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Turn with me in your Bibles to 
Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. Our focus this morning will be verses 
11 to 15, but I do want to begin reading in verse 1, read to the 
end of the chapter. Matthew 28, beginning in verse 
1. Now, after the Sabbath, as the 
first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the 
other Mary came 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 from the door and sat on it. 
His countenance was like lightning and his clothing as white as 
snow. And the guards shook for fear of him and became like dead 
men. The angel answered and 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 the 
Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he has 
risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee. 
There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they 
went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran 
to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his 
disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice. So they 
came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus 
said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go 
to Galilee, and there they will see me. Now while they were going, 
behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to 
the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they 
had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they 
gave a large sum of money to the soldiers saying, tell them, 
his disciples came at night and stole him away while we slept. 
And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will appease him and 
make you secure. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed, and this saying is commonly reported 
among the Jews until this day. Then the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for 
them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. 
And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, all authority has been 
given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make 
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching 
them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, 
I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for the power of 
the gospel. And we would pray this morning 
that the Holy Spirit would come and make these things real and 
alive in our own hearts and minds. May we marvel at the glory of 
the empty tomb and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
may we marvel at the depravity and the wickedness of men who 
seek to cover up the facts with lies. God, we praise you and 
we thank you for opening our hearts to this truth. We thank 
you for the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. We thank you that you made him 
who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the 
righteousness of God in him. And we would pray today that 
as the gospel is preached, more and more sinners would hear this 
wonderful news, and that more and more would come to know Jesus 
Christ as Lord and Savior. May that occur here, Father, 
by the power of the Holy Spirit. May those who have entered into 
this place, dead in their trespasses and sins, may they leave praising 
the God of unrivaled, unparalleled grace and mercy. We ask that 
you would forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions 
and help us by your spirit to understand your word. And we 
pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, in the 16th 
century, I'm sure all of us are aware, there was what was called 
the Reformation. And of course, the Reformation 
is something we trace our theological heritage to. We are Reformed 
Baptists, owing to a theological conviction about certain truths 
that were not begun in the Reformation period, but were rediscovered 
as it were. Well, shortly after the Reformation, 
the Roman Catholic Church engaged in what was called the Counter-Reformation. In other words, the Protestant 
reformers came, they emphasized the authority of Scripture, justification 
by faith alone, and Romanism doubled down. They had this Counter-Reformation. Well, we see something like that 
in this particular passage. We're all familiar with the end 
of Matthew's gospel and what is called the Great Commission. 
Well, what we find in verses 11 to 15 is a counter mission. It is something that contrasts 
with the Great Commission, and it's something that we ought 
to give attention to to consider the fact that there is such heresy 
that was developed in the first century and unfortunately continues 
on into the 21st century. Now, in verses 11 to 20, we have 
two basically parallel sections. We have two sections of five 
verses each. In 11 to 15, Jewish leaders meet 
with soldiers in Jerusalem and they command them to go out and 
tell a lie. In verses 16 to 20, Jesus Christ 
meets with his disciples in Galilee and he commands them to go out 
and tell the truth. So we have the Great Commission, 
here we have the Counter Mission, and I want to consider first 
of all this morning the explanation of the soldiers in verse 11, 
and then secondly the creation of the false narrative in verses 
12 to 15. But let's look at the explanation 
of the soldiers. If you go back for just a moment 
to chapter 28 and verse 4, these are the same soldiers slash guards, 
those men that were keepers or custodians of the tomb. Notice in 28.4, and the guards 
shook for fear of them and became like dead men. So we go back 
to chapter 28, verse 11, it says, Now while they were going, behold, 
some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief 
priests all the things that had happened. It is an interesting 
contrast that we see there. The women obey the angel, according 
to verse 7. He had told them to go and tell 
the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. The women also obey 
Jesus. They meet him, according to verse 
9, and in verse 10, Jesus tells the women to go and tell his 
disciples to meet him in Galilee. So while they're going with this 
trembling and great joy, now the soldiers go back to the chief 
priests, probably with their heads hung low, probably filled 
with shame, probably filled with terror. because falling asleep 
on your post or rather not fulfilling your particular job is a failure. Dereliction of duty in most sort 
of military settings, that can be a capital offense. And so 
these men don't run with great joy, but rather with heads slung 
low, they go and report to the priest. Now, we ask the question, 
or if it's asked, why do they report to the chief priest? Because 
they were put at the chief priest's disposal. Go back to 27, chapter 
27, specifically at verse 62. This is important and essential 
background for our section here in Matthew 28. But if you notice, 
in 2762, on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, 
the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 
saying, Sir, we remember, while he was still alive, how that 
deceiver said, After three days I will rise. Therefore, command 
that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his 
disciples come by night and steal him away. and say to the people, 
he has risen from the dead. So the last deception will be 
worse than the first. So Pilate said to them, you have 
a guard, or go ahead and take a guard and make it as secure 
as you know how. So they went and made the tomb 
secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. So when the 
tomb is empty now, the soldiers go back to the city of Jerusalem 
and they address the chief priests. France says the opening clause, 
now while they were going, some of the soldiers went to the chief 
priests, the opening clause invites the reader to compare two groups 
hurrying away from the tomb with a message to deliver. The women 
are the apostles to the apostles, to tell them that Jesus has risen 
and they're to meet him in Galilee. These men, however, are to go 
to the chief priests and say that the tomb is now empty. And that is precisely what they 
report. Notice, they reported to the 
chief priests all the things that had happened. If you weren't 
here last week, you'll know, hopefully, by reading chapter 
28, what those things were. There was an earthquake, a great 
earthquake. An earthquake attended the crucifixion. 
