Matthew Henry Commentary Matthew 28:11-15

"Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city, and told unto the chief priests all the things that were come to pass. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave much money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor`s ears, we will persuade him, and rid you of care. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews, [and continueth] until this day." — Matthew 28:11-15 (ASV)

To what wickedness will men not be brought by the love of money! Large sums of money were given to the soldiers for promoting what they knew to be a lie, yet many begrudge a little money for promoting what they know to be the truth. Let us never starve a good cause when we see bad ones so liberally supported. The priests undertook to protect them from Pilate's sword, but they could not protect these soldiers from the sword of God's justice, which hangs over the heads of those who love and make a lie.

Those men who undertake to save a man from harm in doing a willful sin promise more than they can perform.

But this falsehood disproved itself. Had all the soldiers been asleep, they could not have known what happened. If any had been awake, they would have roused the others and prevented the removal; and certainly, if they had been asleep, they never would have dared to confess it, while the Jewish rulers would have been the first to call for their punishment.

Again, if there had been any truth in the report, the rulers would have prosecuted the apostles severely for it. All of this shows that the story was entirely false. And we must not attribute such things to the weakness of the understanding, but to the wickedness of the heart. God left them to expose their own ways.

The great argument proving Christ to be the Son of God is His resurrection; and no one could have had more convincing proofs of its truth than these soldiers, yet they took bribes to hinder others from believing. The clearest evidence will not affect people without the work of the Holy Spirit.