Everybody throw out your Sunday School papers with the pictures of Roman guards sleeping at the Tomb. They were Jewish guards, not Roman.
Says who? Says Matt 27:57-66; 28:11-15 - the only Gospel accounts of the Burial and Resurrection mentioning the guard detail.
1. Matt 27:60 - a Jew buries Jesus and rolls the stone in front: Joseph of Arimathea, probably with another Jew, Nicodemus. No Romans present. They didn't even know, except for Pilate.
2. Matt 27:64-66 - the Jews ask Pilate to make the tomb secure. Pilate says, "You have a guard." This was an indicative statement, not an imperative. "You've already got a police department. [Which the priests did.] Go ahead and do it." So THEY go and secure it. It may have been a Roman seal on the Tomb. Not important to my point. The Jewish police were given the authority to put it on.
3. Matt 28:11 - after the Breakout, the guards report to the chief priests. Roman guards would not do this; they would go to Pilate.
4. Matt 28:15 - the conspiracy of the lie is a Jewish one, reported among the JEWS. The only Roman involvement was the seal, which God's power broke, too.
Not a major point of doctrine, and not meant anti-Semitically, of course.
I have a question Steve. If the guards were Jewish guards, why in Matthew 28:14 do we read, "And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble."
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Roman governor would care if Jewish guards messed up, but if they were Roman guards, not only would he care, but the guards would be in fear of him finding out, because as far as I know, the penalty for sleeping at your post was rather sever.