SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/16/2024 8:06 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “The Plot”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
28:11-14
Message of the verses: “11 Now while they were
on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief
priests all that
had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted
together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said,
"You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we
were asleep’ 14 "and if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will
win him over and keep you out of trouble."
I begin this SD with the first part of verse 12 “And
when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, and they did
this as to how they might best obstruct the spreading of the news the soldiers
had brought. MacArthur adds “Counseled
together was a formal phrase used of official decisions (see Matt. 12:14;
22:15; 27:1, 7), and at this meeting the Sanhedrin decided on a three-point
resolution: to bribe the soldiers, to
spread a lie about the body, and to protect the soldiers from possible reprisal
by Pilate.” I think that in other words
they are covering up the resurrection of Jesus Christ by spreading lies. If you can’t stand the truth because it gets
in your way of ruling then you lie.
Now
as far as how much money a large sum of money is we really don’t know as it is
not specified, but because there were possibly a dozen guards to be bribed and
the Sanhedrin was desperate, it probably was a considerable sum. MacArthur explains “Agurion (money) literally means silver, and is the same word used
in Matthew 26:15 for the bribe given to Judas to betray Jesus. Because they had so much at stake, the
Sanhedrin did not hesitate to pay a high price for the lie to be spread.”
Now
I want to move into the second part of the resolution and that was a plan to
disseminate the falsehood as widely as possible. Because the soldiers were at the tomb and had
their own reasons for spreading the lie, they were the obvious candidates for
the job. Now the soldiers were
instructed to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we
were asleep.” This verse has always
caused me to wonder how they knew that happened while they were asleep. MacArthur writes “Both the guards and the
Sanhedrin knew full well that was not true, otherwise they would not have had
to devise such a false and preposterous story.
The purpose of the lie was to hide the truth.” (Kind of sounds like politics to me.)
So
what we see here is that it was the soldiers who became the first persons to preach
that antigospel falsehood, and I have to say they were certainly not the last
to do this. The soldiers, as explained
by MacArthur “were pagan, materialistic, self-indulgent, and hardened to every
sort of evil. Telling what to them was a
trivial and insignificant lie was a small price to gain the Sanhedrin’s favor
and protection.”
Now
we move to the third part of the Sanhedrin’s resolution that was offered
protection to the soldiers. “if this
should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of
trouble." In an earlier SD I talked
about what would have probably happened if Pilate found out these soldiers were
asleep, which was they probably would have been executed for sleeping on the
job, so getting money from the Sanhedrin and keeping the news away from Pilate
was a win, win for them.
MacArthur
concludes: “By threatening to make an
unfavorable report to Caesar, the Jewish religious leaders had usually managed
to have their way with Pilate. They knew
he would not risk trouble with Caesar over the disposition of a Jewish
corpse. If the Sanhedrin came to the
soldiers defense, the governor probably would give them no more than a
reprimand.
“By
that resolution the Jewish leaders willfully rejected Christ, despite the evidence,
and that spiritual obstinacy gave testimony to the apostasy of Israel’s
leaders.”
That
was then and this is now as many in Israel are coming to realize that their
Messiah has already come and His name is Yeshua .
10/16/2024 8:35 AM
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