an earthquake attends the resurrection. There's not only this earthquake, 
but there is descent of this angel, and he rolls the stone 
back from the tomb, and then he sits upon it. And when the 
soldiers saw this, they were greatly afraid. They fell as 
dead men. And so they report these things 
to the chief priests, And they, the chief priests, really should 
have listened. In fact, I think this underscores 
just how committed these men are to the opposition of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. They are fundamentally, presuppositionally 
opposed to the Lord Christ. These Roman soldiers see a supernatural 
thing in terms of angelic descent, the rolling away of the stone, 
and him sitting upon it. Now the text does not mention 
it, but I would bet that the soldiers went into the tomb to 
investigate it for themselves. It would be foolish not to. I 
mean, they might have thought, well, at least the body's still 
in there. We could deal with this rock 
thing in just a moment. But they no doubt went in and 
investigated the tomb and found that it was now empty. So they 
come back to the chief priest. loaded to tell them specifically 
what had happened, and these chief priests don't want to hear 
it. They're absolutely contrary to this particular message. It's 
like it doesn't even register in their minds or in their hearts, 
and it really demonstrates the wickedness and the evil of the 
religious leadership at the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who 
did he have problems with when he went from place to place to 
place? It wasn't the whores. It wasn't the publicans. It wasn't 
the sinners. It was the self-righteous, proud, 
arrogant men who thought that they were good with God. And 
brethren, I think that we ought to make this observation. When 
we survey our Lord's ministry, the problem that he had was more 
so with the self-righteous, proud, and arrogant than with the vile 
and the wretched sinners. And I think at times, it's very 
easy for us, and I know that I do it, often you say crack 
dealing and visiting prostitutes as sort of an illustration of 
great sin. If you're here this morning and 
you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, and you are trusting 
in something other than Jesus Christ, you're as bad as the 
crack dealer, you're as bad as the prostitute. You see, it's 
not the case that God looks upon self-righteousness and says, 
well, they're a little better off than those wretches that 
are living in the bushes. They're a little better off than 
those who are shooting up in the bushes. No, they're not. 
In fact, in some regard, I would submit that they're worse. I 
think Gerstner was right. It's not so much your sin that 
God has a problem with. He sent his son to deal with 
that. The problem is your wretched good works. This idea that somehow 
you can merit God's favor based on your own doing, based on your 
own abilities, based on your own law keeping. If that's you 
this morning, you're in league with these chief priests. They 
couldn't even consider the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. 
They couldn't even consider the fact that these truths of the 
gospel were in place. No, they go into damage control 
mode, and they have to create the narrative. I think that this 
is paradigmatic for much of the political scheme that we see 
going on today as well. It's the best way to refute facts. 
Well, lie about it. It's the best way to deal with 
the truth. Well, you just generate error and propagate heresy and 
distort and attack and assassinate the character of those who bring 
the truth. I mean, isn't that precisely 
what we see going on in the book of Acts? These men don't ultimately 
repent and bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. So they tell 
about the situation. Now note the creation of the 
false narrative, verses 12 to 15. We've already looked at the 
background. The background is in verses 62 
to 66 in chapter 27. Now, isn't it ironic? The very thing they allegedly 
are afraid of and they use as a means by which they get Pilate 
to authorize guards, the very thing they are allegedly afraid 
of happening is the very thing they say happens because they 
don't like the alternative. Let me explain that. In Matthew 
27, when they come to Pilate, they say, can we have extra guards? Can we make the tomb extra secure? Because we don't want it to be 
the case that his disciples come along and steal the body. Because if they steal the body, 
then they'll claim that he had been raised from the dead. This 
is the very narrative that they are now creating. Why? Because 
the alternative is worse. What's the alternative? That 
he actually rose from the dead. It's pretty pathetic, isn't it? 
Damage control mode, you take what was your alleged fear and 
now you stamp that with your approval and make that the official 
narrative. Because the contrary is just 
inconceivable. The thought that he actually 
rose from the dead will really destroy these chief priests. 
will really destroy their stronghold upon the people of Israel in 
the first century. It will really upset the apple 
cart if this man, in fact, rose from the dead. So we can't allow 
that. We've got to go into damage control mode. I mean, it's so 
common, it's so typical, it's so much the way things still 
are. You see facts or you hear truths, 
and then the media typically tells you just the opposite. 
