Matthew 28:11-15
28:12 a Such a bribe was contrary to the law (see Exod 20:16 b; 23:8 c).• elders: See study note on Matt 21:23.
28:13 d stole his body: Tomb robbery was a common problem in the ancient world, so such an accusation would have been entirely believable.
28:15 e still tell it today: Justin Martyr wrote to Jews of his day (about AD 165), “You have sent ... men throughout all the world to proclaim, ‘A godless and lawless heresy has sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb ... and now [the disciples] deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven’” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 108). This misinformation probably became widespread after the disciples began to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection (see Acts 2:22-36 f).
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