QUESTION: We celebrate Easter at a time when the stories of deception and slander spread like a virus in our society. Does the resurrection of Jesus tell anything about it? – Joseph K A

ANSWER: Saji Mathew Kanayankal CST

Among the various gospel descriptions of the resurrection of Jesus, Mathew 28: 11- 15 gets special attention because we do not see this narrative elsewhere in the Bible. Moreover, it speaks about a conspiracy played by the chief priests and the elders in collaboration with the soldiers. The gospel says, “While they were going, some of the guards went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed” (Mt 28: 11-15). It is very interesting to note the manipulation of the whole scenario by the conspiracy. According to the gospels, there is no direct eyewitness to the resurrection of Jesus. There was no doubt about the historicity of the empty tomb, but none is clear about how it became empty. But the most trustworthy witnesses would be the soldiers, who first witnessed the earthquake, the rolling away of the stone, and the angel descended from heaven. They told it to the chief priests to whom they had loyalty. Though it seems an irony, they are bribed and thus changed their version of the resurrection. They were hired to believer the resurrection, and to hinder others from believing in Jesus.

Wilful Disbelief Leads to the Expulsion of Truth
After the narration of the resurrection, Mathew talks about the corrupted soldiers, to whom had been entrusted the charge of the sepulchre. They were forced to tell a lie at the bidding of the priests and elders as the reward for the money they received. Unlike the audience, who were a considerable number at the time when Mathew has written this gospel, the priests and the elders who conspired with soldiers knew the fact that Jesus has risen, and they were also aware of the lie they are propagating. The story is slander in kind; the rumour of theft was a self-serving lie fortified by money. For them, who boasted that they would believe Christ if he came down from the cross (Mt 27:42), it would be an even more wonderful thing, if he comes up from the grave. The warning of Jesus that “neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead” (Lk 16:31), and his accusation that they are the children of the devil, the liar (Jn 8:44) are proved by their acts. No one is so blind as one who decides not to open the eyes.
First, this story expresses the self-deception of Jewish leaders, and their wilful and determined denial of truth. The chief priests and elders who were supposed to keep the ethos and identity of the community and entrusted to articulate truth and justice in their life and to the members of the community deceived themselves and others. Having failed to prevent the resurrection, they are reduced to trying to render it unbelievable. The crucifixion of Jesus was the result of the conspiracy of the chief priests and elders. But by the resurrection, their long days of planning had come to nothing. To cover their disgrace, they were compelled to bribe the soldiers and forced them to say the fake story that the disciples had stolen the body of Jesus.
The chief priests and elders never doubted the facts to which the guards bore witness. They never attempted to discredit their story by the suggestion of error or superstitious invention. They accepted the tale and took the most dishonourable means to make it innocuous. As John Calvin in his commentary remarks; “They were resolved not to believe that Jesus has risen; but their care was, to keep others from believing, and themselves from being quite ashamed from their disbelief of it. They had put him to death, and there was no way of standing to what they had done, but by confronting the evidence of his resurrection.” With power and money, they have manipulated the truth. Consequently, many people who were deprived to know the fact, easily fall into the pit of their strategic treachery. The face of religion becomes so vicious and malicious under the leadership of deceitful persons. This has been a repeated story in the different phases of history.
Conscience V/s and Power Politics
The chief priests and elders made the script, put it in the mouth of soldiers and they together gave it a colourful presentation. The bribery of the soldiers is the second incident that the chief priests purchase opposition to Jesus and his cause, and money is used for treachery. First, it was the story of Judas, who fall into the temptation of money and power. Though the chief priests were in font of money, they were very prodigal of it in carrying a malicious act against the gospel of Christ, and with the money and power, they improved their advantages. It is interesting to note the comment of St Jerome, who says that in both cases they used the temple funds. The irony is vivid; “employing against the cause of God that which was devoted to his service.”
When a lie is raised once, none knows its impact, reachability, and duration. Sometimes it may continue even for years. As in many cases today, normally people are ignorant to raise critical questions, especially when the hand of the powerful is behind the story. We do experience similar examples in contemporary politics as well as religion. When some leaders fail in their proposed plan, their blind adherents create fake stories to save the image of their leader(s) and it spreads rapidly through social media. We all are familiar with different kinds of PR campaigning in present society. Normally people easily believe what they hear or see. In the case of denial of the resurrection, along with this treachery, we also see a series of scams like lie, bribes one after another, hiding, persuading the authority etc. The great enemies of the gospel are lying leadership and their hands. When persuasion takes in the form of bribery, religion appears in all its viciousness and maliciousness and the religious authority turns their power into a political tool to control the ruling regime.
According to Mathew ‘a large sum of money’ was given, not to one or two, but generally to the soldiers, to induce them to commit perjury. Unlike Judas, to whom the chief priests and elders were callous, they were considerate towards the soldiers. They also paid them a large amount of money sufficient to satisfy their cupidity. The soldiers end up as false witnesses, accepting money to risk their lives, for what they know to be a lie. Even though the soldiers were afraid of the impact of their lie, the money and power of the leaders along with their promise, forced them to join fraudulently in the formation of a fake story. Power, money, and malpractices of the authority throw out the truth. Money, which is bait for the blackest temptation, has a quasi-demonic power in the gospel. Jesus has already warned his disciples quite a few times to be cautious about the use of money (Mt 6:24, 19:16-29) and it had already compromised one of the disciples (Mt 26:14-16). Now it compromises the leadership of the ‘people of God’ and mercenary tongues sell the truth for it.
Persuading political authority, though an old model of religious malpractice, continues even now. We also witness many conspiracies in our daily life. Calumny, slander, and defamation are some of the tools used by the corrupted politicians and religious leaders to establish and authenticate their power and authority. Most of these stories have social or political objectives, hence may not be purely criminal in nature. Those stories may intend to intimidate, frighten, or coerce a wider audience. People may easily believe the fabricated stories and changing their minds from it is notoriously difficult. It seems that the infamous Machiavellian principle, that ‘fraud and deceit are as necessary for a prince to rule’ is almost an acceptable method today to win ‘the game.’ For many, public and private moralities are to be understood as two different things and deception, treachery, deceit, lying, falsehood, deviousness, and masking of our inner selves are an inevitable part of the social world of human beings.