It's like, how do these things happen? Well, one, you've got 
wicked people at the helm, and two, you've got foolish people 
that pay attention to them. Just incredibly foolish people. I mean, that this got traction 
in Judea in the first century is pretty unfortunate, but such 
is the case. So that's sort of the background. 
And I think when we look at this particular chapter, it shows 
the lie of these religious leaders in Matthew 27 at verse 42. Remember when Jesus is on the 
cross, in Matthew 27, 42, He says, or they say, He saved others, 
Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, 
let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him. 
No, you would not. You most certainly would not. 
It also confirms the truth of Jesus' words in Luke 16. Remember the parable of Divies 
or the rich man and Abraham? What does the rich man say? Abraham, 
go send word to my brothers, my father. I don't want them 
to perish and end up in this horrible place. And what does 
father Abraham said? They have Moses and the prophets. 
If they're not gonna listen to Moses and the prophets, they're 
not gonna listen to somebody who comes back from the dead. 
And I submit, brethren, in Luke 16, the primary target audience 
was unbelieving Israel. They have Moses and the prophets 
who testified concerning Jesus, and they've rejected and resisted 
that. They're certainly not going to listen to a man who's come 
back from the dead. This confirms that, and it illustrates 
that, and it highlights that very clearly. And then, of course, 
before we actually proceed to their plot, note the meeting 
itself in verse 12, the very beginning. It says, when they 
had assembled with the elders. Whenever anybody assembles with 
these religious elders, it's never good. Or when we see these 
religious elders assembling together in the Sanhedrin, which is the 
official council of Israel at this particular time. There are 
several instances where we see them assembling together. And 
it's not typically good. They assemble together to plot 
how to kill Jesus. They assemble together with Judas 
in order to pay him to betray Jesus. They assemble together 
in various locales with various wicked and nefarious ends, and 
it reminds us of the psalm that Pastor Porter read at the outset 
of worship. The rulers take counsel together 
against Yahweh and against his Christ. And you see, this is 
how the apostles applied Psalm 2 in their prayer in Acts chapter 
4. They saw the situation confronting our Lord Jesus in His first coming, 
and this opposition mounted by Pilate, by Herod, by the religious 
leaders of Israel, and they apply Psalm 2 to this. They take their 
stand together against God Most High and against His Christ, 
against His Anointed, against His Messiah. And that's precisely 
what's happening here. Now note their plot in verses 
12b to 14. First of all, the bribe. How 
do you get done what you want to get do? You pay for it. Money 
talks. You've all heard that. I don't 
think this is the first sort of time you've ever been introduced 
with that concept. We see money talking very loudly 
here. And you know, just by way of 
a corollary that I'll probably revisit later, these soldiers 
are fools to actually believe for a moment the integrity of 
these. We'll make you safe. We'll make 
you secure. Yeah, right. I would not trust 
men with my life that engaged in this kind of activity. But 
no, they offer to bribe. Now this bribe or this payoff 
or payola is reminiscent of the religious leaders paying Judas 
to betray Christ. These men have no problem spending 
money when it comes to advancing the cause of wickedness. These men have no problem spending 
money when it comes to advancing the false narrative. These men 
have no problem spending money when it comes to the murder of 
a good man, the Lord Jesus. Matthew Henry made this comment 
concerning the expenditure of money here. He says, let us never 
starve a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally supported? Just read that again. Let us 
never starve a good cause when we see a bad one so liberally 
supported. I've often thought that Gary 
North is absolutely right. Americans love their religion, 
and I might extend it across the border there. We love our 
religion, but we love it cheap. It's an amazing thing how many 
people can spend so much on home repairs or hobbies, and yet when 
it comes to a good cause, say the advancement of the gospel 
through faithful churches or missionaries, it's a lot of money. We just don't have it. We're just not led. You see, 
that's not my spiritual gift. Everybody's got the spiritual 
gift to teach and preach, but not many have the spiritual gift 
to dig down deep into their pockets and cough up. I've always wondered 
that. Why, in the distribution of the 
spiritual gifts, why so many feel themselves called to, you 
know, gospel ministry in China, and yet, you know, it's just 
not my thing to cut checks for those who go to China. I think 
that Matthew Henry is right. Let us never starve a good cause 
when we see a bad one so liberally supported. But with reference 
to this payment to the soldiers, as I said, it's reminiscent of 
the payoff to Judas. Whereas Judas has been bought 
to make use of what he knew, these guards are to be bought 
off to suppress what they knew. So they pay Judas to find out 
or rather to use his bank of knowledge. They pay these soldiers 
to just keep quiet, to just shut their mouths. We're going to 
create the narrative for you. We're going to tell you what 
it is you need to say. We're going to concoct this story 
about a stolen body theory. but never tell anybody about 
the descent of this angel, never tell anybody about this earthquake, 
never tell anybody about the fact that the tomb was empty, 
because that would pull the rug out from underneath this false 
narrative. You see, they pay them off. C.H. Spurgeon comments, for money, 
Christ was betrayed, and for money, the truth about his resurrection 
was kept back as far as it could be. Now, it is intriguing that 
this payoff shows us something that I've touched on earlier. 
