The Crucifixion
“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” Matthew 27:65 · Berean Standard Bible
Pilate tells them: you have a guard. Go and make the tomb as secure as you can.
They bring Roman soldiers, seal the stone, and set a watch. They throw everything they have at keeping Jesus in that tomb. It will not be enough.
Pilate gives them permission to secure the tomb with Roman military force.
They seal it. They guard it. They do everything human power can do. And on the third morning, none of it will matter.
Pilate grants them a guard (koustodian) with the directive to secure the tomb as best they can — his language ('as you know how') may carry a dismissive or sardonic tone.
The koustodia (from Latin custodia) refers to a Roman military guard, making the tomb's security a matter of Roman imperial power. The sealed and guarded tomb will make the resurrection all the more miraculous and indisputable.
Pilate responds to the religious leaders, authorizing the tomb guard.
The combined forces of religious authority and Roman military power seal the tomb — and all of it will prove powerless against what happens on the third day.
63“Sir,” they said, “we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’
64So give the order that the tomb be secured until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come and steal Him away and tell the people He has risen from the dead. And this last deception would be worse than the first.”
65“You have a guard,” Pilate said. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
66So they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard.
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