2000 years later and Jesus Christ still hasn't been on the cover of rolling stone magazine ?---- LET'S FIX THAT !

Posted : 2 Apr, 2021 08:14 AM

Matthew 27:66 So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard





Sealing the stone and setting the guard: This describes the measures taken to secure the tomb of Jesus



The tomb was secured by a stone, which was a material obstacle. These stones were large, and set in an inclined channel. This was a real obstacle. For sure, the stone could not be rolled away from the inside. The disciples, if you had enough of them, could roll away the stone – but not quietly. Besides, they would have to work together to roll it away, and that didn’t seem likely.



The tomb was secured by a seal, which was an obstacle of human authority. The seal was a rope, overlapping the width of the stone covering the entrance to the tomb. On either side of the doorway, there was a glob of wax securing the rope over the stone. You could not move the rock without breaking the seal. It was important that the guards witness the sealing, because they were responsible for whatever was being sealed. These Roman guards would watch carefully as the stone was sealed, because they knew their careers, and perhaps their lives, were on the line. The Roman seal carried legal authority. It was more than yellow tape barricading a modern crime scene; to break a Roman seal was to defy Roman authority. That stone was secured by the authority of the Roman Empire.



The tomb was secured by a guard, which was an obstacle of human strength. A typical Roman guard had four soldiers. Two watched while the others rested. This guard may have had more. The soldiers would be fully equipped – sword, shield, spear, dagger, armor. We should also remember that these were Roman soldiers. They didn’t care about Jesus or Jewish laws or rituals. They were called to secure the tomb of a criminal. To them the only sacred thing at this tomb was the Roman seal, because if that were broken, their careers were ruined and they might be executed themselves. Soldiers cold-blooded enough to gamble over a dying man’s clothes were not the kind of men to be tricked by trembling disciples, or would not jeopardize their necks by sleeping at their post.



None of these obstacles mattered. They all fall away before Him!



· Material obstacles don’t stand before the resurrected Jesus.



· Human authority doesn’t stand before the resurrected Jesus.



· Human strength doesn’t stand before the resurrected Jesus



1 Kings 8:27 But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built

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