Matthew 28:11-15 meaning

There are no apparent parallel accounts of Matthew 28:11-15 in the other Gospels.

After narrating about Jesus’s appearance to the group of women returning to the tomb (Matthew 28:9-10), Matthew changes the setting of his narrative back to the day Jesus rose from the dead.

The narrative’s focus changes from Jesus and His followers to the enemies of Jesus and their response to the report of His resurrection.

Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened (v 11).

Matthew’s expression now while they were on their way serves as the transition of these two settings. The pronoun—they—refers to the women who just saw Jesus alive. The phrase: on their way, refers to the process or path the women were taking to obey Jesus’s instruction to “go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me” (Matthew 28:10).

While the women were carrying out His instruction, some of the soldiers who were posted to guard Jesus’s tomb came into the city of Jerusalem and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.

The reason the guard had to come into the city, was because Jesus’s tomb was outside the city.

Just day before, while it was the Sabbath, the chief priests and elders who successfully conspired to condemn Jesus to death, made a request of Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea (Matthew 27:62). The chief priests and elders asked Pilate to post a guard at Jesus’s tomb so that His disciples would not be able to steal His body away and then deceive the people that He had risen from the dead (Matthew 27:64).

The chief priests and elders remembered and were fearful of Jesus’s predictions that He would rise after three days, even though they did not believe Him (Matthew 27:63). Ironically, the disciples who believed in Jesus forgot or did not believe about His many teachings that He would be resurrected, and were grieved.

Pilate said to the chief priests and elders: “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how” (Matthew 27:65). With the governor’s approval, the chief priests and elders “went and made the grave secure” (Matthew 27:66) by posting not only a guard but also sealing the stone.

The guard that was posted at Jesus’s grave likely consisted of both Roman legionnaires under Pilate and Jewish temple guards under the authority of the chief priests. Both authorities would have been maliciously motivated to silence any rumors or reports of Jesus’s resurrection, regardless of whether they were true or false.

For their part, the religious leaders would have desired guards they knew and trusted. This meant the temple guard. Pilate seems to be referring to the temple guard when he told the chief priests: “you have a guard” (Matthew 27:65). The chief priests would have posted their most trustworthy and loyal soldiers who would be committed to reporting any occurrences to them both quickly and accurately.

But there also seems to have been Roman legionnaires posted as well. This seems to be the case because when the guard abandoned their post and came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened, the religious authorities assured the frightened guards that if they would go along with their plot to deny the resurrection, then they promised to persuade Pilate to not harm them. If the detachment was exclusively made up of Jewish temple guards, then the chief priests would not need to persuade Pilate to keep them out of trouble because the Roman governor had no jurisdiction over the Jewish soldiers. Therefore, it seems most likely that the guard which was posted at Jesus’s tomb had at least some Roman troops among them.

For any Roman soldier who abandoned his post, the penalty was execution. Roman legionnaires posted to guard Jesus’s tomb would have been motivated to perform their duty with their lives. Moreover, legionnaires were professionally trained, equipped, battle-hardened soldiers. As duty-bound, honor-driven Romans, they were prepared to fight to the death before running away.

It was likely as upsetting as it was surprising to the chief priests when they saw some of the guard in the city. They were even more upset when the guard reported to them all that had happened.

Matthew’s expression all that had happened was in reference to the miraculous events that happened at Jesus’s tomb that morning and were described in Matthew 28:2-3. First there was a severe earthquake at the tomb (Matthew 28:2a). The earthquake seems to have been supernaturally caused by a mighty angel of the Lord who descended from heaven (Matthew 28:2b). He was radiant—like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow (Matthew 28:3). The angel came and rolled away the stone that was over Jesus’s grave and then he sat on it (Matthew 28:2c).

This stone was massive. According to Mark, it was extremely large (Mark 16:4). It would likely have taken several strong men to move it. Moreover, upon the request of the chief priests and the order of Pilate (Matthew 27:64-65), this stone was sealed by the guard themselves (Matthew 27:66). The guard had likely sealed it by fastening the stone with thick ropes or cords, and strapped it tight to prevent it from being moved. Despite the weight of the large stone and it being sealed, this angel was able to roll it away by himself, perhaps with minimal effort.

The professional soldiers, posted to guard and keep watch over the tomb, not only witnessed these extraordinary events, they also were directly affected and terrified by them.

Matthew says: “The guards shook for fear of [the angel] and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4).

