In Joseph’s Tomb
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He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.
Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure
as ye can.”
Matthew 27:62-65
.
The priests gave directions for securing the sepulcher. A great
stone had been placed before the opening. Across this stone they
placed cords, securing the ends to the solid rock, and sealing them
with the Roman seal. The stone could not be moved without breaking
the seal. A guard of one hundred soldiers was then stationed around
the sepulcher to prevent it from being tampered with. The priests did
all they could to keep Christ’s body where it had been laid. He was
sealed as securely in His tomb as if He were to remain there through
all time.
So weak men counseled and planned. Little did these murderers
realize the uselessness of their efforts. But by their action God was
glorified. The very efforts made to prevent Christ’s resurrection are
the most convincing arguments in its proof. The greater the number of
soldiers placed around the tomb, the stronger would be the testimony
that He had risen. Hundreds of years before the death of Christ, the
Holy Spirit had declared through the psalmist, “Why do the heathen
rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and
against His anointed.... He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the
Lord shall have them in derision.”
Psalm 2:1-4
. Roman guards and
Roman arms were powerless to confine the Lord of life within the
tomb. The hour of His release was near.
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