Matthew Chapter 27, Part 2

Christogenea on Talkshoe – September 16th, 2011 – Matthew Chapter 27, Part 2

I think of the Nuremberg trials, or the fate of Sylvia Stolz, or see what they did to Germar Rudolf and Udo Walendy and Robert Faurisson, and a thousand other unjust railroadings in this day, and I think of the trials of Christ. Taken by force in the middle of the night by a mob of so-called officials, the jewish tyranny often operates in much the same way today, which is the same way as the bolsheviks also operated in Soviet Russia. Wherever you find jews, you find tyranny and oppression conducted in the name of justice.

This is the twenty-second week of our presentation and discussion of the Gospel of Matthew. It will require at least one more week after tonight to bring it to completion. Last week we left off with Matthew chapter 27, verses 20 through 23, and we shall commence by repeating those tonight.

24 And Pilatos, seeing that nothing helps, but rather a tumult arises, taking water washed the hands before the crowd, saying “I am innocent from the blood of this man! You see to it!” 25 And responding all the people said: “His blood is upon us, and upon our children!” 26 Then he released Barabbas for them, but having scourged Yahshua he handed Him over in order that He would be crucified.

Discussing these circumstances at the end of last week's program, we focused on the situation that Pilate was in, and how it was difficult for him to avoid handing Yahshua Christ over to their desires. To me, this situation of Pilate's encapsulates something which has been a dilemma for our race since the beginning: the failure of man to properly confront evil, in exchange preferring love of the world and one's own comfort. Indeed, Pilate may have resisted the blood-thirty desires of the jews, but then he would have had to deal with their riotous behaviour and all of the political fallout which would certainly have followed. Christ Himself certainly understood Pilate's situation, and therefore said that “he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin”, as we read at John 19:11 in the discourse between Christ and Pilate which Matthew did not record.

Let us consider these verses from Psalm 26 in consideration of Pilate: ”5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. 6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:”

But that is only half of what is going on in these few verses, where we also see the jews exclaim that “His blood is upon us, and upon our children!” Pilate washed his hands of the blood of Christ, denying any responsibility for it (an act also found in Scripture at Deuteronomy 21:6 and Psalm 73:13 as well as Psalm 26:6 and elsewhere, so we see this same idea in Hebrew and in Roman culture), and so the jews in turn accepted full responsibility. It may be fitting at this point to read the 22^nd Psalm, since it is related to both these things and to the events which are to follow shortly after:

KJV Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? 2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. [This mirrors the mockery of the jews who mocked Christ on the cross.] 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. 11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. [The power of the dog - the Jews who were responsible for His death. These, and not the Roman soldiers, were the dogs that encompassed him. These, and not the Roman soldiers who were merely following orders and doing what soldiers do, but the jews themselves, accepted responsibility for the death of Christ when they exclaimed “His blood is upon us, and upon our children!” They are responsible for the execution of Christ, and they are the dogs where it describes the “power of the dog”.] 21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. [The meek shall inherit the earth, Matthew 5:5] 27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds [clans, families] of the [Genesis 10, Deuteronomy 32:8] nations shall worship before thee. 28 For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations. 29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. 30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

In reference to Psalm 22:26-28, Deuteronomy 32:8 and Acts 17:26-27 should in turn be visited, where it is made evident that the nations of Psalm 22:26-28 are only those Adamic Genesis 10 nations.:

Deuteronomy 32:8: “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”

Acts 17:26-27 : “26 And He made from one every nation of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth, appointing the times ordained and the boundaries of their settlements, 27 to seek Yahweh. If surely then they would seek after Him then they would find Him, and indeed He being not far from each one of us.”

If there were not truth in Christianity, what would Christ have mattered to the jews after His death? The efficacy of the prophecies of the Bible prove that it is true over and again. The jews persecuted Christians in an attempt to conceal their crime, which can only be properly termed Deicide. One place where this is evident is at Acts 5:27-28: “27 And bringing them they stood them among the council. And the high priest questioned them 28 saying 'Did we instruct you with instructions not to teach by this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you desire the blood of this man to be brought upon us!'” Attempting to suppress His teaching and His name, they attempted to hide their own guilt.