Matthew does not report whether or not any of the guard saw Jesus walk out alive from the tomb. Perhaps they did see Him. If so, this would have likely added to their amazement and fear. Perhaps Jesus came out while they were unconscious from fainting from their fright. Perhaps they had already fled before He exited it. In either case, it seems that all the guard had left by the time Mary Magdalene arrived in the early morning “while it was still dark” because John does not mention them while she was at the tomb (John 20:1).

Now, Matthew reports where some of the guard went when they abandoned their station after the angel appeared and Jesus rose from the dead. They came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.

The soldiers’ report of what happened at the tomb likely troubled the chief priests. Their angst might be similar to their response to Judas’s report on the night of Passover that Jesus had unmasked him as a traitor. When Judas delivered that troubling report, the chief priests and elders acted quickly to arrest and condemn Jesus before sunrise, lest their plan be exposed and they lose credibility. After they manipulated Pilate to crucify Jesus, the chief priests felt they had averted an existential crisis that could have ruined their position and prestige (John 11:47-48).

For the past three days, their main worry regarding Jesus had been that His disciples would steal His body and falsely claim that He was raised from the dead, giving new energy to the Jesus Movement they had just attempted to squash.

After hearing their own guard’s report, the chief priests’ concerns (from their anti-Jesus perspective) were worse than they imagined. Not only was the tomb opened and Jesus’s body gone, it was an angel who had opened the tomb. A supernatural and powerful being, beyond the chief priests’ control, was the cause of all that had happened.

Given their blind hatred of Jesus and what He represented, it may have been as difficult for the chief priests to believe the guards’ report about the angel and the stone as it was for the disciples (who greatly loved Jesus) to believe the women’s report about the angel and the empty tomb. It is ironic that both Jesus’s closest followers and His most malicious enemies seem to have responded to the early reports of His resurrection the same way—by denying them.

Nevertheless, such an amazing report (from their own guard) should have been sufficient proof for the chief priests to finally accept that Jesus was the Messiah He claimed to be. They knew Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and did not believe (John 11:47-48). One would think now that the chief priests, hearing an eye-witness account from a loyal source that Jesus had risen indeed, would at least assess whether to reconsider.

However, it seems the priests were so committed to preserving their own power and position that they did not even entertain such a thought—all the while asserting the moral authority of religious leaders.

The guards’ testimony to the priests delivered to them proof that Jesus had been raised from the dead. This was the sign that the Pharisees and Sadducees had previously asked Jesus to perform to prove that He was the Messiah (Matthew 12:38-40, 16:1-4). Jesus told them that the sign He would give to prove His identity was the sign of Jonah. Jesus expressed the sign of Jonah this way:

“for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
(Matthew 12:40)

Jesus came out of the grave on the third day, thus fulfilling His prophecy and the sign of Jonah, proving His identity:

Day One: Jesus was crucified and buried the day before the Sabbath.
(Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:31, 42)

Day Two: He was in the grave for the entire Sabbath.
(Matthew 27:62)

Day Three: He was in the grave from evening until morning on the first day of the week.
(Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1)

Similarly, the guards’ testimony also delivered evidence of the sign Jesus gave the priests when He cleansed the temple courtyards of the money changers (John 2:13-22). When they asked Jesus what sign He would give them to show His authority for doing those things (John 2:18), Jesus said:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
(John 2:19)

They failed to comprehend that He was speaking about the temple of His body (John 2:20-21). His disciples remembered and understood Jesus’s words only after they finally came to believe in His resurrection (John 20:22).

Moreover, the guards’ testimony to the chief priests concerning Jesus’s resurrection was a direct contradiction to the mockery from the chief priests, scribes, and elders aimed at Jesus when He was on the cross (Matthew 27:41). Matthew recorded three insults the religious leaders hurled at Jesus as He was being crucified. Jesus’s resurrection directly answered all three taunts, and the guard’s testimony bore witness to the religious leaders, leaving them without excuse.

The first taunt from the chief priests and scribes was: “He saved others; He cannot save Himself” (Matthew 27:42a).

The first part of their insult was sarcastic. They likely intended to disprove that Jesus actually did save others because He did not save Himself from the cross. They were wrong. Jesus’s death (and resurrection) did save others, as it atoned for their sins.

They were also wrong in the second part of their taunt—that Jesus could not save Himself. His resurrection proved that He could and did save Himself. Only Jesus had the authority to lay down His life and only He had the power to take it up again (John 10:18). Jesus could have called “twelve legions of angels” at any time to deliver Him (Matthew 26:53). But He did not, so that the scriptures would be fulfilled (Matthew 26:54).

