The Guarded Tomb and the Risen Christ: Evidence That Demands Faith

After Jesus' body was laid in the tomb, the Jewish priests and elders asked Pilate to send Roman soldiers to guard the grave. They were worried that some of Christ's disciples might steal the body and claim He had risen. To prevent any deception, those in authority sealed the stone door (Matthew 27:60-66). The Bible provides many details about Christ’s burial because God knew some would doubt the resurrection event ever happened. Why did the Jewish leaders ask Pilate to put Roman guards around the tomb instead of the Jewish temple guards? Perhaps because they knew many Jews in Jerusalem followed Christ, and Roman soldiers could be more trustworthy.

Roman soldiers were highly trained and understood that losing a prisoner could cost them their lives. In the book of Acts, we read that Herod imprisoned Peter the Apostle with four squads of four soldiers guarding him. When an angel miraculously freed him, Herod had all sixteen men executed for losing their prisoner (Acts 12:4-19). There would be no sleep for the Roman guards at Jesus' tomb.

People look for excuses to avoid living in obedience to the Gospel message. They may concede that Jesus was a historical person and a great prophet, but the resurrection is their stumbling block. If Jesus is God and He did rise again, how should we respond to His claims? What effect do Christ's death and resurrection have on our lives?

It is a common way to avoid taking personal responsibility to God by explaining away the resurrection with various possible explanations. For example, some believe that the disciples and the women went to the wrong tomb. Others say that the disciples stole the body or that Jesus only fainted on the cross and then woke up in the tomb and rolled the stone away. The Gospel writers mention details like the Roman guard at the tomb’s entrance because, based on the evidence of Christ's resurrection, we can trust that our Savior is alive and has overcome death, not only for Himself but for us too. Without Jesus's resurrection, there would be no hope, no life after death, and our Christian faith would have no foundation. As Paul the Apostle once stated:

¹²But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:12-14).

The facts are that Christ died as a substitute in full payment for our sins, His death for our death. Paul wrote: 24 "But also for us, to whom righteousness will be credited—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification" (Romans 4:24-25). God does not leave us in doubt; there is plenty of evidence that Jesus conquered death for you and me. Let's look at some of the facts of the resurrection tomorrow. Keith Thomas.

The YouTube video of this talk with closed captions (subtitles) in 65 languages is found at the following link: https://youtu.be/OSV2bnALI6w

The written notes are at the following link: The Burial and Resurrection of Christ