Before we turn to the few verses in our gospel reading about the guards going to the chief priests and becoming part of a conspiracy to cover up the truth, I think we should look at the disciples at the Last Supper. That scene gives us a good backdrop to understand the contrast that is happening.
You know the stories of the Last Supper well. Jesus meets with his twelve disciples to celebrate the Passover holiday. They share a bread and wine meal which becomes the root of holy communion. Among the things Jesus says is that the disciples will all become scandalized by what will happen to him. Peter says, “Though all become scandalized by because of you, I will never be scandalized by you.” To which Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter then replies, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so say the other disciples.
I don’t know what was going on in Peter’s head at that moment, but I think he was imagining some great and valiant scene where he lays down his life for Jesus. Perhaps he pictures a pitched battle where he is standing beside Jesus, both of them with swords and shields fighting their enemies. And then, Peter notices that someone has thrown a spear that will certainly penetrate Jesus’ body and kill him. But Peter throws himself in the path of the spear and takes it instead. In his dying moments he locks eyes with Jesus. Jesus sees Peter’s love and commitment as he falls to his death. Peter’s death in this way would be a mark of devotion, integrity, and valor.
This is likely along the lines of what all the disciples are picturing as they too promise they will stay faithful to Jesus to the end, no matter what horrors lie ahead.
Of course none of them were ready for what actually happened. After the meal Jesus would go out to Gethsemane; a location somewhere on the Mount of Olives, which overlooks Jerusalem. It is dark. Jesus is troubled and prays. Then Judas, one of their very own, arrives with a crowd carrying swords and clubs. One of the disciples draws his sword and makes a sloppy attack. He cuts off the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus rebukes the attack and all defensive maneuvers He allows himself to be led away without resistance.
All too quickly Jesus is put on trial, he is found guilty, and he is sentenced to be immediately executed by crucifixion. All through it Jesus offers no defense. It is as if he accepts guilt without question.
We have to remember that crucifixion was more than just a horrifically painful way to die. It was shameful to be tortured, and then have your body hung up for public display as you die. It was also considered by Jews to be a cursed way to die. To be crucified meant that not only did God reject you, but it was a sign that you had been cursed by God.
So, even though Peter and the disciples had promised they would stick by Jesus no matter what; even to death, they were not prepared to lay down their lives for someone cursed by God and dying in shame. Where’s the valor in that? Where’s the glory, the dignity, the honor? There is none.
Before we turn to the soldiers who guarded Jesus’ tomb, let’s remind ourselves of a great irony in our faith. Though many religions are portrayed as ultimately being about kindness and charity to the least in society, Christianity is different at its core. No other religion or belief system has at its core the shame and rejection that Christianity does. I believe that Christianity is the best religion in the world. I believe it is the only religion that is actually true and the only one that gives this world even a faint glimmer of hope. But there is no room in Christianity to boast of that. Even as authentic Christianity can make such claims, it must always do so with absolute humility. We can’t say that Jesus died for us without also accepting that Jesus’ shameful crucifixion is the price of our own sins. (We recognize that perhaps we would be willing to die with valor. But we would not dare to die for Jesus, the condemned and rejected criminal.) To be an authentic Christian one must accept that one is so fundamentally failed and needy that you need to turn to God begging for a love you can never deserve.
When those guards took their posts at Jesus tomb they knew full well that nothing would happen. The whole idea was absurd. Jesus’ followers were not going to suddenly become courageous and come and steal the body; and then cook up some story about Jesus being raised from the dead by God. Do you realize how absurd that idea is? If a crucified man is cursed by God then why would God resurrect such a person? And if Jesus’ followers fled without a fight when he was captured, they certainly aren’t going to show their sniveling cowardly faces at this point.
Last week at the sunrise service I joked about how the guards must have felt about this assignment. Perhaps they thought it was a cake job. Nothing could possibly happen and they’d enjoy one of their easiest assignments ever. Or perhaps it was an insult to be given a task of no importance that required no skill. Oh, but how wrong they were!
It turns out that Jesus’ obedience to the will of God - all the way to innocently being arrested, beaten, and shamefully executed – meant that death could not hold him; at least not for long. A power greater than death had been unleashed. No tomb or stone or guard was going to be able to stop it.
The guards failed miserably. You may remember from last week that there was an earthquake and an angel descended. Matthew says that for fear of the angel the guards shook and became like dead men. Isn’t it forever funny that the executed guy in the tomb isn’t there anymore because he’d been resurrected, while the very much alive guards outside the tomb have become like dead men?
Last week we read that the women followed the instructions of the angel. They went and told the disciples that Jesus had been raised and they would see him in Galilee. Then this week we started off with, “While [the women] were going, some of the guard went into the city…” So the women are going one way bearing an unbelievable truth. The guards are going another way to create plausible lie to everything that happened.
Here we see the way evil is undaunted by its failure with Jesus. The guards head off to conspire to spread lies. They are paid well for it too. Remember that Judas was paid to betray Jesus? Such is the way of the world. If you don’t have the actual truth on your side then use money to buy the truth that you want to have. That’s still the way of the world today.
There’s one more thing that we’ll see developed in next week’s gospel reading. Next week we’ll read the Great Commission where Jesus sends his disciples into the whole world to make disciples. Jesus tells them they should “teach everything I have commanded you.”
That word “teach” is important. Earlier in Matthew’s gospel when Jesus sent his disciples out on missionary trips he told them to: proclaim the good news, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. And though they were told to proclaim the good news, they were not empowered to teach. That may seem like a trivial thing, but it is not. Only with their knowledge of the truth of the crucifixion and the resurrection are the disciples now equipped enough to actually teach the truth.
That word teach also shows up in our gospel reading for today, but it gets mistranslated. The final verse would be better translated, “So [the guards] too the money and did as they were taught.”
Ultimately then, Jesus disciples, who failed him when they saw the shame and curse that was coming onto Jesus, are now equipped to go into the world to teach the truth. Meanwhile the religious leaders, who kept their positions of honor and integrity, are now sending out their own people to teach lies.
What a twisted world we live in! I would always encourage honor, integrity, and even valor. Yet do not confuse them with the truth. And tangled shame-filled failure may well convey truth so profound that death cannot keep it down. Therefore, through all things we live in awe of God’s love. We recognize our need for it, and all others need for it as well. Let me end with this quote by C.S. Lewis in his children’s book, Prince Caspian, “You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”
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