So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a guard.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
Aug. in Serm., non occ.: Herose again after three days, to signify the consent of the whole Trinity in the passion of the Son; the three days’ space is read figuratively, because the Trinity which in the beginning made man, the same in the end restores man bythe passion of Christ.
So they went their way, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. They secured the sepulchre in a twofold way—with the guard of soldiers, whom they ordered to keep diligent watch, and by sealing the stone.
They sealed it with a signet, not Pilate"s, as S. Chrysostom suggests, but with their own, i.e, with the signet of the city of Jerusalem, or of the Sanhedrin, so that the stone could not be moved, nor the body be taken away, without its being detected. Song of Solomon , too, Darius ( Daniel 6:17). Nicephorus adds that the Jews bored through both the stones of the tomb, and fastened them with an iron band. And thus, by endeavouring to prevent the resurrection of Christ, they did but add to the miracle, and furnished greater evidence for it; which God, as it were, extorted from them. So S. Chrysostom, "An undoubted demonstration is furnished by your own doings. For if the sepulchre were sealed, no room was left for fraud and deceit. But if no fraud had been ...
They departing. See how beyond the possibility of contradiction these precautions prove the reality of Christ's resurrection, and how the inveterate enemies of Christ become unwilling witnesses of it; for, since the sepulchre was guarded, there was an impossibility of any deceit on the part of the disciples. Now, if the least deceit was utterly impracticable, then indeed Christ our Lord was infallibly risen; and to remove every, the least possibility of deceit, Pilate would not permit the soldiers alone to seal up the monument. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
The high priests made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone at the entrance of the monument with the public seal, sphragisantes ton lithon, proof against all fraud, either of corrupt guards or of designing followers, as Darius did, (Daniel vi. 17.) that no violence might be offered him. All this diligence, on the part of the enemies of the Christian faith, was permitted by divine Providence, that our faith in Christ's resurrection might be ...
It was not enough for the Chief Priests to have crucified the Lord the Saviour, if they did not guard the sepulchre, and do their utmost to lay hands on Him asHe rose from the dead. But as Caiaphas prophesied without knowing it, that “it is expedient that one man should die for the people,” so now, Christ was a deceiver , not from truth into error, but leading men from error to truth, from vices to virtue, from death to life.
Hom. lxxxix: Observe how against their will they concert to demonstrate the truth, for by their precautions irrefragable demonstration of the resurrection was attained. The sepulchre was watched, and so no fraud could have been practised; and if there was no collusion, it is certain that the Lord rose again.
“Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day.” For Christ's disciples were spiritually thieves; stealing from the unthankful Jews the writings of the New and Old Testament, they bestowed them to be used by the Church; and while they slept, that is, while the Jews were sunk in the lethargy of unbelief, they carried off the promised Saviour, and gave Him to be believed on by the Gentiles.
When they say, “And the last error will be worse than the first,” they utter atruth unwittingly, for their contempt of penitence was worse for the Jews than was their error of ignorance.
Pilate’s answer to their request is as much as to say, Be it enough for you that ye have conspired the death of an innocent man, henceforth let your error remain with you.
And to this day the holy women, that is, the lowly souls of the saints, do the like in this present world, and with pious assiduity wait while Christ's passion is being completed.
They say that He had declared, “After three days I will rise again,” inconsequence of that He said above, “As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly,” But let us see in what way He can be said to have risen again after three days. Some would have the three hours of darkness understood as one night, and the light succeeding the darkness as aday, but these do not know the force of figurative language. The sixth day of the week on which He suffered comprehended the foregoing night; then follows the night of the Sabbath with its own day, and the night of the Lord’s day includes also its own day; and hence it is true that He rose again after three days.
. The evangelist did not call the sabbath "the sabbath," for it was not the sabbath as far as the Jews in their malice were concerned. For though the law forbade anyone on the sabbath day to wander about, these Jewish transgressors of the law assembled at the place of the foreigner, Pilate, instead of at the place of assembly ordained by the law. They were moved by their own evil to approach Pilate and then to secure the tomb. This was God’s providence, that the Resurrection might occur with them, His enemies, as witnesses guarding the sealed tomb. It is worth asking where the Jews learned that He had said that on the third day He would rise; for undoubtedly the Lord never said this clearly and openly. We can say that they surmised this from the example of Jonah. For Christ had said that "just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for three days, so too will I be in the belly of the earth" (Mt. 12:38-39); and also, "Ye shall destroy this temple." Before they had not understood these s...