It is a demonstration of their hatred for Jesus, isn't it? I 
mean, ever think there was just, you know, this bit of a skirmish 
between these religious leaders and Jesus? You know, some people 
stumble or struggle with Jesus' denunciation in Matthew 23, when 
he pronounces woes upon these scribes and Pharisees, and he 
calls them bags of snakes and hypocrites. Well, my oh my, Jesus, 
that's a bit harsh, isn't it? You don't realize, but this is 
a trigger to them. They may go home and need some 
therapy because you said some very harsh things to them. Jesus 
would not be welcomed on the modern university campus if it 
was populated with Pharisees and scribes. Oh, no, you can't 
come here and call them bags of snakes. You can't come here 
and call them hypocrites. You can't suggest that they strain 
out the gnat and they swallow the camel. Brethren, you can 
see why precisely Jesus does denounce in that way. These men 
hated him. All the way back in chapter 12, 
after the Sabbath wars, what does it say? They plotted how 
they may destroy him. This was an ongoing thing, 26, 
3 to 5. We need to take him by trickery 
and kill him, but we can't do it during the feast because everybody 
follows him and likes him, and it won't go over well if we take 
the national hero, at least to some degree, and we execute him. And that's when Judas comes along 
and they pay him the money to betray the Lord Jesus. These 
men are opposed to Christ. Not just competing religions. 
It's not just, well, you know, they're doing their best. They 
absolutely, positively despise the Lord Jesus Christ. Their 
payoff as well demonstrates their love, or rather their hatred 
for the truth. I've often thought this. Have 
you ever had a Jehovah's Witness come to your house and they give 
you literature and then you try to give them something? Do they 
accept it? If you're saying yes, you've 
not had the same ones. It's almost like you're passing 
them a disease. Well, let me just give you cancer. 
Oh, no, no, I don't want that. I took your thing, debunking 
allegedly the doctrine of the Trinity. Let me give you this 
little booklet, perhaps on setting forth the truth of the Trinity. 
My thought is the truth has nothing to fear, brethren. It has nothing 
to fear whatsoever. That's why the angel tells the 
women, come inside and look at the tomb. These men demonstrate 
their hatred of the truth. They oppose Christ. They oppose 
truth. I think it reveals something 
of their own power play and their own struggle to maintain dominance 
in religious life in Israel at the time. They are threatened. If Jesus is the real deal, if 
Jesus is who they say he is, then we're going to lose our 
power base. We're going to lose our power structure. We're going 
to lose our hold over the minds of people. They are threatened, 
and it shows in their reaction. And the payoff demonstrates just 
how far they will sink in their depravity. Isn't it that way? You kind of read Matthew's Gospel, 
and you see in chapter 12, they plot it to destroy him. And if 
you're a new Bible reader, you didn't know anything about this 
Jesus of Nazareth, and you started in Matthew's Gospel, you say, 
wow, this man only ever does good things. I mean, he's a great 
guy. He just goes from place to place 
healing, raising, feeding, and helping, and curing blind people, 
and giving them ears to hear. And that whole debacle, or debacle 
rather, however you say that particular word, in Matthew chapter 
12, has to do with Jesus showing kindness and mercy. And yet, 
they plot to destroy him? I wonder if new Bible readers 
ever say, wow, these guys are really high on themselves. They need to back it down. They 
need to chill out. This is nuts and crazy. As we 
move on in the narrative, we see only opposition. We see only 
hatred. We see it culminating in the 
religious leaders stirring up the very people themselves, all 
Israel, as we're told, to cry out, away with him, away with 
him, crucify him. He's hung up on a cross. He is 
executed as a common criminal. He is treated like the worst 
riffraff in that particular context. He's ultimately buried. He does 
raise the third day, and they're still opposed. Almost like you 
want to say, all right already, he won. He beat you. He is actually who he says he 
is. You need to throw in the towel. 
You need to cry, uncle. You need to tap out because you're 
engaged in folly and you're opposed to the God of heaven and earth 
and his Christ. It's a terrible, terrible situation 
these men find themselves in. And then notice the particular 
narrative that they weave or they conceive at verse 13. Now, 
again, this is pretty ironic in that this is what they allegedly 
feared. So what they allegedly feared 
would happen, and that the disciples would capitalize on this, and 
they would say that he had risen from the dead. They've really 
changed their story. R.T. France points out the irony 
here. He says, now that something much 
worse has happened, the actual resurrection of Christ, it is 
better to pretend that their plan to thwart Jesus' disciples 
had failed than to admit the reality of the resurrection they 
knew his disciples would now claim as fact. And I think that 
as we look at verse 13 here, we're gonna notice some big problems 
with it in just a moment, but before we actually look at the 
big problems, consider the wickedness of it. I mean, again, we Bible readers, 
we don't really stop to smell the flowers and the good scents, 
and we don't stop to sort of smell the rotten flowers. And 
this is some rotten stuff that we find in this particular passage. In the first place, they portray 
the soldiers as derelict in their duty, because the narrative involves 
them claiming that they were asleep. Again, for those of you 
who've been in the military, those of you who have served 
in that particular capacity, they don't like it when you fall 
asleep on duty. I know it's crazy, but it's not 
like, you know, I don't want to pick on any other job and 
say it's okay for you to go take a nap in the afternoon. I don't 
want to say that, but it kind of has to be said. You're a soldier, 
armed, guarding something, and you fall asleep, what can happen? You could be killed. The thing 
you're guarding could be seized. Every sort of thing could be 
compromised. So when a soldier fell asleep, 
in fact, you see instances in the book of Acts. It was a terrible 
thing for a soldier to claim or tell that he had fallen asleep, 
which I think speaks to the wickedness of these soldiers. Again, money 
talks. I'd rather have more money than 
have a good reputation as being a decent soldier. But it's also 
very wicked with reference to the disciples. Now, if I said 
to you in a fellowship luncheon, or I thought, if I said to you, 
you know, I think you cut in front of me and you took a bun 
that I sort of had my eyes on, you'd be offended, wouldn't you? 
