Skip to main content
Now as the women were on their way, some of the guards came into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.
They met with the elders and decided to give a large sum of money to the soldiers.
They told them, 
"Say that Jesus' disciples came at night and stole his body while you were sleeping.
And if the governor hears about this, we will take care of it with him so you will have nothing to worry about."
So the soldiers took the money and did as they were told. And this report has spread throughout all Judea to this very day.
Matthew 28:11-15 CEB
Why didn't they just tell the truth?
It's so easy to blame the minimum wage workers.
So easy to blame those with no power.
Yet it's the chief priests in this story, those with power and resources who are controlling the narrative, what people are led to believe, because it suits them.
This passage is recorded by Matthew for a reason - why is it part of the Easter story for us?
Is it to remind us where we have power to use it for justice, to stand for truth even if it costs?
Or maybe it's a nudge to stand against, to resist systems of power that try to shape our world, to stand by those more vulnerable (the ordinary soldiers, the security guards in this story)?
Remember Jesus was killed by people wanting to maintain their power...
#easter2025
#somethingtochewon
#upsidedownkingdom

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...