WE ARE STUDYING THE FOUR GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN TO KNOW THE LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST.
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM.
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| Good Hope to Grace. |
The Report of the Guard
Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers,
Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.
And if this come to the governor’s ears, we will persuade him, and secure you.
So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
Frederick Brotherton Meyer, a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic presents it to us this way regarding Matthew 28:11-15
The Report of the Guard
What absurdity in this mendacious explanation! How could the soldiers know who stole the body, if they were asleep? Sceptics have to believe greater marvels than believers. Was it likely that Christ’s friends would have wished to unwind the clothes that covered that sacred body? Would His enemies have taken the time, or forfeited the rich shroud that Joseph’s love provided? Men will believe any lie rather than God’s truth, because their hearts are evil.
William MacDonald (1917-2007) Believer’s Bible Commentary on Matthew 28:11-15
The Soldiers Bribed to Lie
28:11 As soon as they regained consciousness, some of the soldiers sheepishly went to the chief priests to break the news. They had failed in their mission! The tomb was empty!
28:12, 13 It is easy to imagine the consternation of the religious leaders. The priests held a conclave with the elders to map out their strategy. In desperation, they bribed the soldiers to tell the fantastic yarn that while the soldiers slept, the disciples stole the body of Jesus.
This explanation raises more questions than it answers. Why were the soldiers sleeping when they should have been on guard? How could the disciples have rolled the stone away without waking them? How could all the soldiers have fallen asleep at the same time? If they were asleep, how did they know that the disciples stole the body? If the story was true, why did the soldiers have to be bribed to tell it? If the disciples had stolen the body, why had they taken time to remove the graveclothes and fold the napkin? (Luk_24:12; Joh_20:6-7).
28:14 Actually the soldiers were paid to tell a story incriminating themselves; sleeping on duty was punishable by death under Roman law. So the Jewish leaders had to promise to intervene for them if the story ever got back to the governor’s ears.
The Sanhedrin was learning that while truth is self-verifying, a lie has to be supported by countless other lies.
28:15 Yet the myth persists among many Jews until this day, and among Gentiles as well. And there are other myths. Wilbur Smith summarizes two of them:
1. First of all it has been suggested that the women went to the wrong tomb. Think about this for a moment. Would you miss the tomb of your dearest loved one between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning? Furthermore, this was not a cemetery of Joseph of Arimathea. This was his private garden. No other tombs were there.
Now, let’s say there were other tombs, which there weren’t, and suppose the women with their tear-filled eyes stumbled around and got to the wrong tomb. Well, let’s grant that for the women. But hardfisted Simon Peter and John, two fishermen who were not crying, also went to the tomb and found it empty. Do you think they went to the wrong tomb? But more than that, when they got to the tomb and found that it was empty, there was an angel who said, “He is not here. He is risen. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Do you think the angel went to the wrong tomb too? Yet, don’t forget, brainy men have advanced these theories. This is a nonsensical one!
2. Others have suggested that Jesus did not die, but swooned away, and that he was resuscitated somehow in this damp tomb and then came forth. They had a great big stone rolled against this tomb and this was sealed with seals of the Roman government. No man on the inside of that tomb could ever roll back the stone which came down an incline and fitted into a groove. He did not come out of that tomb as an anemic invalid.
The simple truth is that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a well-attested fact of history. He presented Himself alive to His disciples after His passion by many infallible proofs. Think of these specific instances when He appeared to His own:
1. To Mary Magdalene (Mar_16:9-11).
2. To the women (Mat_28:8-10).
3. To Peter (Luk_24:34).
4. To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luk_24:13-32).
5. To the disciples, except Thomas (Joh_20:19-25).
6. To the disciples, including Thomas (Joh_20:26-31).
7. To the seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21).
8. To over 500 believers (1Co_15:7).
9. To James (1Co_15:7).
10. To the disciples on the Mount of Olives (Act_1:3-12).
One of the great foundation stones, unshakable and unmovable, of our Christian faith, is the historic evidence for the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here you and I can stand and do battle for the faith because we have a situation which cannot be contradicted. It can be denied, but it cannot be disproved.
Philippus J.C.Schutte messenger of God’s Word.
Jesus is Alive.
Most, if not all the Apostles and people that saw our King Jesus after he rose from the death was mattered, nobody knowing it is a lie will die for such a lie!
Jesus, the Son of God is alive in Flesh and Spirit in heaven, sitting on the right side of God His Father, one with the Holy Spirit! From where He will come to Judge the dead and the living.
