We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

How can you believe Matthew’s report about the Jewish cover up of the resurrection?
Question: In Matthew it’s reported that Jewish authorities tried to cover up the resurrection of Jesus by saying the disciples stole the body while the guards were sleeping. I don’t buy it. How would Matthew know about this story, since it was a secret conversation the authorities had with the guards? And how could they ask the guards to claim they’d fallen asleep since such a crime would have been punishable by death? The story just doesn’t fly.
Answer: Here’s the account your referring to.
Matt. 28:12-15: When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.
It seems to me the text answers your question. Matthew could have easily known about the story since it was “widely circulated.” (Or he could have known about it by divine inspiration, if that was required). The guards ordinarily would have gotten in deep trouble for sleeping on the job, except that in this case the Jewish authorities promised to use their influence to “keep [them] out of trouble.” What the Jewish authorities didn’t want was the guards going around telling people what they actually saw!
What’s most interesting, I think, is that this lie is premised on the assumption that the tomb was in fact empty. What this tells us is that when Matthew wrote his Gospel (usually dated 70 to 80 A.D., but I would argue for a pre-70 A.D. date), those who were hostile to Christianity (and there were many) didn’t deny there was any empty tomb. They just offered a counter explanation as to how it became empty. If you don’t believe their counter-explanation, you have to come up with your own. And the best one available, I submit, is the one the disciples themselves offer: Jesus actually rose from the dead.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Jesus, Q&A
Topics: Biblical Reliability
Related Reading

What is the significance of 1 Samuel 15:10?
In light of Saul’s sin the Lord says, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me.” Common sense would suggest that one can only regret a decision one makes if the decision results in an outcome other than what was expected or hoped for. If God foreknows all…

What is the significance of Judges 10:13–16?
The Israelites cry out to God because of their oppression from foreign rulers. The Lord refuses to deliver them because they have abandoned him (vs. 13–14). The Israelites repented, put away their foreign gods and worshipped the Lord. The Lord “also could no longer bear to see Israel suffer” (vs. 16). Hence the Lord changed…

Jesus’ Different Kind of Nation
God called Abraham to form a unique nation by which “all peoples of the earth will be blessed.” The unique call of the descendants of Abraham was to become a nation of servant-priests whom God would use to reunite the nations of the world under his loving Lordship. The vision of a reunited humanity is…

Greg and Paul Tag Team to Answer Your Questions
Greg Boyd and Paul Eddy answered questions submitted from Woodland Hills Church and podcasters during all three services this last Saturday and Sunday. They covered a wide range of topics so, chances are, you’ll find something here of interest to you. You can download audio or video from the three services below: Saturday evening service…

What is the significance of Jeremiah 32:35?
As in Jeremiah 19:5, the Lord expresses his dismay over Israel’s paganism by saying they did this “though I did not command them, nor did it enter my mind that they should do this abomination.” If this abomination was eternally foreknown to God, it’s impossible to attribute any clear meaning to his confession that this…

God Became a Zygote
Has the Christmas story become so familiar that you’ve lost any sense of how spectacular it is? The great creator of the universe became a microscopic zygote. The all-powerful being who spoke the stars into existence came in a very small and vulnerable way. He crossed an infinite distance to become one of us. You can watch…