In recent years, I find myself skeptical of almost every NEWS article, whether it be on a screen or on paper. I may be more cynical than other people, but I don’t think I’m alone in this viewpoint, since the term “Fake News” became a common part of our everyday language around 2017. That must mean that false stories told in a way that the public is meant to believe must be a fairly new development, right? Wrong. It’s been going on a long time!
In Matthew 27:62-28:15, we read about what the chief priests and Pharisees did after they finally achieved what they hoped for: the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Some of their number remembered that this “impostor” claimed that He would rise again on the third day after His death, therefore they needed to take precaution so the disciples of Jesus couldn’t go in the dead of night, steal away Jesus’ body, and spread the “false message” that He had risen from the dead. If that were to happen, all of their plans to crush this Jesus movement would come to nothing.
So, they set about to make sure that didn’t happen. The Pharisees approached Pilate and demanded a guard of soldiers to watch over the tomb, which Pilate agreed to. The religious leaders then sealed the large gravestone, which means a cord or rope was fastened with clay or wax, and stamped with an official mark to indicate that the tomb was under Roman authority and must not be disturbed.
The sun rose on Sunday morning, and two mourning women went to the tomb to remember their Lord. After reading the end of chapter 27, we assume they would be surprised when they ran into Roman guards, but the real shocker was that a HEAVENLY guard scared the Roman guards to death and then told the women the news that Jesus, the crucified One, is alive, and they must go share that news with the other disciples!
The terrified Roman guards ran into town and told the chief priests this alarming account, which put the priests in the awkward position of having to cover all of this up, so they offered the guards a sufficient bribe and told them to share the news that “His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep”.
The Bible tells us that the Gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is of “first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:1-8), but that might just be “insider information”, told by Jesus-followers to keep the story alive, right? However, in addition to the Bible, there are many external sources that also affirm this: Josephus, Tacitus, Seutonius, and Pliny the Younger, to name a few.
So, now that you have read this account of the resurrection of Jesus, what do you think? Is this fake news? Or is it truly “good news”?