I would. If somebody said, take the bun, 
have all the buns. I didn't mean to take the bun. 
But it would be sort of an insult if I were to suggest that you 
took, well, not even a bun, a cookie, the biggest cookie. You took 
that big cookie and I wanted it. Which that whole argument 
makes me sound like the really bad one in that scenario, but 
imagine that. Accusing somebody of taking a 
cookie. Imagine accusing somebody of 
robbing a grave. You know, on the scale of sins 
or crimes or things that you don't want to ever be true of 
you, I would have to think grave robbing would be a top five offense. In some places, in this particular 
time frame, in certain situations, it was considered a capital offense. Grave robbing is horrible. I 
mean, at what point has a guy left the reservation when he's 
actually going in to a grave to take a dead body out? The charge itself concerning 
the disciples is absolutely wretched. Then, of course, what it does 
with reference to Jesus, what it does with reference to His 
integrity, because in chapters 16, and chapter 17, and chapter 
20, and chapter 26, and throughout His gospel ministry, or throughout 
the gospel record, and in Matthew chapter 12, He announced that 
He would be raised on the third day. This was a wicked narrative. It was a bad thing. It was false, 
and it was evil. But as well, consider the implausibility. Implausible, kids, means that 
it's just unbelievable. It's just outlandish. It makes 
no sense. And I think Chrysostom made the 
good observation. He says, O most foolish of all 
men, for because of the clearness and conspicuousness of the truth, 
they are not even able to make up a falsehood. For indeed, what 
they said was highly incredible. The Geneva Bible says, the more 
the sun shineth, the more are the wicked blinded. So, it's 
not only a wicked message, but it's a very foolish, incredibly 
dumb, stupid message. Again, I realize that language 
is offensive. Some of you parents are raising 
your children and never say such things. Proverbs 12 and the New 
King James uses stupid as long as it's explained and used properly. such as in this particular scenario, 
it is legitimate. These men are fools. Look at 
what they suggest in verse 13. Now, this is implausible with 
reference to the disciples. The disciples were afraid. The 
disciples were timid. The disciples had abandoned Jesus 
at his arrest. The disciples for that first 
week are in a house in Jerusalem, sealed up for fear of the Jews, 
according to John 20. Now, would this timid band of 
men actually roll away a stone, remove a dead body from the tomb 
after having removed the body from its clothes, folded the 
grave clothes, and put them on the bench, and then went out 
and took this body? Now, I've been alive long enough 
to realize just about anything is possible, and people are really 
foolish, but this is an incredibly difficult thing to surmise. But 
then consider, with reference to the soldiers. Imagine if you went to court, 
and they called a star witness up to testify against you. And your lawyer says, what did 
you see on the night in question? Well, I was asleep, but I saw 
such and such and such and such and such and such. It doesn't 
take a star lawyer to realize that evidence is useless. You see, sleep is the opposite 
of consciousness, and it requires consciousness to see that sort 
of series of events, doesn't it? Again, I think that when 
we fall into patterns of sin, when we are hardened in sin, 
when we continue to abound in sin, it has a nasty effect upon 
the totality of our lives. We certainly see it physically. A man that engages in a particular 
form of sin oftentimes evidences that in his own body. But there's 
a mental effect. There's what's called a noetic 
effect. It affects the intellect of man. 
When you traffic in lies, when you traffic in falsehood, when 
you engage in this sort of subterfuge, it doesn't bode well for your 
decision-making abilities. And this narrative from the outset, 
this false narrative, is incredibly ridiculous. And just imagine, 
they were all asleep at the same time, these trained soldiers 
that had no doubt seen battle, that had guarded more difficult 
things to guard than the tomb of a dead man. They're not on 
a nuclear silo here. This isn't a camper team out 
in North Dakota Park. That's what they do. They have 
camper teams when the alarms go down. North Dakota is one 
of the largest nuclear resources on the face of the earth. They 
have missile fields and silos and all that sort of thing. Well, 
when the alarm goes down, what do you think they do? They send 
guys out to camp on that site. And if one of them is going to 
fall asleep, the other at least stays awake. They would never 
all fall asleep at the same time. And just imagine for a moment 
this narrative. They are asleep. They didn't 
hear any commotion. They didn't hear 12 or rather 
11 men pushing a large stone away from a tomb, taking a body 
out and then fleeing the scene. And if they were so sure it was 
the disciples, which again, from the unconsciousness of sleep, 
from the other side, they are able to know that this is in 
fact the disciples, they knew who the disciples were, why didn't 
they give chase? Why didn't they go to their house? 