Their second taunt was: “He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him” (Matthew 27:42b).

Their expression was sarcastic and insincere. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, King of Israel. They pretended that they would believe He was the Messiah if He came down from the cross. Jesus did not come down from the cross at that time—that was not His mission. But in yielding His spirit unto God, Jesus fulfilled His mission. And He did something far greater and more impressive than merely coming down from the cross—He came out of the grave.

Sadly, despite this incredible sign, most of the chief priests continue to disbelieve in Jesus as the King of Israel, just as Jesus predicted.

The chief priests’ and religious leaders’ third crucifixion taunt was also answered by Jesus’s resurrection:

“He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
(Matthew 27:43)

This insult against Jesus was a paraphrase of an insult hurled against David in the Messianic Psalm 22, which graphically predicted Jesus’s crucifixion and demonstrated that He was the Messiah (Psalm 22:8). Ironically, the chief priests’ own insults demonstrated the Messiahship of Jesus.

Their taunt assumed that God would not rescue Jesus from the cross and that God did not delight in Him. They did not believe that Jesus was who He claimed to be, which was the Son of God. God did not spare His Son from crucifixion (Romans 8:32a). Instead, God delivered Jesus over to both the humiliation and pain of the cross and to death itself for our salvation (Romans 8:32b).

But God did rescue Jesus. God rescued Him from Sheol and the grave. And God did not allow His Son’s body to undergo decay (Psalm 16:10).

God also delighted in Jesus. God made known to Jesus the path of life and granted Him to sit at His right hand where there are pleasures forever (Psalm 16:11). He granted Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth as a reward for His faithfulness (Matthew 28:18, Revelation 3:21).

And as the third Servant Song of Isaiah predicted, God vindicated His Servant from those who struck and humiliated the Messiah (Isaiah 50:6-8). As the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened, their case against Jesus as the Messiah was beginning to unravel like a moth-eaten garment (Isaiah 50:9).

Despite the guards’ report of Jesus’s resurrection, the chief priests remained as obstinate as ever in their unbelief. Instead of believing (or apparently even considering whether to believe) they conferred with the elders.

And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together (v 12a).

The elders were leading members from the Pharisees who sat on the Sanhedrin council. The elders had illegally conspired with the chief priests among the Sadducees to condemn and murder Jesus (Matthew 26:3, John 11:47-53).

Before we consider what the chief priests and the elders decided when they conferred, we first will consider what Matthew meant when he said they consulted together.

Matthew does not say whether it was the full Sanhedrin Council who met or if it was only some of its higher-ranking chief priests and elders.

If the entire Sanhedrin was summoned, it would implicate the entire council on this new stage of their conspiracy to get rid of Jesus. Seventy-one members were needed for a full quorum for major cases like execution; but for smaller matters, a council of twenty-three or even three judges would suffice.

A larger meeting would have greater risk that their coverup would be exposed and thus blow up in their face. Furthermore, if they did hold any official sort of meeting, they would have to submit and file a record of it—which would also make their coverup more liable to exposure. Moreover, some of their number had believed in Jesus, such as Joseph of Arimathea (Mark 15:43), and could not be trusted as coconspirators.

Therefore, it seems most likely that the circle of chief priests and elders who consulted together shrewdly kept their group small and unofficial to prevent their plot from becoming known. The more council members who knew about what had happened at Jesus’s tomb, the more difficult it would be for the conspiracy’s lie to be accepted. It would make sense that among the chief priests who were insiders at this stage of the conspiracy were Caiaphas the high priest, and Annas his father-in-law, as well as their most trusted allies.

Now that we have considered whether it was a full Sanhedrin meeting or an inner circle meeting that was “off the books,” we can consider the purpose of this meeting.

The reason the chief priests and elders consulted together was to decide how they would attempt to control the narrative of the unfolding events surrounding Jesus’s resurrection so that they could remain in power.

From all that Matthew has revealed about the chief priests and elders in his gospel account, it seems unlikely that they ever gave serious consideration to believing that Jesus was the Messiah. Instead, their obsession was determined on how best to cover up the news of His resurrection which proved He was the Messiah. They wanted to prevent His message from spreading and causing a revolt against them. Their main concern, it seems, was for them to remain in power by any means necessary so that they could continue exploiting the people for their own gain.