27 Then the soldiers of the governor taking Yahshua into the Praetorium, the whole cohort gathered upon Him 28 and clothing Him they wrapped around Him a scarlet cloak, 29 and braiding a crown out of thorns they set it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand, and falling to the knees before Him they had mocked Him, saying “Hail! King of the Judaeans!” 30 And spitting at Him they took the reed and beat it on His head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they stripped Him of the cloak and clothed Him in His garments and led Him off for which to be crucified.

Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

32 And going they found a man, a Kurenaion with the name Simon. 

Many fools want to make Simon some sort of alien or brown squat-monster, simply because he was from Cyrene, which was in Africa. First, while Simon was a name found among the Greeks, it was mostly and originally a popular Hebrew name. Cyrene was a famous Greek settlement, on that part of the African coast adjacent to Egypt. The settlement is described by Greek historians as far back as Herodotus, and probably dates to at least the 7^th century BC, prior to the start of the Persian period. Simon was with all certainty a Judaean Hebrew from Cyrene, fulfilling his obligation to appear in Jerusalem for the Passover feast.

Him they had conscripted in order that he would carry His cross. 33 And having come to a place called Golgotha, which is called “Place of the Skull”, 34 they gave to Him wine mixed with bitters to drink, and having tasted it He did not wish to drink. 

Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

There are a lot of extant fables concerning this Golgotha. One recent character claims that the Ark of the Covenant is buried there, and he has his followers, even though there is absolutely no substance or merit to his claim, not one shred of solid evidence presented as proof, and he is found to contradict himself often. Another probable fable is found in the pseudepigraphal First Book of Adam and Eve. The earliest known versions of this work are esteemed to be in Arabic, and made their way to Ethiopic, where it was preserved along with the Enoch and other literature. Parts of it, according to Rutherford H. Platt, are found in the Talmud and in the Koran. I do not believe that this literature is canonical, at least in the form in which we have it now, but it is quite interesting in many respects. In the passage quoted below, note the use of phrases such as “kingdom of heaven” and “water of life”, which appear in the New Testament but are not found in the Old Testament. The ideas are in the Old Testament, but not the phrases themselves. In my opinion that betrays a Christian-era authorship for this book. Yet at the least, the book does reveal the attitudes and beliefs of at least some very early Christians.

From The Forgotten Books of Eden, by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr., [1926], The First Book of Adam and Eve, also called The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, chapter 42: 1 Then came the Word of God to Adam, and said unto him:--2 "O Adam, as to what thou sayest, 'Bring me into a land where there is rest,' it is not another land than this, but it is the kingdom of heaven where alone there is rest.3 "But thou canst not make thy entrance into it at present; but only after thy judgment is past and fulfilled.4 "Then will I make thee go up into the kingdom of heaven, thee and thy righteous seed; and I will give thee and them the rest thou askest for at present.5 "And if thou saidst, 'Give me of the Water of Life that I may drink and live'--it cannot be this day, but on the day that I shall descend into hell, and break the gates of brass, and bruise in pieces the kingdoms of iron.6 "Then will I in mercy save thy soul and the souls of the righteous, to give them rest in My garden. And that shall be when the end of the world is come.7 "And, again, as regards the Water of Life thou seekest, it will not be granted thee this day; but on the day that I shall shed My blood upon thy head in the land of Golgotha.8 "For My blood shall be the Water of Life unto thee, at that time, and not to thee alone, but unto all those of thy seed who shall believe in Me; that it be unto them for rest for ever."9 The Lord said again unto Adam, "O Adam, when thou wast in the garden, these trials did not come to thee10 "But since thou didst transgress My commandment, all these sufferings have come upon thee.11. "Now, also, does thy flesh require food and drink; drink then of that water that flows by thee on the face of the earth."12 Then God withdrew His Word from Adam.13 And Adam and Eve worshipped the Lord, and returned from the river of water to the cave. It was noon-day; and when they drew near to the cave, they saw a large fire by it.