Why didn't they search their quarters? Why didn't they look 
for evidence? I mean, the story is so full 
of holes, it's an amazing thing that these men would even posit 
such a thing. It is terrible, it is ridiculous, 
it is folly, it is foolishness. Now note, they go on to promise 
these soldiers something big. It says, verse 14, if this comes 
to the governor's ears, we will appease him and make you secure. 
This in and of itself is just incredible. Because remember 
in chapter 27, this was their concern. This is why they asked 
for the guards. If the guards had failed in their 
duty, who would have been the most upset? It would have been 
these religious leaders. Shouldn't that have cautioned 
or alerted Pilate to the situation? Wouldn't he have said to these 
religious leaders, why have you changed your tune? What's the 
deal? You wanted the guard, you posted 
the guard, the body's gone and now you don't want to blame the 
guard? You want to release the guard and say somehow that they've 
done fine or done well? And I thought this was interesting 
in verse 14. We will appease him and make 
you secure. We will appease him? What kind 
of power are these guys wielding in the first century? Well, some 
suggest it was a payoff, a bribe. Remember, Pilate's not this noble, 
wonderful fellow just ruling over, you know, Judea in the 
first century, doing all things virtuous and well. He's a wretch. So some suggest that the appeasement 
or this sort of conciliation with Pilate would be to grease 
his palm. But if it's not bribery, again, 
what kind of power are these guys wielding in the first century? 
It's pretty terrifying. And as I suggested earlier, these 
guards should not have followed along. The religious leaders 
would ensure the safety of the soldiers in a criminal hearing. That's what would result. Pilate 
would hear about this. There would be a criminal hearing 
with reference to this dereliction of duty. And the religious leaders 
would be right there to say, oh no, they were fine, they did 
fine, they were okay. How do you possibly explain what 
they did was fine? They were posted under taxpayer 
dollars to guard the tomb of a dead man and the dead man was 
gone. It's an incredibly foolish scenario 
that is put forth here. And then notice finally the propagation 
of the false narrative. The soldiers comply. Money talks 
and they listen. As I said, with reference to 
trusting these people, it's akin to 2 Kings chapter 18. If you 
were here on Wednesday night, you remember what we saw. Hezekiah 
pays off Sennacherib and the Assyrians. Sennacherib and the 
Assyrians show up at the fortified cities of Judah, and they want 
to take them. So Hezekiah says, let's pay them 
silver and gold. And Sennacherib imposes a large 
tribute upon him. So Hezekiah does what many of 
the kings did. They went to the temple and plundered 
the gold and the silver there and paid off Sennacherib. You'd 
think it was a done deal, wouldn't you? Nope. Sennacherib shows 
back up, ready to take Jerusalem. What, you mean we can't trust 
godless, heathen, pagan kings in the Assyrian Empire? Yeah, 
I guess we can't. You mean we can't trust religious 
leaders who are lying, thieving, conniving, deceiving, wretched 
men? No, you better not. I would not 
put my safety in the care of these wretches. With reference 
to the taking of the money, Spurgeon said, may none of us ever be 
affected by considerations of profit and loss in matters of 
doctrine, matters of duty, and matters of right and wrong. So they took the money and did 
as they were instructed and this saying, not that they met with 
the religious leaders, but this saying, the false narrative created 
by the religious leaders, this saying is commonly reported among 
the Jews until this day. Why? Why did it gain such traction? Well, there's probably some very 
good reasons why. First, the scientific difficulty 
of believing that people raised from the dead. It's the same 
sort of thing today, isn't it? I mean, when you talk about the 
resurrection to atheists or those who are not familiar with the 
Christian faith, what do they do? Oh, wow, that's great. Tell me 
more. They just roll their eyes and discount it. Come on, men 
don't rise from the dead. So that was certainly one of 
them. A second thing would be that it would be easier to believe 
in this lie than in the truth. Because if God in fact sent his 
son, the Lord Jesus, if the Lord Jesus was in fact Israel's Messiah, 
if Christ was the one prophesied by the prophets, they all stood 
in opposition to him. They were all antagonistic against 
him. They all raised the fist and 
said, away with him, away with him, crucify him. It becomes 
easier just to pretend that it really didn't happen than deal 
with the consequences. But then a third reason why they 
didn't receive it, or at least that this had some traction in, 
you know, first century Judea, the judgment of God. It's intriguing 
you don't find that in the modern commentators. This is an act 
of God's judgment. You certainly find it in Calvin 
and Gill, for they say this. Calvin says, it was the finishing 
stroke of the vengeance of God to blind the Jews, that the resurrection 
of Christ was buried by the perjury of the soldiers, and that so 
gross a falsehood was believed. Gil says, to which judicial blindness 
and hardness of heart were they given up, as to believe a lie 
which had no appearance of truth in it? Now, this story continued 
to at least the 150s. There was a man by the name of 
Justin the Martyr. He lived actually 110 to 165. 