The plan which the chief priests and elders decided upon was to bribe the guard to lie and coverup all that had happened.

They gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep’ (v 12b-13).

Instead of telling people the truth about the angel and all the rest, the chief priests paid the soldiers who ran away from Jesus’s tomb to lie about what really happened.

The soldiers were to say nothing about the angel who descended from heaven and rolled away the stone. Instead, they were to tell people that they had fallen asleep at their post and that His disciples came by night while they were asleep and stole Jesus’s body.

Rather than let the truth be known about Jesus’s resurrection, the religious leaders of Israel were willing to violate one of the Ten Commandments—“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16, Deuteronomy 5:20). This was immorally ironic that they had Jesus executed because He crossed their traditions while they themselves broke the commandments of God (Matthew 15:3).

There was also a touch of irony that the chief priests and elders were bribing the soldiers to say what they originally were trying to prevent when they asked Pilate for a guard to protect the tomb (Matthew 27:63-64).

The religious leaders of Israel were obstinate in their deception. By rejecting the truth and trying to coverup the resurrection of the Messiah, the leaders of Israel were guilty of the very slander they made against Jesus. They slanderously maligned Jesus as a “deceiver” to Pilate (Matthew 27:63). They warned Pilate that if reports of His resurrection went out, that the deception that would follow would “be worse than the first” (Matthew 27:64).

The reality was that the religious leaders were the deceivers who misled Israel into rejecting the Messiah and crucifying Jesus (Matthew 27:25, Mark 15:10-11). Now after Jesus had come back to life, the religious leaders were committing an even greater deception by covering up the ultimate proof that Jesus really was the Son of God. This added to the irony that the religious leaders committed blasphemy in order to convict Jesus of their charge that He was a blasphemer (John 19:7, 12).

Amazingly, scripture indicates that had the chief priests and elders repented of their actions when they learned all that had happened at the tomb and therefore led Israel to receive Jesus, He would have forgiven them (Luke 23:34) and restored the kingdom at that time (Acts 3:17-21).

The reasonable thing for the religious leaders to have done at this point would have been to repent of their grave error and sin. Instead of the chief priests and the elders consulting together among themselves about how to further deceive and defraud people of the most important truth in Israel’s history, the religious leaders should have sought and consulted with the LORD,

“‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.’”
(Isaiah 1:18)

Consider how the things the prophet Micah applies to the religious leaders’ rejection and execution of the Messiah and what God’s heart would have been toward them if they had repented upon learning of His resurrection,

“Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.”
(Micah 7:18-19)

Alas, the religious leaders of Israel did not repent and believe in Jesus after He rose from the dead. Instead, they continued to deceive Israel and deprive their own people of experiencing the establishment of the Messianic kingdom. What came of their deception was the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the demolition of the Temple forty years later in 70 A.D.

Many descendants of Israel followed the deception set forth by these corrupt leaders and have persisted in their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah to this day (Romans 11:7-10). Notwithstanding that, scripture promises that all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26). In God’s mercy, the rejection of Israel proved to be the salvation of the Gentiles (Romans 11:11-12, 25).

The initial deception led that generation of Jews to put Jesus the Messiah to death. Their greater deception of rejecting His resurrection has lasted for many generations. This was also predicted by scripture, and will last until “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in”—indicating that God has a specific plan for Israel and the Gentiles. The time of the “fullness of the Gentiles” ending likely corresponds with the restarting of the “seventy weeks” prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 9:27).

The religious leaders told Pilate that the “last deception will be worse than the first” when they asked him for a guard to prevent the disciples from stealing Jesus’s body and claiming He rose from the dead (Matthew 27:64). They once again fulfilled their own prophecy in that their second deception to bribe the guards to deceive their own people was worse than the first. Indeed, this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day (v 15).

The particular lie which the chief priests and the elders bribed the soldiers to circulate denying the resurrection of Jesus is one of several alternative, but false theories that attempt to explain away the fact that Jesus came back to life.

The specific false theory that the religious leaders attempted to use to deny Jesus’s resurrection has come to be referred to as the “Theft Theory.”

The Theft Theory falsely claims that Jesus’s disciples stole His body and fabricated His resurrection.

Two points refute and debunk the Theft Theory.

