THE WORD
Ac 2 14.22-33 / Mt 28, 8-15
Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. They assembled with the elders and took counsel;
then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present day.
IN OTHER WORDS
As Matthew recounts, it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (mother of James and Joseph) who first saw the risen Jesus on their way from the tomb to see and inform the disciples. We must congratulate them for such a great privilege! They were given such privilege because they must have loved Jesus very much. We salute so many women throughout history who have shown great love for Jesus. In Christianity then, women are very much highly regarded.
“Rejoice!” That is Jesus’ greeting to the women. Rejoice! That must be the spirit and feeling of Easter. Who can be sad when Jesus who was crucified, died and buried is risen and is therefore alive? Wow! So, fellow Christians, let us rejoice and be happy for indeed our Lord is alive and therefore cannot die anymore. He will be with us always.
The guards were bribed by the chief priests to tell a lie that the body of Jesus was “robbed” by the disciples. Why? One reason, as Henry M. Morris would say, could be that they were afraid the resurrection “would vindicate the faith of the followers that Jesus indeed was the Messiah”. Consequently, “they were afraid they would lose their religious power and control”. It is said that for a while many believed in the lie that the chief priest and the soldiers concocted to tell. Some say the lie persisted for around 30 years and others say until the time of the writing of Matthew’s Gospel.
Sad to say that some people of the present time persist in their unbelief of Jesus’ resurrection, including the so-called “Christian” modernists, liberals, etc.(Ibid).
How much did the soldiers receive to suppress the truth? It must have been a real good sum as to convince them to agree on the fabricated story. Bribery is not something new then. Sad to say, however, that many corrupt people in our present time continue to use bribery as a way of achieving their selfish interests. It is said that the Philippines still suffers widespread corruption and one manifestation is bribery.
Finally, can you imagine how both the chief priests and soldiers involved in falsifying the truth of Jesus’ resurrection spent the rest of their lives? Do you think they slept well at night? Your answers can be as good as mine.
- Fr. Ernesto Salvar, SVD | Davao City
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