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Below you will find links to previous studies done as we proceed through the New Testament starting with Matthew.
Our Saviour was rejected in Nazareth see;
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth.
The Wedding at Cana.
Then He;
Cleanses the Temple.
We see that He;
Knows What Is in Man.
He then tells us how to get saved;
You Must Be Born Again!
For God So Loved the World!
Jesus ends His Ministry in Judea and;
John the Baptist Exalts Christ.
Jesus finished His Ministry in Judea and went up to Galilee but did not take the long road the Jews normally take to avoid going through Samaria but went straight to a place called Sychar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.
Jesus returned via Samaria to Galilee and we see The Rewards Of Service John 4:28-38, The Growth Of Faith John 4:39-45 and lastly The Reward Of Trusting Jesus’ Word John4:46-54.
The Rewards Of Service
Back in Galilee after a year in Judea;
Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds.
Nazareth’s loss was Capernaum’s gain. The people in the latter city recognized that His teaching was authoritative. His words were convicting and impelling.
The Sermon on the Mount.
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
The Beatitudes. Salt and Light.
Lust-Divorce-Oaths.
Retaliation and Love Your Enemies
Secret giving and secret praying
How to pray and how to fast
What to Seek and Whom to Serve
Do Not Be Anxious
Judging Others
Ask, and It will Be Given & The Golden Rule.
A Tree and Its Fruit
I Never Knew You
Build your House on the Rock.
The Authority of Jesus
Rewards Of Faith, The Great Physician
The Helper Of The Needy And The Friend Of Sinners
a Sermon Christ in Me by Dr. Sidlow J. Baxter.
Jairus daughter Restored to Life, a Woman Healed, Jesus Heals Two Blind men, Jesus Heals a Man Unable to speak.
Hope for the hopeless. Tender Ministry to Maid and Women. Curing the Incurable and Raising the Dead
The sending forth of the twelve in Chapter 9 opens the third year Jesus’ public ministry
The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few
The Mission to Israel.
Not Peace, but a Sword
Messengers from John the Baptist
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
God’s Chosen Servant
The Sign of Jonah
Return of an Unclean Spirit
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
The Parable of the Sower
The Purpose of the Parables
The Parable of the Sower Explained
The Parable of the Weeds
The Mustard Seed and the Leaven
The Parable of the Weeds Explained.
Jesus’ Parables of the Hidden Treasure-The Pearl of Great Value-Fishing Net.
New and Old Treasures.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
The Death of John the Baptist told to Jesus
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand men plus women and children.
Jesus Walks on the Water.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret
Traditions and Commandments
What Defiles a Person
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
Healing and feeding the multitudes
The Pharisees and Sadducees Demand Signs
The Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
The Transfiguration
Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon
Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection and pays The Temple Tax.
Who Is the Greatest?
Temptations to Sin
A Prayer for the world to a New Life.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
If Your Brother Sins Against You
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
Teaching About Divorce
Let the Children Come to Me
The Rich Young Man
Riches in the kingdom
Laborers in the Vineyard
Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time
A Mother’s Request
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
The Triumphal Entry of the Lamb of GOD!
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
The Parable of the Two Sons
The Parable of the Tenants
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Paying Taxes to Caesar
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
The Great Commandment
Whose Son Is the Christ?
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees-Judgment And Lament.
Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees-Woes For The False-Hearted
The King’s Olivet Discourse-Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
The King’s Olivet Discourse-Signs of the End of the Age.
The King’s Olivet Discourse- The Abomination of Desolation.
The King’s Olivet Discourse- The Coming of the Son of Man.
The King’s Olivet Discourse-The Coming of the Son of Man.
The Parable Of The Ten Virgins.
The Parable of the Talents
The Final Judgment
The Plot to Kill Jesus- Jesus Anointed at Bethany
The Plot to Kill Jesus-Judas to Betray Jesus
The Last Supper
Institution of the Lord’s Supper- Jesus Foretells Peter’s Denial
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane
Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
Jesus before Caiaphas and the Council
Peter Denies Jesus
Jesus Delivered to Pilate-Judas Hangs Himself.
Jesus Before Pilate- The Crowd Chooses Barabbas!
Jesus Before Pilate- The Stain Water Could Not Wash Away!
The Crucifixion
The Death of Jesus
Jesus Is Buried-The Guard at the Tomb.
The King’s Triumph-The Resurrection!
