Even After He’s Dead. . .

 

Even After He’s Dead. . .

 

Mathew 27:62-66, NIV - The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.  “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’  So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

 

One thing that good writers do is they try to anticipate the concerns of potential readers as the story is being told.  The writer tries to ask themselves, what are the problems that different kinds of readers will have buying into the story being told.  One of those problems Matthew’s readers will have with buying into the resurrection of Jesus is that it sounds like fiction.  After all, how many resurrections have you personally witnessed? 

For this chasm of skepticism to be bridged, Matthew addresses as least one potential story that could be proposed when readers are confronted with reports of the resurrection; Jesus’s body was stolen and the rest was fabricated.  Ironically, this is the very pretext the religious leaders give for Pilate assigning a guard to the tomb.  They make it impossible to steal Christ’s body by posting Roman guards.  Further, the Roman seal placed on the tomb makes anyone who attempts such a theft an enemy of the state.   I love that the last thing the religious leaders (and Pilate) do in the gospel is to make sure that the account of the resurrection is more believable. Imagine Matthew’s joy in including these seemingly insignificant details in his gospel account.

I have to say that, over the years, God has granted me some compassion for these leaders that seem obsessed with discrediting the Jesus movement.  Putting myself in their shoes, I feel just a bit of the misery and desperation they must have felt.  Thousands had followed this Jesus that criticized the these very religious leaders at every turn.  They were undermined by this rebel and their influence was eroded.  So discrediting Jesus would restore their rightful position and influence.  At least that’s how I imagine the thought process progressing.  What a terrible position to be in – having to tear down someone else in order to feel better about oneself.  I have compassion for these men because I have felt that very sentiment.  It is indeed misery. 

I wish I could say that I am beyond such misery, but I am not.  The impulse to make others smaller so that I, by comparison, feel larger is one that I still encounter often.  It can rob me of being happy for someone getting a promotion that I feel I deserve.   It can keep me from opening up to the possibility that I might be wrong about something because I would have to admit that “that other one” is right.  It can cause me to see someone who might otherwise be a potential friend or ally as a threat and treat them accordingly.  This impulse is so manipulative that it can lead me to believe that a big lie is actually the truth. 

Throughout our journey through Matthew’s gospel, I have encouraged us to adopt the habit of putting ourselves in the place of the “villains” instead of the “heroes.”  There is more potential for our transformation by the gospel when we do that.  If the religious leaders had done that, imagine what could have happened.  But more importantly, imagine what could happen if we did. 

 

Question:  When was the last time you were able to have authentic compassion for an “adversary?”

 

Prayer: Just between You and me God, I confess that I struggle to trust that you love me completely regardless of my position compared to others and whether I am right or wrong. Before you, I confess my unhelpful impulses and ask you to forgive me when I have pursued them.  Even more than that, I ask that you replace those dark impulses with compassion for others and for myself.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Perhaps a specific “adversary” has popped into your mind as you went through the devo today.  Pray for God to bless that person.

 

Song:  Pray for Me – Kirk Franklin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUBwZZSiUzM