Matthew 27:66

‘So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, the guard being with them.'

The consequence was that the guard was set. And in order to make sure that there was no funny business a seal was placed on the stone in such a way that if it was moved it would be apparent to all. Thus the tomb was made as sure as it could possibly be.

Note. Are There Any Grounds For Suggesting That No Guard Was Set?

The main grounds for such an argument is the fact that it is not mentioned by anyone but Matthew. But while that certainly indicates that the evidence is not as strong as it would have been if it had been mentioned in all four Gospels, it is not really a good reason for rejecting the idea. The reason for its non-mention is rather that it was not seen as of much importance by the other evangelists. We can see why it was important to Matthew, writing in a Jewish environment with Jewish Christians and Jews in mind, for there all kinds of rumours had probably been spreading. But in a Gentile environment, where such rumours did not arise, it would not have been seen as being something of first priority. Are there then any positive grounds for seeing it as probable that a guard was set?

* The first positive ground is given in the passage itself, the fact that Jesus had been making such claims and that they would want to guard against them. We can see that making sure that the body of Jesus was kept secure could well have been seen originally as an important priority by Jesus' opponents in the light of claims that had been made that He would rise from the dead.

* The second lies in the fact that Matthew (or his source) was unlikely to invent such a story, and then immediately render it doubtful by mentioning the possibility of the soldiers being asleep. That would have to be seen as totally inept. The only reason why he would have done this is because this is what actually happened, and was the cause of the rumours that had been spread.

* The third lies in the fact of the complicated way in which the idea is introduced. An inventor would simply have stressed the putting of a guard on the tomb. He would not have considered the importance of Pilate being brought into the matter, and if his intention was to bring in Roman soldiers then he would have made the matter quite clear (as the later apocryphal Gospel of Peter does).

* The fourth lies in the delay in putting on the guard. An inventor would either have put the guard on at once, or would have explained that a check was made to ensure that the body was still there.

* The fifth lies in the fact that Matthew has already demonstrated that he was aware of things not recorded in the other Gospels. Thus there is no reason why we should doubt that he knew of this incident either.

* The sixth lies in the unlikelihood of Matthew making this claim if he did not have good reason for knowing that it was true. For if his Gospel has revealed anything it is his high moral stance.

* The seventh lies in the fact that the matter was never disputed, even though Matthew wrote with Jews in mind. People were still alive when Matthew wrote who had been in Jerusalem at the time. Yet neither honest friend or suspicious foe ever at the time denied the existence of guards on the tomb.

Given these arguments we really need to have very good grounds before we doubt Matthew's truth and accuracy, and there are in fact none at all.

End of note.