And he has a dialogue with Trifo the Jew. And this comes up. It 
had some traction. It's still out there today. People 
would rather believe a lie than the truth and submit to the Lord 
God Most High. Well, in conclusion, we have 
seen, I hope, the wickedness of the religious leaders. We 
don't want to ever look at this gospel record and say, well, 
you got the religion of Jesus versus the religion of these 
Pharisees. It's just sort of two approaches. No, they're mutually exclusive. 
Jay Gresson Machen pointed that out with reference to liberalism 
in the early part of the 20th century. He says, we have been 
taught to look at liberal Christianity as a sort of subset of Christianity. He says, that's not the case. 
They are two diametrically opposed. They're contrary to one another. 
The religion of Jesus Christ was the religion of the prophet 
Isaiah, of Moses. The religion of the Pharisees 
was not. See, we have this sort of idea that the Pharisees were 
right insofar as it went, but if they would have taken this, 
they were godless men that opposed the law. Just because somebody 
says, law, law, law, doesn't mean they mean it. And if they 
twist the meaning of that law, doesn't mean law, law, law is 
a good confession. See, people say, oh, the Pharisees, 
they were these legalists and they had all these rules and 
all this stuff. They had a high view of the law. 
Never make that mistake. Our confession of faith has a 
high view of the law. Reformation Christianity has 
a high view of the law. These men had a perverted view 
of the law. That's what you need to appreciate 
when you read these gospel narratives. It's not, wow, they were high 
with reference to the law. No, they were wrong with reference 
to the law. When Jesus in the Sermon on the 
Mount says that you have heard that it was said to those of 
old, but I say to you, the antithesis isn't Moses and Christ, it's 
Pharisee and Christ, it's misinterpretation and Christ. He is showing us 
what Moses always intended in the preaching of the law. So 
these men are wicked. Secondly, we need to understand 
that the propagation of heresy, that means the sending forth 
of lies, isn't confined to the first century. The stolen body 
theory is what we find in this particular section. The idea 
that the disciples came along, stole the body, and then faked 
the resurrection. There's something called the 
swoon theory. Swoon theory simply says that 
Jesus didn't really die. This is the view of Islam. He 
didn't really die. He just appeared to be dead. 
He was in a coma-like state, so that when he was put into 
the tomb, it wasn't a resurrection from the dead. He came out of 
the coma. Some forms say that he pushed 
the stone away. You know, you got powerlifting 
Jesus pushing stones away and that sort of thing. The swoon 
theory, 1970s. There was a thing called the 
Passover plot. I think it was a movie. Well, 
this is the swoon theory. It's an attempt by God-haters 
to discredit the truth of scripture. It's not scientific. Oh, they've 
uncovered all this new research. Really? What kind of new research 
have they uncovered? Probably the most recent was 
a 2007 documentary. Don't you love that? I used to 
work with a fellow. You know, I was watching the 
Discovery Channel and you Christians don't know what you're talking 
about. Okay, so the Discovery Channel and the History Channel 
have now become normative for the proper interpretation of 
the Bible. Forget the church, forget Calvin, forget Gill. I mean, those guys were pikers. 
What do they know? You got a handful of Hollywood 
types up there interpreting the scripture for the masses. And 
this is where we've fallen, brethren. There was one produced by James 
Cameron. The lost tomb of Jesus. There 
was actually a tomb found in a construction dig, but of course, 
we don't know whose bones are in the tomb, except for James 
Cameron and his people. They know that it's Jesus of 
Nazareth. This isn't new, or rather, this 
isn't done. It continues. You know what the 
best way to combat heresy is? to run and hide. You might want 
to, but you're not supposed to. You're to preach the truth. I 
just, you know, I have this vision. I don't want to sound Martin 
Luther King-ish here, but I have this vision. The people in our 
church will be able to answer some of the basic objections 
to Christianity, be able to define that word justification, to be 
able to give an explanation of the Trinity. Maybe this vision 
is too big and I need to make it more modest, but I don't think 
so. I think each and every one of 
you need to be armed and ready. I think each and every one of 
you need to be able to take Peter's statement to heart, 1 Peter 3, 
sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart and always be ready to 
give a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 
It does not advance the cause when we say, well, I know there's 
answers to this whole issue about the swoon theory or about the 
stolen body theory. I don't have them. Now, there 
may be things, brethren, and that's a perfectly acceptable 
response. You know, explain to me the intricacies of superlapsarianism 
and infralapsarianism. Give me a week, I'll get back 
to you. That's okay? But if you can't give a fundamental, 
basic explanation of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, then 
change. Get smarter. Get alone with God, 
write yourself some notes, memorize some passages, and pray to God 
Most High to help you to give that reason for the hope that 
is within you. I love Peter's statement, always 
be ready. Not just when you come out of church. Notice we don't 
ever get hit by Jehovah's Witnesses when we walk out of church. So 
we're coming out of Uptown Grill, our bellies are filled with, 
you know, eggs and sausage and toast, and that's when we get 
it. Are we always ready? That's what we're supposed to 
be. It's intriguing, too, in 1 Peter 3. Guess what he doesn't 
do? Pastors, elders, teachers, doctors, 
reverends, here's what I want you to do. No, it's everybody. 
