“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”  So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:65, 66

Jesus was executed by the Romans to please the Jews.  Pilate, the Roman ruler, wanted to make sure that no one would dare tamper with the tomb in which Jesus’ body was placed.  Pilate wanted this whole business to be closed, he wanted to hear no more about this Jesus.  He demanded that the tomb be sealed with a Roman seal and guarded by Roman soldiers.

I doubt whether Pilate wanted to guard the tomb from Romans who had no interest in the matter except to protect the peace of the land.  And I doubt whether Pilate feared that the Jews would want to take the body of Jesus.  They made sure Jesus was killed and entombed, a job now done!

Who would be interested in Jesus’ now dead body, drained of life?  Joseph of Arimathea was interested but he was no threat to the Romans.  He placed Jesus’ body in his own new tomb.  The disciples, except for John who was with the women believers, were not to be seen!   The seal worked.  Except for what we now know, Jesus broke the bars of death and the grave and rose from that tomb without regard to the Roman guards who were supposed to guard his body.  They may have been able to keep anyone out of the tomb, but they could do nothing about a living Jesus who burst the bonds of death from inside!

Sorry, Romans, Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of mankind, the Lord of life and death.  He cannot be kept in a stone tomb.  He is co-Creator of the universe, the Son of God, the author of our salvation.

While the Romans thought they had control of Jesus, He slipped through everything.  Who or what can hold Jesus Christ?  Nothing!

Behold, He is risen!