Make It Secure

Matthew 27:62-66

March 29, 2024 (Good Friday) • Mount Pleasant UMC

And so, Jesus was dead. Of that there could be no doubt. His followers had seen him die, watched as he gave up his spirit. The Roman soldiers made doubly sure by thrusting a spear into his side, leaving a gash from which blood and water flowed. Pilate, the Roman prefect, had confirmed his death and Nicodemus, a secret follower of Jesus, had taken the body down and buried it in his own, new tomb which was nearby. Jesus was dead. He had spent the last three years preaching and teaching and training his disciples. They had become convinced he was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. And now he was dead and gone. His body was laying in a tomb behind a huge, heavy rolling stone. Those disciples were in hiding, mourning the loss of their friend and rabbi. Have I made my point? Jesus was dead.

So why were the religious leaders still so agitated? Why were they still worried about Jesus? Well, at some point in the proceedings, they remembered something else he had said. It was, apparently, something the religious leaders were very concerned about but Jesus’ own followers hadn’t paid much attention to (cf. Card, Matthew: The Gospel of Identity, pg. 246). The religious leaders remembered that Jesus had said he would rise again.

Tonight, we are at the end of the Lenten season. For these last few weeks, we have been hanging out around the cross of Jesus, and tonight in just a few moments we’re going to hear the story pretty much in its entirety. But before we do that, we’re going to make one more stop near the cross as we again listen in to a word spoken back to the cross, a response to what Jesus did on the cross. The only person in this series who gets two words is Pontius Pilate, the Roman ruler, and the one who officially condemned Jesus to death. You might remember his earlier word, as he confronted the religious leaders who had brought Jesus to him. He was the one who wrote down the charges against Jesus, that he was the “King of the Jews,” and when the religious leaders protested, he said, “What I have written, I have written.” They didn’t get their way then, but now, at the end, they come back to Pilate, asking him for yet another favor.

It is interesting, though, when Matthew says they come to Pilate. Remember that Jesus was crucified on Friday before Passover, and buried before sundown. Saturday is the Jewish sabbath—or, rather, from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday is the Sabbath—the day when no work is supposed to be done. It’s the day of rest. And this is the Passover sabbath, which is one of the highest holy days on the Jewish calendar. Friday was called “Preparation Day,” the day when the lambs were sacrificed and prepared for the Passover Feast. The meal, then, was typically eaten on Friday evening and all day Saturday was a day of rest. But Matthew says Saturday is when the “chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate” (27:62). He specifically says it is “the next day, the one after Preparation Day” (27:62), which means that these religious leaders, who were so careful not to go into Pilate’s residence the day before so that they weren’t unclean for the Passover meal, are now willing to break “one of their own most sacred Sabbath laws” in order to make sure Jesus stayed dead (cf. David, Come Alive: Matthew, pg. 233). And all because they remembered this rumor that Jesus had said he would rise from the dead.

Jesus hadn’t kept it a secret; he had said it quite openly several times. He told his disciples and others that he would suffer and die and after three days he would rise again (cf. Matthew 17:22-23). His disciples either didn’t hear it or they chose not to take it seriously because they didn’t understand what he meant by “rising from the dead.” Certainly he couldn’t have meant physically rising, could he? I mean, dead men don’t rise. A lot of times when people say things that are outside of our frame of reference or what we’re used to hearing, we hear what we expect to hear and we miss the most important things that are said. I think that’s what happened to Jesus’ disciples, but not to these religious leaders. Oh, I don’t think they believed Jesus would actually rise from the dead, but when they go to Pilate they say they think the disciples will come and steal his body to make everyone think Jesus had risen (27:63-64; Kalas, Seven Words to the Cross, pgs. 56-57). I think these religious leaders way overestimated the courage of Jesus’ disciples because they are no where to be seen during these days. They are hiding, most likely afraid that Rome or the religious establishment is going to come after them next and do to them what they did to Jesus. The disciples are behind closed doors while the chief priests and Pharisees are talking to Pilate.

They call Jesus “that deceiver” (27:63). They can’t even say his name. Instead, they use a title that is typically reserved for Satan: the Deceiver (Davis 233). Imposter. Misleader. And because they believe Jesus’ followers will participate in his deception, they ask Pilate to secure the tomb so that no one can steal the body. Pilate, who honestly seems bored with the whole situation, tells them to do whatever they want to do. He sends a guard with them (not a single guard, but rather a detachment of Roman soldiers) and tells them to “make the tomb as secure as you know how” (27:65). And so (and remember this is the Sabbath, when no one was supposed to be doing any work, least of all chief priests and Pharisees), they go and put a seal on the stone. This “seal” probably consisted of wax or clay around the edge of the stone, indicating that the person inside really was dead and that the stone had not been moved once put in place. Sort of like safety seals that are put on products to indicate that they haven’t been tampered with. That’s the idea here. The tomb is sealed. It’s closed. If anyone tampers with it, we will know. If they try to steal the body, we will be able to catch them. They even posted a guard outside the tomb—Roman soldiers to guard a dead man (cf. Davis 233).

