was an impostor. For this purpose they determined to secure the tomb, till the time of his predicted re- surrection should be passed ; and accordingly made their application to Pilate, for such assistance as they judged necessary.
Let us consider,
I. The precautions they used to secure the tomb —
[They remembered that Jesus had repeatedly foretold his resurrection on the third day : and they well knew, that, if the report of such an event should be circulated and credited, it would confirm his influence to such a degree that they should never be able to subvert it. They conceived that they had been guilty of a great error in suffering Jesus to live so long : and, if now they should leave it in the power of his Disciples to practise a deceit by stealing away the body, and affirming that he was risen, their " last error would be worse than the first." They therefore, notwithstanding it was the Sabbath, went in a body to Pilate, to request that measures might in- stantly be taken to defeat any such plot : Yes, though they had often been filled with indignation against Jesus for performing acts of mercy on the Sabbath, they themselves felt no hesitation in violating the sanctity of it, in order to accomplish their malignant purposes.
In their address to Pilate, they designate our adorable Lord as a " deceiver," whose imposture they are determined to detect. They branded him witli this ignominious name, well knowing the influence which such appellations have in influencing the decisions of timid or ungodly men.
Pilate acceded to their request, and gave orders that a guard of soldiers from the castle of Antonia should be at their disposal. These therefore they placed around the sepulchre: and, lest any collusion should exist between them also and the Disciples, they put a seal upon the stone that closed the sepulchre ; and thus secured themselves equally against fraud and violence: the Disciples could not overcome an armed guard ; nor could the guard connive at their taking away the body without being immediately discovered.]
Let us next consider,
II. The advantage derived from thence to the cause
of Christ —
[Not all the Disciples together could have devised a plan that should render such benefit to their own cause as this did. It is true, that Christ's frequent appearances after his resurrec- tion might remove all doubt from the minds of the Disciples ; but still, if no precautions had been used to secure the tomb,