“你们要这样说：‘夜间我们睡觉的时候，他的门徒来把他偷去了。’ ” - 太 28:13

　　看守坟墓的兵丁见证了那天早上发生的事。宗教领袖在兵丁记忆犹新时，也有机会亲自问个清楚，以澄清目击证人所说的。然而，这个机会能加强他们的信心吗？他们在耶稣死前曾听过祂宣称自己是弥赛亚，兵丁所见证的，是否能令宗教领袖相信耶稣真的是弥赛亚呢？

　　答案是否定的。耶路撒冷的大祭司坚持己见，不让目击证人的见证改变他们的看法。这个被大祭司所厌弃、被他们视为权位的威胁、令他们憎恨、被他们诬告、被他们以谎话陷害、被他们判死刑的人，竟然死里复生，这件事他们怎么也不能接受。

　　于是，他们又用圣殿银库中的一笔钱，来收买当时见证耶稣复活的兵丁，吩咐他们要么保持沉默，要么作假见证。

　　否定事情真实地发生过，并不是悔改。

　　然而，很多时候，我们岂不也是这样，以谎言来遮掩过失吗？

祷告

圣灵啊，求祢帮助我有勇气面对事实，教我不再以谎言来遮掩过失，不再假装什么都没有发生过。这样，我便能祷告说：“主耶稣，求祢赦免我，因为我犯了罪。奉耶稣的名祷告，阿们”。

 

马太福音 28:1-4，11-15

1安息日将尽，七日的头一日，天快亮的时候，抹大拉的马利亚和那个马利亚来看坟墓。
2忽然，地大震动；因为有主的使者从天上下来，把石头滚开，坐在上面。
3他的相貌如同闪电，衣服洁白如雪。
4看守的人就因他吓得浑身乱战，甚至和死人一样。
11她们去的时候，看守的兵有几个进城去，将所经历的事都报给祭司长。
12祭司长和长老聚集商议，就拿许多银钱给兵丁，说：
13“你们要这样说：‘夜间我们睡觉的时候，他的门徒来，把他偷去了。’
14倘若这话被巡抚听见，有我们劝他，保你们无事。”
15兵丁受了银钱，就照所嘱咐他们的去行。这话就传说在犹太人中间，直到今日。

Claiming It Never Happened

"You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.'" — Matthew 28:13

英语音频 English Audio

The religious leaders had the opportunity to interview personally the guards who saw the events of that morning while memories were still fresh. They could ask questions to clarify what those witnesses had seen. Did this opportunity strengthen their faith? Did the eyewitness facts from the guards confirm for the religious leaders that Jesus was the Messiah they had heard him claim to be before his death?

No. The Jerusalem chief priests were committed to a different outcome and didn't want to let little things like the testimony of eyewitnesses change their minds. It just wouldn't work that the person the chief priests had rejected, the person they saw as a threat to their own power, the person they had come to hate, the person they had framed, the person they had lied about, the person they had gotten condemned to capital punishment, could come back from the death sentence they had inflicted.

So again there was a need to withdraw some money from the temple fund—even more this time—to buy the silence and false testimony of the guards who had witnessed the events of Easter morning.

Claiming it never happened—that is not repentance.

But do we do that? Do we lie to cover up?

Prayer

诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