of the way Gordon Clark used to say, Sophie the wash woman 
ought to be able to contend earnestly for the faith which was once 
for all delivered to the saints. Brethren, we live in a day and 
age where so much of what we believe and so much of what we 
hold near and dear is under attack. It may not be conniving Jewish 
leaders in this particular setting, but it's all around us nevertheless. And then finally, We need to 
appreciate the contrast between the missions. We have the Great 
Commission, we have this counter mission. The religious leaders 
use bribe money to coerce the soldiers to go out and spread 
a lie. The Lord Christ uses the promise 
of his presence to tell his disciples to go out and spread the truth. This narrative propagated by 
the soldiers and the religious leaders gained traction in or 
among the Jews. The Lord's message, according 
to Matthew 28, 16 to 20, would penetrate all the nations. It would go forth. It would conquer. It would be victorious. It would 
indeed do that for which God sent it. There is a contrast 
in these missions. It is explained well by our brother 
John Calvin. He says, though this falsehood 
obtained currency among the Jews, this did not prevent the truth 
of the gospel from flying at liberty to the very ends of the 
earth, as it always rises victorious over all the obstacles in the 
world. And a final observation with 
reference to the contrast between these two missions. These religious 
leaders, they died. They ultimately stood in judgment 
before God Most High. What does the Master say? And 
lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. His presence, 
His power, His grace, His mercy, His goodness, His spirit is with 
us as we engage in the task, the blessed task, the privilege, 
the high calling to propagate the truth of the gospel. He lived, 
He died, He was raised the third day. This is the basis upon which 
our beloved brother Paul, preaching in Pisidian Antioch, makes this 
call to sinners. In fact, turn there and see this 
for yourself before you go home today. Acts chapter 13, it's 
a synagogue of the Jews. It's a Sabbath day. The apostle 
Paul is in there, and they ask him, do you have anything to 
say? Well, praise God, Paul's not 
us, because we'd say, no, I don't want to say anything. Paul gets 
up and he brings it. He preaches the truth. If you 
notice, specifically in Acts 13, 29, now, when they had fulfilled 
all that was written concerning him, they took him down from 
the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. He was seen for many days by 
those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are 
his witnesses to the people. and we declare to you glad tidings, 
that promise which was made to the fathers. Now notice in verse 
38, he applies his message. If you're not a believer here 
this morning in Jesus Christ, please listen to what Paul is 
saying here in chapter 13 at verse 38. He says, therefore, 
let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man is preached 
to you the forgiveness of sins. If you are not a believer here 
this morning, you are in your sins. You are under the just 
judgment and condemnation of God. You are liable for your 
offenses against God. You are liable for your adultery, 
and your blasphemy, and your Sabbath-breaking, and your insubordination, 
and your murder, and your adultery, and your theft, and your lies, 
and your covetousness. You are liable to a holy God 
for those sins. But notice what Paul says through 
this man. is preach to you the forgiveness 
of sins. Christian brothers and sisters, 
is there anything better than the forgiveness of sins? No. That's the boon. That's the blessing. That's the joy. That's what makes 
us happy. That's what drags us out of bed 
sometimes. That's what makes us to sing. 
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of 
the Lord. A lot of Christianity is misunderstood 
when we neglect this reality. Our sins are forgiven. Can I get an amen? I always wanted 
to do that. Through this man is preached 
to you the forgiveness of sins, now notice, and by him, everyone 
who, what? Believes. Not goes out and does penance, 
a la Romanism. Not goes out and makes a better 
attempt, a la carnal man. Not goes out and just tries harder. a la the natural disposition 
of all of us. By him, everyone who believes 
is justified. It's belief for justification 
from all things from which you could not be justified by the 
law of Moses. If you are in your sins this 
morning, there is one hope, there is one remedy, there is one answer, 
and that is faith in our Lord Jesus. It is a look, it is a 
live, it is a be saved. That is the glory of the Christian 
gospel. He died, he was raised, and he 
now is enthroned at the right hand of the Father. And all those 
who come to him in faith will be forgiven. Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you so very 
much for the gospel of our salvation. We thank you for the good news 
concerning Jesus, his life, his death, his resurrection. May 
we rejoice in these realities, and may we give praise and glory 
unto you, our great King. And may this gospel go forth, 
attended by the power of the Holy Spirit, and may today be 
the day of salvation. May sinners believe and know 
that wonderful truth of justification by grace alone, through faith 
alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Go with us now, we pray, and 
we pray in Christ's holy name. Amen.