Another old book which mentions Golgotha in relation to Adam and to Christ is called the Cave of Treasures. It will not be cited for this presentation, since while many people even in Christian Identity cling to parts of this work as fact, it is the product of a 6^th century Jacobite writer, and it is full of heresies and fantastic novelties which have no Scriptural basis whatsoever.

35 Then crucifying Him they parted His garments casting lots, 36 and being seated watched Him there. 37 And they set His charge above His head, being written: “This is Yahshua the King of the Judaeans”.

The King James Version adds to verse 35 the following: "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots". These words referring to Psalm 22:18 began to appear in Greek manuscripts of Matthew in the 9th century AD. It is evident that they may have been copied from Eusebius, or from certain Vulgate or Syriac manuscripts, where they also appear, and are perhaps originally a commentary note which made its way into the text.

The sign placed over His head, as Luke and John both attest, was written in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. All four gospels attest to the sign itself.

38 Then they crucify with Him two robbers, one on the right hand and one on the left. 

Isaiah 53:12: “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

39 And those going by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads 40 and saying: “He destroying the temple and building it in three days, save Yourself! If You are a Son of God, then You must come down from the cross!” 41 Likewise also the high priests mocking along with the scribes and elders said: 42 “He has saved others, is He not able to save Himself? Is He King of Israel? Let Him descend now from the cross and we shall believe in Him! 43 He trusted in God, He must deliver Him now if He wishes, for He said that ‘I am a Son of God’!” 

Psalm 22:7-8: “7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.”

The Bible is usually the best commentary and the best proof of itself. For that reason concerning many things I would usually rather save my own comments for necessary cultural and historical insights which may lend some help to understanding. Not all apocryphal books are alike, and some of them surely should have been included in Scripture. The following passage is from the apocryphal Wisdom of Salomon. I had also quoted this work earlier this presentation of Matthew, discussing chapter 16. Here is chapter 2 of the Wisdom of Salomon, from Brenton's Septuagint: “1 For the ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright, Our life is short and tedious, and in the death of a man there is no remedy: neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave. 2 For we are born at all adventure: and we shall be hereafter as though we had never been: for the breath in our nostrils is as smoke, and a little spark in the moving of our heart: 3 Which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air, 4 And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof. 5 For our time is a very shadow that passeth away; and after our end there is no returning: for it is fast sealed, so that no man cometh again.  [Remember that these words are being attributed to the thoughts of the ungodly!] 6 Come on therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present: and let us speedily use the creatures like as in youth. 7 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments: and let no flower of the spring pass by us: 8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be withered: 9 Let none of us go without his part of our voluptuousness: let us leave tokens of our joyfulness in every place: for this is our portion, and our lot is this. 10 Let us oppress the poor righteous man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the ancient gray hairs of the aged. 11 Let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth. [All of this sounds like the atheist and pagan attitudes which prevail again in this day. Consider the rest of this chapter in reference to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ, as well as the acts of the ungodly.] 12 Therefore let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings: he upbraideth us with our offending the law, and objecteth to our infamy the transgressings of our education. 13 He professeth to have the knowledge of God: and he calleth himself the child [or son] of the Lord. 14 He was made to reprove our thoughts. 15 He is grievous unto us even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, his ways are of another fashion. 16 We are esteemed of him as counterfeits: he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness: he pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed, and maketh his boast that God is his father. 17 Let us see if his words be true: and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him. [In verse 1 we saw the unrighteous man state that “neither was there any man known to have returned from the grave”] 18 For if the just man be the son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. 19 Let us examine him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his patience. 20 Let us condemn him with a shameful death: for by his own saying he shall be respected. 21 Such things they did imagine, and were deceived: for their own wickedness hath blinded them. 22 As for the mysteries of God, they knew them not: neither hoped they for the wages of righteousness, nor discerned a reward for blameless souls. 23 For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity. 24 Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world [Genesis 3]: and they that do hold of his side do find it.” This last verse was poorly translated in Brenton's Greek, where he merely followed the King James Version, and should have said “through envy of the devil came death into the world and those who are of his portion [or side] make trial.” These words found in the Wisdom of Salomon are a perfect reflection of the life and trials of Christ, and the reason for and the result of His persecution by His enemies.

