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February 20, 2016

He Is Risen Indeed

Easter comes early this year; it falls on March 27. It's got nothing to do with candy, bunnies or baskets filled with fake grass. It is, or should be, about the proof that God the Father gave the world regarding the identity of an obscure Jew named Jesus (Joshua).

As a retired LEO I sympathize with the Roman soldiers (the police of that age) who were tasked with protecting Jesus' tomb. The Roman army looked with great disfavor on soldiers who did not perform their duty; they were killed outright. If the entire unit performed poorly, the Roman disciplinary practice of decimation - every tenth man was executed- was put into play.

Failure was not a Roman option.

So, when the supervisor of the Roman grave protection detail reported back that the body of Christ was missing, gone bye bye ...

What do you tell your commander?
That his troops assigned to the execution detail three days ago killed God?
That a two ton sealed stone rolled away by itself  and some dead guy walked out?
That you witnessed the resurrection of a Supreme Deity and crapped in your armor?
That you abandoned your post because you were relieved by an angel?
Just... just kill me now Commander, I can't take anymore.

I can't wait to see the movie that gives us an idea of what those soldiers went through.



1 comment:

Doom said...

As I have it, the Jewish leaders wrote in that the guards fell asleep. However, the guards were not punished. If they had fallen asleep, they would have, at least on such an important task, been decimated. Though there weren't that many. I should think they would have all been crucified. Even with them being found not guilty of anything, I am surprised the Roman leaders didn't slay them just out of hand. And, yes, they did that. What was that about Christ, and the washing of hands? Business, that is how it was done.

There must have been something seriously compelling, and probably very public, that stayed those executions. Jesus did return, and was said to have been among them for a while. My guess is that was public knowledge, and they didn't seem to be able to catch or harm Him. Only guessing, but Romans are a pretty nasty lot. Sometimes rightly, but just as often wrongly. Bloody people who had no love of life, only power and rule and law.