Stolen

Scripture: Matthew 28:11-15
11 As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. 12 A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. 13 They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ 14 If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble.” 15 So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.

Observation: In an attempt to protect the system they have built up and have power in, the chief priests begin the denial of the resurrection.  It was an attempt to squash the spreading story of Jesus being raised from the dead.  So the story of Jesus body being stolen begins.  The resurrection of Jesus uses the status quo and established systems of belief.  The reaction of these systems is an attempt to keep things as they are.


Application: Some might argue that perhaps Christianity is holding onto the belief of resurrection in the face of scientific evidence that says that this is impossible.  As a famous theologian N.T. Wright has stated: "The Christian belief is not that some people get raised from the dead and that Jesus happens to be one of them.  It is precisely that people don't ever get raised from the dead, and that something new has happened in and through Jesus which has blown a whole through previous observations."


Something new is happening, now that Jesus is raised.  We continue to find this newness both embracing and threatening.  We embrace it when we need a fresh coat of paint in our houses or sanctuaries.  We find it threatening when it changes the systems of power that we have built up and attempt to hold onto.


Prayer: Lord, bring on the new, this resurrection life, that changes us and the world around us, even when we don't embrace it!