I have sometimes wonder'd, considering the Nature and Heinousness of Jesus's Faults, for which he dy'd, that our Chief Priests and Pharisees had any Regard to his Prediction (which was so like a Bambouzlement of the Populace) that he was to rise again the third Day after his Crucifixion. There's no other Nation in the World, which would not have slighted such a vain Prognostication of a known Impostor. Let him foretell with ever so much Confidence his speedy Return to Life, I dare say, any other Magistrates of ordinary Prudence would have despised him for a presumptuous Enthusiast: But, when I reflected on the Imposture of Lazarus's Resurrection, and of what pernicious Consequence it had like to have proved to the Peace and Welfare of our Nation, if it had not been happily discover'd, my Wonder here ceas'd; and I as much admire now the Wisdom, Caution and Circumspection of our Chief Priests against all possible Fraud and Deceit in the foretold Resurrection of Jesus. Tho' Jesus himself, the Head of the Confederacy, and prime Projector of the design'd Cheat in the Case of Lazarus was cut off, yet his Associates were still numerous; and it was not impossible, but they might concert a Project of a counterfeited Resurrection of him, in Accomplishment of his Prophecy, that might be of more fatal Consequence, and tend to such Confusions and Distractions among the People, as would not be soon quell'd and quieted. Whereupon our Chief Priests very prudently consider of Precautions against Cheat here, and wisely make Application to Pilate the Governour, that proper and effectual Measures may be taken against a false and feign'd Resurrection, for Fear of the ill Effects of it. And one of them, as the Spokesman of their Company, seems, according to Matthew, Ch. xxviii. to have made the Speech following.
SIR, "We remember that this Deceiver and Impostor Jesus, who was yesterday crucified, and justly suffer'd Death for his Blasphemy and many Delusions of the People (that were of bad Consequence, and might have been of much worse, if he had not been timely brought to condign Punishment) said repeatedly before, that notwithstanding the Death he was to undergo he should rise again to Life the third Day after. It is not that we are at all apprehensive of such a wonderful and miraculous Event, which knowing him to have been a false Prophet as well as a deceitful Juggler, we have no Fears nor Belief of. But as it is not long since, that the Inhabitants in and about Bethany had like to have been fatally deluded and imposed on by him, in the pretended Resuscitation of Lazarus, one of his Disciples and Confederates in Iniquity; so it is not altogether impossible nor improbable but his Disciples and Accomplices, who are many, may project a feign'd Resurrection of Jesus (in Accomplishment of his Prediction) by stealing his Body away, and pretending he is risen from the dead. Should such a Sham-Miracle be contrived amongst them, and cunningly executed, it would be πλανη (not an Error but) an Imposture of worse Consequence to our Nation and Religion, than the former in Lazarus could have been, if it had never been detected: We crave therefore the Favour of your Excellency, to give Command for the making his Sepulchre sure, till the third Day is past, that neither his dead Body may be taken away, and a Resurrection pretended; nor a living one slipt into its Place, and a Miracle counterfeited on that Day, when we will be present at the opening of the Sepulchre, and give Satisfaction to the People of his being a false Prophet."
Whether Pilate was at all intent on the Prevention of Fraud in this Case, or would not willingly have connived at it, to increase the Divisions and Distractions of our then unhappy Nation, may be question'd: But the Request of our Chief Priests was so reasonable, and their Importunities so urgent, that he could not resist them; and therefore order'd them a Watch for the Sepulchre, which they might make as sure, as they could, against Fraud and Imposture, till the third Day.
Whereupon our Chief Priests deliberate, what Measures were fittest to be taken to this Purpose. And as I can't, and don't believe any Man else can, devise any better for the Security of the Sepulchre against Fraud, than what they took; so I admire and applaud their Prudence, Circumspection, and Precaution in the Case. They seal'd the Stone at the Mouth of the Sepulchre, and placed a Guard of Soldiers about it; which were Two such certain Means for the Prevention or Detection of Cheat in a Resurrection, as are not to be equall'd by any other.
They seal'd the Stone of the Sepulchre, which, tho' it was no Security at all against Violence, yet was an absolute one against Fraud. How the Stone which fitted the Mouth of the Sepulchre, as a Door does the Entrance into a Room, was seal'd, I need not describe. The Use and Manner of sealing the Doors of Closets, of Chests, and of Papers is common; and as it is an obvious Expedient, for the Satisfaction of the Signators, against Deceit; so it has been an antient as well as a modern Practice. Darius, King of Babylon,[311] seal'd the Door of the Den of Lions, wherein Daniel was cast, with his own Signet: And wherefore did he so? For the Satisfaction of himself and of his Courtiers, when he came again to open and compare the Signature with his Signet, that no Art nor Artifice had been used for the Preservation of Daniel. So our Chief Priests seal'd the Stone of Jesus's Sepulchre, which they design'd to be present at the opening of, on the third Day, the Time appointed by Jesus for his Resurrection, and then give ample Satisfaction to the People, that there was a real, or could be no Resurrection of his Body. Wherefore else did they seal the Stone of his Sepulchre?
Your Grotius[312] thinks, that Pilate's Seal was affix'd to the Stone of the Sepulchre; but, as I believe, Pilate little concern'd himself about the Prevention of Deceit here; so I much question it. It is more reasonable to think that the Chief Priests and other Civil Magistrates of Jerusalem with their several Seals, which could not be open'd, but by themselves, without Suspicion of Fraud, sign'd the Stone, and intended to be present, on the Day appointed, at the opening of the Sepulchre; not doubting, what no body could question, but Jesus would wait their coming, and arise to Life, if he could, in the Sight of themselves, and of a vast Concourse of People, that were sure to attend on them to behold the Miracle. Such a Resurrection would have been of Satisfaction to the whole Nation; and such a Resurrection, reasonably speaking, Jesus would, if he could, have vouchsafed in Accommodation to the sealing of the Stone.
But, notwithstanding this Precaution, in sealing of the Stone, the best that could be taken against Fraud, Jesus's Body was privately slipt off, early in the Morning of the Day before, and a Resurrection pretended by his Disciples; and you would have us and our Ancestors to believe, there was no Deceit in the Case; tho' confessedly none of the Sealers of the Sepulchre were present: Who can believe it? Was, or can there be, any Imposture more against Sense and Reason palm'd upon the Understandings of Mankind? If there had been a real Resurrection, the Sealers of the Stone would have been the Openers of the Sepulchre; wherefore else was the Stone seal'd?
A Question, that here arises, is, On what Day, and what Time of the Day, did our Chief Priests, the Sealers of the Stone, expect, what they could not think would ever come to pass, Jesus's Resurrection? Or what was the Extent of the Time meant by Jesus, when he said that after three Days, or on the third Day after his Passion, he should rise again? If any Impostor or Prophet like Jesus should in this Age so predict his Resurrection, and be executed on Friday, the Day for his Resurrection would be presumed to be Monday, and not Sunday Morning before Day. And I humbly conceive former Ages and Nations, and our Nation in particular did compute after this Fashion. Accordingly on Monday our Chief Priests I don't doubt, intended to be present at the opening of the Seals of the Sepulchre, and to behold the Miracle: But Jesus's Body was clandestinely moved off early on Sunday (the Day before that signified and predicted for his Resurrection) to the Laughter more than the Surprize of our Ancestors, at the Notoriety of the Fraud committed, and at the Vanity of a Resurrection pretended upon it. And I may appeal even to your Chief Priests of the Church, whether here's not another Note of Cheat and Imposture; and whether the Disciples were not afraid to trust Jesus's Body, its full time, in the Grave; because of the greater Difficulty to carry it off afterwards, and pretend a Resurrection upon it.
But because your Divines (who have singular Knacks at making two Nights and a full Day, that Jesus was buried, to be three Days and three Nights; and whose various Ways of Computation I always smile at) do assert that Sunday was the third Day, on which, in Accomplishment of Jonah's Prophecy, and of his Own Prediction, he was to rise again; I will suppose so with them, and will, if they please, grant that our Chief Priests, and the Sealers of the Sepulchre, expected his Resurrection on that Day, and intended, for the opening of the Seals, to be present at it.
But at what Time of the Day were they to come or could be expected at the Sepulchre? Not long before Noon. But Jesus's Body was gone betimes in the Morning, before our Chief Priests could be out of their Beds; and a barefac'd Infringment of the Seals of the Sepulchre was made against the Laws of Honour and Honesty, and a Resurrection confidently talk'd of by the Disciples; and yet your Christian Priesthood at this Day would have us to believe, there was no Fraud and Deceit in all this! O most monstrous!