1. The Tomb was Guarded and Sealed
Jesus’s tomb was guarded by professional soldiers and sealed “as secure as [the religious leaders] knew how” (Matthew 27:65). The guard and security measures would have prevented the disciples from being able to steal His body. The soldiers guarding it likely included Roman legionnaires, battle-hardened crack troops who easily could defend themselves from the untrained attacks of former fisherman and tax collectors.

Moreover, had the disciples somehow managed to succeed in overpowering the guard and stealing Jesus’s body, there would have undoubtedly been evidence of a struggle, which would have proved that His body was stolen. The disciples would have accordingly been captured, tried, and punished. In reality, no one ever claimed this because there was no battle for the possession of Jesus’s body.

2. Lack of a Motive
The disciples had no motive to steal His body and lie about His resurrection. People lie for their own perceived benefit. The disciples did not make money from Jesus’s resurrection. They did not gain earthly power or any other material advantage. Instead, they gained the opposite—they were persecuted for their witness of Jesus and His resurrection. They suffered much oppression and a martyr’s death. It runs counter to human nature to willingly suffer and die for a lie.

Moreover, it is unlikely they would have all shared in the same lie without one of them breaking. Had the disciples stolen Jesus’s body, all it would have taken to disprove the resurrection claim was for one of them to crack and confess that it was a lie. None of them ever made this confession despite having much earthly incentive to denounce the resurrection.

All of the disciples were persecuted and martyred. It is quite likely that all of them could have prevented their martyrdom by confessing that they had lied. Many of the disciples lived for decades after this claim. Had the resurrection been a lie as the Theft Theory maintains, it is highly probable that one or more of the disciples would have confessed it.

The reason not one of the disciples ever denied the resurrection (once they believed) was because they saw it with their own eyes and sincerely believed that it was true. And it is true.

The other false theories that claim that the resurrection of Jesus did not happen are:

• The Swoon Theory
• The Wrong Tomb Theory
• The Hallucination Theory
• The “Spiritual” Resurrection Theory

To learn more about these various theories, see The Bible Says Article: “Did Jesus of Nazareth Really Rise from the Dead?”

The chief priests and elders not only paid the soldiers a large sum of money to say this lie and cover up the truth of Jesus’s resurrection, they also promised to protect the soldiers from any potential punishment they might face for failing to keep the tomb secure.

The priests and elders assured the soldiers:

And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble (v 14).

The governor was Pilate, who was the Roman official over Judea. The chief priests and elders assured the soldiers that they would come to their defense if Pilate heard their false testimony covering up news of Jesus’s resurrection. If Pilate heard how Jesus’s disciples supposedly stole His body away in the middle of the night while they were asleep, the chief priests and elders would protect the soldiers. The trouble which the chief priests and elders were referring to was any punishment that might be inflicted on the soldiers for falling asleep at their post and letting their keep get stolen. The typical Roman punishment for failing in this manner was execution.

It is likely that some of the soldiers guarding Jesus’s tomb were Roman legionnaires. This is because the Roman governor would not have the jurisdiction to punish Jewish soldiers. Therefore, the chief priests and elders would have been more likely to make this concession to Roman soldiers than to their own Jewish temple guards.

Next, Matthew tells us how the soldiers responded to the chief priests’ and elders’ proposal to lie about all that had happened at Jesus’s tomb.

And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day (v 15).

The soldiers accepted the chief priests and elders’ offer of the bribe. They took the large sum of money and they told the lie that the religious leaders wanted them to spread concerning all that had happened at Jesus’s tomb.

To a considerable extent, the deception was effective.

Matthew concludes his account of the religious leaders’ coverup of Jesus’s resurrection with this remark: and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day (v 15b).

Again, their last deception has been “worse than the first” (Matthew 27:64) as many of God’s people over the millennia from then to the present (2024) have been deceived and defrauded from receiving Jesus, their Messiah, and entering His kingdom. There will come a time when Israel will receive Jesus. The prophet Zechariah foresees this time and says of Israel:

“…they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”
(Zechariah 12:10b)

This verse is particularly fascinating because the “Me” refers to “the LORD who stretches out the heavens” who is speaking (Zechariah 12:1). It is the LORD who Israel pierced on the cross because Jesus is God. Further, the verse goes on to say that “they” (Israel) will “mourn for Him” which speaks of the Messiah, Jesus. There will apparently come a time when Israel will realize who Jesus is and what they have missed and they will mourn their loss. Their mourning will be as bitter as a family who has lost their firstborn son.

This concludes Matthew’s account of what happened on the day of Jesus’s resurrection.