the notion that the chief priests and the Pharisees understood that Jesus had predicted his resurrection on the third day after His death, but the disciples didn’t. And the gospels don’t record the Jewish leaders hearing that prediction, whereas the disciples did. This would seem backwards. Let’s examine this. Jesus clearly predicted His death and resurrection. Here is one:  "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again" Mark 8:31 (See also Luke 9:22) Clearly, Jesus openly taught this and it isn’t unreasonable that the Jewish leaders would have gotten knowledge of it, even if they didn't hear it directly. (Though they might have and it was simply not recorded for us.) They were almost obsessed with knowing what Jesus was teaching and doing... not for good, but for evil. It is also very important here to keep in mind that the Pharisees weren’t emotionally involved with Jesus and the disciples were. It would be easy for the disciples to hear Jesus say all of this, but then rationalize it away or suppress it. In fact, that is what we see in the next verse after Jesus clearly states He will be killed and rise in three days (above). Peter immediately takes Jesus aside to rebuke Him. We see the exact same thing later in Mark 9:9-10. The Pharisees, however, had no such emotional attachment. Rather, they hung on His every word, not for its spiritual truth, but to find ways to get rid of Him. So, it is more than reasonable that the Pharisees knew of Jesus’ prediction and the disciples had suppressed it or rationalized it into some fuzzy eschatological future. So, it seems to me that the two key critiques are easily handled and the record of the guards remains quite plausible. But it is Matthew’s reference to a then current controversy that adds great substantiation to all of this. At the end of our text, Matthew states that the story of the disciples stealing the body while the guards slept “has been spread among the Jews to this day.” Matthew could not write this if it were not true. Remember, He was writing primarily to Jews, and the Jews could readily deny this assertion if it were false. Therefore, that rumor must have been currently circulating among the Jews and the rumor rests squarely upon the fact that there was a guard posted at the tomb. Now, there is a proper disagreement over this account and it has to do with whether the guards were Roman soldiers or the Temple Guard. Let’s look at this: First, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate requesting a guard and he responded: “you have a guard”. This can be taken that he was supplying one to them, had already supplied one to them, or that he was referring to their own Temple Guard. When Jesus was arrested in the garden, It is apparent by the word “cohort” used to describe the soldiers, that Roman soldiers were already involved. This offers support to the thought that those soldiers had previously been assigned to the Jewish authorities. This was not unusual for Rome to do so. In this case, a Roman “cohort” was about 600 men. That gives a vivid picture of what that arrest scene looked like. And, importantly, John states that is was a combination of both a Roman “cohort” and “some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees”. This most likely was a contingent from the Temple Guard. Second, “some of the guards reported to the chief priests” what had happened at the tomb. This also doesn’t tell us one way or the other, for if they were Roman, and they had been assigned to the Jewish authorities, they could have naturally reported back to them. If it were the Temple Guard, this would be expected. If it were a combination, then the word “some” also has meaning in that only the Temple Guard contingent reported back. This is also plausible because a Roman guard who failed in his mission was subject to a horrible death and wouldn’t want to report it to Pilate.  Third, we have the complicating statement by the Jewish leaders to the guards who reported back to them:  “…if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” One might rightly think this tips in favor of the guard being Roman. I agree. But, on the other hand, Matthew tells us that the guards were bribed to say that the disciples had come and stolen Jesus body while they were asleep. No money would be enough for a Roman guard to confess to falling asleep on duty, for he would be executed (some say crucified upside down). The Temple Guard, however, if found asleep, were merely beaten and their clothes burned. (I know, but it's better than what the Roman soldier would get.) So, we can’t be absolutely sure. But, in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The Temple Guard were professionals as well, armed and trained. I’m not sure that anyone would want to bet on who would win if you pitted a Roman guard against a Temple guard. (Think of David's mighty men, like Benaiah, who slew a lion in a pit on a snowy day) The point here is that there was an armed, professional unit assigned to guard the tomb of Jesus. Now, try to imagine what this would have been like for these men. If they were Roman guards, they each had a designated, small area of ground to defend and they were stationed in a line to defend their charge. They remained diligent in position until relieved by a fresh guard. The morning was about to break, all was calm and then the earth begins to roll beneath their feet. Matthew calls it a “severe earthquake”. This in itself is disarming to anyone. But as the ground begins to return to normal, they see an angel descending whose appearance “was like lightning and his clothes as white as snow”. Encounters of finite man and angelic beings almost always result in the finite on their knees in fear. Which the guards did and “became as dead men”… in other words, frozen with fear. Not unconscious, though, for they reported it all. The guards obviously knew something big had happened.  We now come to our final question. Did they know that Jesus had risen from the dead? Here we must speculate a little, but not much, because when they reported everything to the Jewish leaders, that report had to include that the tomb was empty. Otherwise, there would have been no bribery for them to lie that the disciples had stolen the body.  Here is the speculation, however. The guard had been ordered to secure the tomb because of the prediction that Jesus would rise from the dead on the third day. They were charged to make sure the disciples did not come and steal the body. I believe they must have been counting off the days. When the morning of the third day was about to break, my guess is there had to be some anxiety. It is not impossible that what had happened during the crucifixion had already spread through the ranks. When Jesus was crucified and the sky grew dark for three hours and the earth quaked and the Roman centurion declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God”, this had to be in their minds. In fact, it is also plausible, that the Roman soldiers that were assigned to arrest Jesus were still on assignment at the cross and they saw all of this and they were now guarding His tomb. And, for three days, they were pondering all that they had seen and heard about Him. And now the earth begins to shake again, fiercely. No man can remain fearless when the earth beneath him turns liquid. But, on top of that, the heart-stopping lightning of an angel appears. Did they overhear the angels speaking to the women? Did they examine the tomb after the angel left? That would certainly seem reasonable. Either way, the guards had to have known the tomb was empty. And, when they were able to flee, they had to have known that they had witnessed something beyond extraordinary. In reality, these men had been privileged to be present at the greatest historical event in the history of man. I’ve often wondered if some of the guards became early converts. That wouldn’t surprise me.  Because they knew. [previous] [next] (If you are interested in reading more of a detailed apologetic regarding the guard, William Lane Craig has done a masterful job of defending this to the literary critics and I would commend you to that if you desire: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/scholarly-writings/historical-jesus/the-guard-at-the-tomb/)