44 And with that same thing even the robbers who were crucified with Him reproached Him.

Luke provides for us the following discourse between Christ and the robbers, from Luke 23:39-43: “39 Then one of the criminals hanging blasphemed Him saying 'Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!' 40 But the other replying and censuring him said 'Do you not fear even Yahweh, seeing that you are in the same judgment? 41 And we justly indeed, for we receive worthily for what we have done. But He has done nothing improper.' 42 And he said 'Yahshua, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom!' 43 And He said to him 'Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise.'”

The best commentary on this is also that last verse found in chapter 2 of the Wisdom of Salomon, as I would translate it, “through envy of the devil came death into the world and those who are of his side make trial”. As the Revelation tells us of the end, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God has come, and the authority of His anointed, because the accuser of our brethren has been cast down, he accusing them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10)

Many people want to move the word “today” in Luke 23:43. Those fools should learn Greek properly before they attempt to pervert the Gospel of God. It does not say “Truly today I say to you...”

45 Then from the sixth hour there came darkness upon all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Yahshua cried out with a great voice, saying: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani”, which is “My God, My God, for what reason have You abandoned Me?” 47 But some of those who stood there hearing it said that “He calls Elijah!” 

Now I am going to make a risky proposition. It is perfectly true, as Matthew tells us, that the words of Christ here mean “My God, My God, for what reason have You abandoned Me?”, and it is also evident that Yahshua uttered these words in fulfillment of the Messianic prophecy concerning Himself in the 22nd Psalm. However verse 47 shows that there was some confusion over the meaning of His words as they were uttered, and there is one other possible interpretation. Even if this other interpretation is not how the apostles understood the words of Christ here, it is nevertheless plausible that Yahweh by design had this phrase contain a dual meaning. The Hebrew word “el” (Strong's Hebrew number 410) can also mean judge. It appears in this context often in the Psalms, where the King James Version nevertheless translates the word in the plural, as gods, and where it may have more properly been rulers or judges, at Psalm 136:2 or 138:1 or at Ruth 1:15 and 1:16, for examples. Therefore, while David in the 22^nd Psalm clearly referred to God when he uttered the words, it is nevertheless plausible that Christ refers not to God – for He is the fleshly embodiment of God – but that He instead uses this phrase in reference to those who condemned Him, who had all gone off to the comfort and business of their own lives as He hung there dying. So while I have translated this passage in the traditional manner, as “My God, My God, for what reason have You abandoned Me?”, it may well have been Christ's intention to challenge those who condemned Him, “My judge, My judge, for what reason have You abandoned Me?”

48 And immediately one from among them running and taking both a sponge full of vinegar and placing it upon a reed, gave Him to drink. 49 But the rest said “Leave Him that we would see whether Elijah comes saving Him!” [So they had thought that he was calling Elijah.] But another taking a lance pierced His side, and there came out water and blood.

We do not see these words in the King James Version, or in the ASV, where it says in the Christogenea New Testament “but another taking a lance pierced His side, and there came out water and blood.” The words are in the Christogenea New Testament because they appear in the Codices Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, the two oldest of the Great Uncial codices, and also in the 5th-century Codex Ephraemi Syri, which is of the Alexandrian tradition. The words do not appear in the 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus, which is the primary codex representing the Alexandrian tradition (so we see a division there) nor do they appear in the Codices Bezae or Washingtonensis. The Majority Text manuscripts representing the Greek that the King James Version employed are closely related to the Codices Alexandrinus and Bezae, and these are not the best manuscripts. Other later manuscripts, including those in Latin or Syriac, are found which follow either group. The words also appear in John 19:34, where they are generally attested to by all of the major manuscripts, and also by one papyri believed to date to circa 200 AD. They certainly belong here, being in the two oldest of the Great Uncials, which are not known to follow each other but which have come down to us independently. Again, Psalm 69:21: “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

50 Then Yahshua again crying out with a great voice gave up the Spirit.

The spirit does not die. Rather, the body dies when the spirit departs from it.

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple had torn in two from the top unto the bottom, and the earth had been shaken and the rocks split. 52 And the tombs had opened and many bodies of the saints who were sleeping had been raised, 53 and coming out from the tombs after His rising they entered into the holy city and had appeared to many. 

