Trying to Make Jesus Go Away



Matthew 28:11-15
11While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
12And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers
13and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’
14And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”
15So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.

The Kingdom of God has never been taken lightly. As the news of Jesus’ resurrection spreads the plot to discredit Him continues. It would have been interesting to hear what the Pharisees said privately when they heard that His body was missing. Clearly, they make a plan to make sure no one thinks He has actually conquered death. But He has!

As we discussed two days ago, there have been numerous stories emerge over the centuries that seek to discredit the story of Jesus and His work of salvation. But so far the story remains intact and will do so until He returns. It is interesting to note that every year during Lent the media pulls up additional “gospels” found in antiquity that refute the claims of Jesus or at least call the Biblical account into question. None of those have taken hold either. A few years ago, Dan Brown penned The Da Vinci Code, which gave some wild accounts of the life of Jesus that ran counter to the Bible and this through some Christians into a time of confusion. It is important to note that this book and others like it fall into the category of fiction. When we do not step outside of the Scriptures for our understanding of the faith we will be on solid ground. When we allow works of fiction to impact what we believe we will struggle. Struggle is not always a bad thing, but in many cases it is unnecessary.

Just as the Pharisees wanted to keep the resurrection of Jesus quiet, so too many today want the truth of Jesus life to go away. It never will, for which I am truly grateful.

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