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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 27:62 - 27:66
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_27:62-66
62Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I am to rise again.'64Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead,'and the last deception will be worse than the first." 65Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." 66And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.
Mat_27:62-66 This account is unique to Matthew (cf. Mat_28:2-4; Mat_28:11-15).
Mat_27:62 "Now on the next day, the day after the preparation" This is an obvious reference to the Sabbath. Being in Pilate's presence and court would have made the Jewish leaders ceremonially unclean and thus unable to participate in the Passover. This very act shows how fearful they were of Jesus and His power and predictions.
▣ "the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together" It is so ironic (1) that they met at all; (2) that it was the Sabbath of Passover week; (3) that the Sadducees did not even believe in the resurrection; and (4) that they became powerful, though unwilling, witnesses to the resurrection!
Mat_27:63 It is ironic that Pilate is called Kurie (translated "sir") by these Jewish leaders and Jesus the Lord is called "that deceiver."
NASB, NKJV "that deceiver"
NRSV, NJB "that impostor"
TEV "that liar"
This word (planos) may be literally rendered "wanderer," explaining the derivation of our English word "planet" from the same term for " wandering" celestial lights. It originally referred to the orbit of planets that did not follow the standard pattern of the constellations. The term had a negative connotation in Greek. It was applied to errors or liars.
NASB "After three days I am to arise again"
NKJV "After three days I will rise"
NRSV, NJB "After three days I will rise again"
TEV "I will be raised to life three days later"
Literally, "after three days I am raised." This is a present passive. The context implies that Pilate assigned Roman soldiers to guard the tomb. The Jewish leaders knew of Jesus' predictions (cf. Mat_12:40; Mat_16:4) and feared them. The disciples were surprised by the resurrection-what irony!
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Mat_27:65 "You have a guard" This is an idiom (i.e., an imperative, not an indicative) for permission to the Jewish delegation for Roman soldiers to guard the tomb.
▣ "go, make it as secure as you know how" " Go" is a present active imperative followed by an aorist middle (deponent) imperative. There is a bit of sarcasm here (i.e., "as you know how"). These priestly leaders were no friends of Pilate, but they shared a desire of political expediency.
Mat_27:66 "they went" This refers to the representatives of the Jewish leadership and the Roman soldiers. These leaders wanted to make sure the tomb was sealed and guarded! Their representatives may even have helped seal the tomb themselves!
The phrase "the living God" is a word play on the title YHWH (cf. Exo_3:14; Psa_42:2; Psa_84:2; Mat_16:16). This same word play is often found in biblical oaths, "as the Lord lives."
▣ "made the grave secure" This referred to an official sealing which used two blobs of wax placed at the juncture of the round stone and the wall of the tomb imprinted with an official Roman seal, with a string between them.
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