Isaiah 26:19: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.”

There is no record of this resurrection of others upon the death of Christ elsewhere in the New Testament. Paul only indicates at 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruit of those who are sleeping.” Yet these things alone do not discredit the words found in Matthew, and they cannot be discredited by the manuscripts because they are attested by all of the oldest manuscripts. In fact, one difference in some manuscripts which is seen in the tense of the final verb in verse 52 indicates even further that the words do in fact belong to the oldest manuscripts, since that difference is so typical of other differences found throughout the manuscripts, in both the nature of the difference and the manuscripts which contain it. So although it is natural to want to know more about these verses, I am currently persuaded that they are a part of Matthew's original testimony.

54 Then the centurion and those with him guarding Yahshua, seeing the earthquake and the things which happened feared exceedingly, saying “Truly He was a Son of God!”

This is attested to in Mark also, but Luke records the soldier as having said only that “Certainly this was a righteous man”, at Luke 23:47.

55 And there were many women there observing from afar, who had followed with Yahshua from Galilaia to serve Him. 56 Among them were Maria the Magdalene and Maria the mother of Iakobos and Ioseph and the mother of the sons of Zebedaios.

This is attested to by all of the Gospels. While the Gospel accounts are focused on Christ, and then on the intercourse between Christ and the twelve apostles, it is wrong to think that through these many events it is only Christ and the twelve who are present. Here we see that these women were with Him all the way from Galilee to the time of His death, and certainly at diverse times and at different events there were others who were also present together with Him and with the twelve.

57 And it becoming late there had come a wealthy man from Harimathaia, with the name Ioseph, who also himself had been instructed by Yahshua. 58 He having gone forth to Pilatos requested the body of Yahshua. Then Pilatos commanded that it be turned over. 

Joseph of Arimathaea was a wealthy man, who also had ready access to the governor of the province, and who also had a right to claim the deceased body of the Christ. While there must have been legitimate reasons for his being in a position to do these things, there are no early documents which can offer explanations, and there are also many later fables which have been devised. This Joseph is called an “honorable councilor” by Mark and “ a council member” by Luke, where he must have meant that he was one of the members of the Sanhedrin since Luke also tells us that “he was not in agreement with their counsel and action” concerning the plot against Christ. Luke also tells us that Joseph “awaited the Kingdom of Yahweh”. In John chapter 19 we learn that Joseph was a student of Yahshua “secretly on account of fear of the Judaeans” and that Nicodemus, a Pharisee who had also come to Yahshua secretly (John chapter 3) helped him care for the body of Christ and place it in his tomb. Joseph's actions here are often seen as the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9: “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.”

59 And taking the body, Ioseph wrapped it in a clean fine linen cloth 60 and set it in his own new tomb, which had been hewn in the bedrock, and rolling a great stone up to the door of the tomb he departed. 61 And Mariam the Magdalene and the other Maria were there sitting before the burial-place.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23: “22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.” In order to keep all of the various laws in reference to both the Passover and to the care for the dead, Christ had to be buried quickly, and so He had to be buried nearby and not at his home in Galilaia. Joseph's intervention assured that all of this was done.

62 Then in the morning, which is after the preparation day, the high priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilatos [where they are hypocritically seen to be conducting business on the Sabbath] 63 saying: “Master, we have remembered that while living that deceiver said ‘After three days I shall be raised’. 64 Therefore command that the burial-place is to be secured until the third day, lest coming His students should steal Him and would say to the people: ‘He has been raised from the dead’, and the last deception shall be worse than the first!” 65 Pilatos said to them: “You have a sentry, you go secure it so that you know.” 66 Then they going secured the burial-place, sealing the stone with the sentry.

We only learn that the Judaeans had placed a sentry at the tomb of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, yet like the resurrection above, that does not discredit his account. It is clear that the other Gospel writers found it more important to focus their attention upon other aspects of the burial of Christ and His Resurrection. Next week, Yahweh willing, we shall return with Matthew chapter 28 and a discussion of the Resurrection of the Christ.