Pilate’s word to the cross: “Make the tomb secure.” Jesus was not going to fulfill his promise to “rise again” if the religious leaders and the Roman officials had anything to do with it. But seriously, did they really think they could make a tomb secure against God’s power (cf. Kalas 57)? Did they think God paid any attention to their little wax seal and their Roman guard? Friends, we gather here on Good Friday evening to remember the death of Jesus, and all that he did to accomplish our salvation. But we also gather here because we know the rest of the story. This would be a pretty gloomy night if we didn’t, and there’s no way we could call this Friday “good.” Here’s what we know: Pilate spoke a futile word to the cross because there is not a tomb in the world that can imprison Jesus (cf. Kalas 58).

I’m reminded of a story that takes place just a short time after this, when the followers of Jesus are out and about preaching in his name, and they find themselves arrested once again by the religious officials. They must have gotten tired of that happening to them! But, anyway, this time they are put on trial, and a wise teacher named Gameliel eventually speaks up and makes a case for the Jesus followers. He says, “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39). That’s exactly the word these religious leaders and Pilate needed to hear, because anyone who seeks to stop Jesus will find themselves “on a hopeless assignment” (cf. Kalas 58). Again: there is not a tomb in the world that can imprison Jesus. There’s not a seal in the world that can stop God.

That hasn’t stopped many throughout history, and especially in the last century, from trying. I think of Nazi Germany and how the official state church was co-opted into being an ally for Hitler. But an underground church, the Confessing Church, was formed and they dared to stand against the evils of the National Socialist Party. Its leaders paid a price, but the church stood strong. Or I think of the way the Soviet Union declared itself to be an atheistic state, and the Russian Orthodox Church was proclaimed as a relic of the past. Within a generation or two, the communists said, the church in Russia would be dead. And yet, when the Iron Curtain lifted, there was the church of Jesus Christ, alive and well and as strong as ever. Many attributed the success of the church to the grandmothers who never quit praying; in other words, if you’ve got a grandmother praying for you, just give up. The church stood strong in Russia and it also stands strong in China, who has tried to play out the same story. When will these leaders ever learn? You can’t imprison God, and you can’t seal Jesus in a tomb. Make the tomb secure? It can’t be done. It simply can’t be done.

And yet…it’s not just world leaders who try to confine Jesus. We do it, too, when we become half-hearted in our faith or we seek prestige or security instead of Jesus. That can happen to clergy and laity alike, let me assure you. It happens when we determine we will come to church if we like the music, if the service is “entertaining,” if the sermon doesn’t upset me too much, if I have nothing else to do that day. When we get focused on our own comfort at church and stop being disturbed by the thousands upon thousands of people outside these doors who are without Christ, when we worry more about the color of the carpet then we do the state of our soul, we have thrown a heavy stone across the door of the tomb and sealed it shut (cf. Kalas 60). When the church becomes just another agency for social service and relief, when we forget that our primary mission is making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and when we lose sight of the significance and the centrality of the cross, we push Jesus back into his tomb. “Stay in there,” we say. “We will call for you when we need you.” Do we put more hope for the future in political action and give the same commitment to Christ’s church that we give to a community club? Or let me ask it another way: if everyone had the same commitment to Christ and his church that you have, what would the church be like? Here’s the bottom line: Jesus can’t be confined, but he will not stay where he is not welcome.

In just a few moments, we are going to read and sing our way through the passion story of Jesus Christ. It will end with Jesus in the tomb and the tomb sealed shut, just as Pilate ordered and the religious leaders accomplished. And that’s where we will stay, like the disciples did long ago, until Sunday morning. It is important for us to sit with that reality, that for a time Jesus was in the tomb and hope had seemed to go out of the world. We can’t really appreciate the joy of Easter if we’ve not seen the tomb sealed shut. But some of us are content to stay there, to keep Jesus confined and unable to meddle in our lives. I want you to hear one thing tonight, especially if that’s you: Jesus is “the Source and Power of life eternal” (Kalas 61). He cannot be confined and he cannot be stopped. He wants to change your life, and he wants you to cast your lot in with him. When you do, things will forever change. The forces of Hell itself try to speak this final word to the cross: “make the tomb secure.” But it is a futile word because Sunday is coming and nothing and no one can hold back the Son of God. Amen and amen.