The Triumph of Truth
The logic of truth is the logic of the law (or principle) of non-contradiction. As Aristotle acclaims; “Nothing can both be and not be at the same time in the same respect.” From the biblical perspective, truth is more about being and character than about knowledge and content. In fact, truth is related to the being of God and His character is described as faithful, just/ righteous, and true/truthful. The biblical truth statements correspond with reality and fundamentally it is related to salvation or eternity. What contradicts the truth is not from God and therefore is not lasting. The stories build upon deceit and treachery may have a temporal gain or apparent success, but ultimately, they fail to convince people.
History tells us that heroes have been defined and esteemed by their adherence to truth and their willingness to suffer all on its behalf. For St. Augustine, lying is “a false statement made with the intention to deceive.” A person who lies knows the contradiction hidden in it, but one falsifies the fact to have some temporal gain. When people become liars, they routinely violate a crucial moral rule recognized across time, cultures, and religions, and thus they damage and threaten the survival of their important relationships, they harm those to whom they lie, and they reveal a substantial flaw in their character. Commenting on the easter narrative of Mathew, St. Chrysostom says; “For because of the clearness and conspicuousness of the truth, [the chief priests and elders] are not even able to make up a falsehood.” If really these soldiers had slept, and the disciples could steal the body of Jesus, the priests and elders would certainly have been the forerunners to solicit the governor to punish them for their treachery; so that their care for the soldiers’ safety plainly gives the lie to the story. The resurrection narrative of Mathew tells us that truth would prevail even in the face of entrenched ideology, massive propaganda, systematic oppression, and pure terror. Though the history books be rewritten, fake news be made, the dissidents are silenced, and the masses are misled, the truth itself would stand firm and upright. It could not be beaten into submission to falsehood.