Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. Matthew 27:66
An imposing structure stands in the middle of the eastern side of the temple mount in Jerusalem. Called the Eastern Gate, or the Golden Gate, this structure stands on the site of the second temple built by the Jews when they returned from the Babylonian captivity in approximately 520 BC. The Golden Gate was rebuilt sometime during the sixth or seventh centuries, and is the oldest of the gates in existence in Jerusalem. Tradition tells us that this was the gate where Jesus entered Jerusalem before His crucifixion, and prophecy tells us that it is through the Eastern Gate that He will return to Jerusalem to set up His earthly kingdom (Ezekiel 43:1-3). But in the year 1541, the Ottoman sultan Suleiman had the Eastern Gate bricked up, and he ordered a cemetery built in front of it, to prevent any possibility of the Messiah passing through the gate. But Suleiman’s ploy is futile, just as frutile as the watch that was placed on the sepulchre where Jesus’ body lay.
Pilate’s words indicate he was not too sure that the watch would be able to prevent the opening of the sepulchre. But the Pharisees were confident that the watch would succeed, with the authority of Rome and the power of the military guard. The disciples would never dare storm that garrison. They were right as far as the disciples were concerned; the sepulchre was sure against any human intervention. But not even the might and authority of Rome could keep the stone in place nor halt the victory over death that was won at Calvary and was manifested on the resurrection morning. The world still tries to deny, refute, ignore, or belittle the resurrection but it is a fact that is to the Christian the essence of all of our hopes for eternity.
As we review that little band of soldiers setting the watch on the sepulchre, sealing the stone and taking up their stations, we shake our heads and laugh. They probably had far more armed guards on the scene than necessary, just to be sure. But they were guarding against a possible grave robbery by frightened and demoralized disciples, and if anybody showed up, the soldiers would be more than enough to send them away in a fright. But it was not grave robbers they would encounter, it was the grave Destroyer, the great Victor over the dark domain. The very One Whose body lay within that sepulchre was to defeat the soldiers by emerging triumphant.
The world is perfectly OK with a Jesus in a sepulchre, and they will do what they can to pretend He is still there. But not even a Roman watch could confine Him and stifle our hopes and assurance of our own victory over death. -Jim MacIntosh