What Guards?

This is the sixth in a series of posts dealing with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

In their desire to cast doubt on eyewitness testimony to the resurrection of Jesus, one of the things that anti-theists run up against are details in the account that simply wouldn’t be there if the accounts were invented, made-up, or flat out lies.

In an earlier post I used the example of Joseph of Arimathea. No way would that character have entered the story if it hadn’t really happened. Another example is the evidence of the Guard that was placed at the tomb. The best way for us to know that the story of the Guard is factual is to look at the conversation that took place.
. About a month after the crucifixion, Jesus’ followers proclaimed to “the world” that the tomb was empty because Christ had risen from the dead.

. The Jewish Council responded by saying, “He didn’t rise from the dead. The disciples stole the body.” That of course is confirmation that:
a) The tomb was empty and
b) It was the correct tomb that was being spoken of that was empty.

. Jesus’ followers said, “How could we have stolen His body when there were guards placed at the tomb to specifically prevent such a thing?

. The Jewish Council said, “Ah, but the guards had fallen asleep.”

. Jesus’ followers said, “Na, ah. You guys bribed the guards to say that.” And as the account ends, “And that is the story that is being spread to this very day.”

That whole exchange proves that,
a) The guards were in fact at the tomb and
b) There is no way that the disciples would have gone against armed guards and stolen the body
c) The tomb was in fact empty.

Now, if there hadn’t been a Guard placed to secure the tomb the conversation would have been something like:
. Jesus’ followers proclaimed that the tomb was empty because Christ had risen from the dead.

. The Jewish Council responded by saying, “He didn’t rise from the dead. The disciples stole the body.” That of course is confirmation that
a) The tomb was empty and
b) It was the correct tomb that was being spoken of that was empty.

. Jesus’ followers said, “How could we have stolen His body when there were guards placed at the tomb to specifically prevent such a thing?

. To which the Jewish Council would have replied, “What guards? What are you talking about?”

The Jewish Council wouldn’t have proposed that the Guard had fallen asleep if there weren’t any guards on duty.

Reality is, to fake a resurrection by stealing Jesus’ body never occurred to Jesus’ followers. They were scared. They were hiding. And they didn’t come out of hiding until some women came and told them that Jesus’ body was missing from the tomb.

Sceptics would have you believe that the Gospel accounts were written by New York Times best selling authors who wrote a fiction so refined and so diabolical that billions of people have been duped.

Reality is, the writers were not refined or gifted authors. They would have never thought of some of the things that I’m describing in this series of posts if they hadn’t taken place.