Matthew 28:11-15

 This is the telling of the bribe that tried to cover up the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The love of power  and control corrupts our thinking.

Money ill used is the root of all kinds of evil. 

We need to be as gentle as a dove…but as wise as the serpent. The only way to the Father is through the Son. Satans’ ultimate goal is to stop us from believing it happened.

If you are struggling today, I invite you to look up some of these passages - Psalm 18:30;  Psalm 55:22;  Psalm 112:7;  2 Corinthians 4:8-9 - as you move forward, knowing God is with you and there is no need for fear or discouragement. First5 

When we focus on what we are not or who we need to become (scarcity), we are unable to access what we have and who we are (sufficiency). And when I see only scarcity, I miss the fact that every single one of us has been gifted with creativity, abundance, heart, love, passion, gentleness, helpfulness, caring, kindness, tenderness, restoration and a shoulder to lean on. This is the paradigm of internal sufficiency. Terry Hershey “SabbathMoments “

Matthew 28:11-15

11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. The New King James Version

The chief priests, who were involved in Jewish religious government, bribe the Roman soldiers to spread a false report about Jesus’ disciples stealing His body. Faithlife Study Bible

The Roman guards reported to the chief priests because they had been assigned for duty to the religious authorities.  His disciples … stole Him away while we slept: Besides being a lie, this was a very weak explanation. If a guard was found sleeping at his post or if a prisoner escaped, the guard would be put to death. It may have been possible for one soldier to sleep, but it is highly improbable that all of them slept at the same time. Also, sleeping people do not make good witnesses: If they were asleep, how did they know what happened? Until this day refers specifically to the time of the writing of Matthew’s Gospel; however, this explanation is current even today. The NKJV Study Bible

What wickedness is it which men will not be brought to by the love of money! Here was large money given to the soldiers for advancing that which they knew to be a lie, yet many grudge a little money for advancing what they know to be the truth. Let us never starve a good cause, when we see bad ones so liberally supported. The priests undertook to secure them from the sword of Pilate, but could not secure these soldiers from the sword of God’s justice, which hangs over the heads of those that love and make a lie. Those men promise more than they can perform, who undertake to save a man harmless in doing a wilful sin. But this falsehood disproved itself. Had the soldiers been all asleep, they could not have known what passed. If any had been awake, they would have roused the others and prevented the removal; and certainly if they had been asleep, they never would have dared to confess it; while the Jewish rulers would have been the first to call for their punishment. Again, had there been any truth in the report, the rulers would have prosecuted the apostles with severity for it. The whole shows that the story was entirely false. And we must not charge such things to the weakness of the understanding, but to the wickedness of the heart. God left them to expose their own course. The great argument to prove Christ to be the Son of God, is his resurrection; and none could have more convincing proofs of the truth of that than these soldiers; yet they took bribes to hinder others from believing. The plainest evidence will not affect men, without the work of the Holy Spirit.  Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary