The account that the Roman guard gave of the happenings at the grave was serious hearing indeed. The chief priests were appalled. At all costs the story of the resurrection must be denied. Something must be done, and done quickly to meet the situation. So they concocted a most improbable story. We read, "When they [the chief priests] were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large 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 secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day." (Matt. 28:12-1512And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, 13Saying, Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. 14And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. 15So they took the money, and did as they were taught: and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day. (Matthew 28:12‑15)).
A true story will hang together, and be capable of being minutely examined. But this tale is far from convincing. If ALL the guard were asleep, how could they know that the disciples had stolen the body? If, further, the body was stolen, how could sleeping men know what had become of it? Was ALL the guard likely to be asleep on the morning of the third day when our Lord prophesied He would rise from the dead, especially when they knew that by sleeping at their posts they ran the risk of the death penalty? Of course they could not gainsay that the stone was rolled away, and the tomb empty. So some story must be told to get out of the difficulty of acknowledging that our Lord had risen from the dead.
Was it likely that the removal of the stone by the disciples, and the carrying away of the body of their Lord, could be carried out so silently and expeditiously that not one of the sleeping guard was awakened? The operation would take considerable time, and be accompanied by noise and force.
And further would "large money" be given to the guard to speak the truth? Did not the largeness of the bribe indicate the extent of the fear that possessed the chief priests, that the truth would eventually come out, and the danger accruing to them in the lies they told be found to be a very real thing?
And if the body had been removed by the disciples, why did the chief priests content themselves with bribing the soldiers to tell a lie, involving them in great risk, and not seek by every possible means to find the body? How convincing would have been the proof that there was no resurrection of our Lord, could the chief priests have possessed themselves of the body, and publicly exhibited it to the public at large. That would have settled the matter once and for all. Where was the body? The body was never produced. Why? Because there was no dead body, but a living risen Christ.
The story the chief priests concocted would fail to convince any, save those, who were willing to be deceived by any improbable tale, that would obviate the acknowledgment of the fact of the resurrection of the One they had crucified with scorn and shame.