The Insecure Tomb

"Go," Pilate says to the chief priests. "You have a guard of soldiers. Make the tomb as secure as you can." Security is almost everyone's concern in the last chapters of the Gospel. - Those who arrest Jesus do so with the enhanced security of swords and clubs. -In response to the arrest, the disciples flee the garden and desert Jesus, finding their security in the cover of darkness and the swiftness of a runner's pace. -Peter swears by an oath that he does not even know Jesus-three denials, all meant to get him out of harm's way. -Pilate's wife tries to keep her husband safe from the prisoner who stands before him by sending Pilate word to "have nothing to do with that righteous man" (27:19). -Then, even after Jesus is safely dead, the chief priests know that "you can't be too careful." They need a guard at the tomb, for security. Pilate sends them on their way. "Knock yourselves out, boys. Make it as secure as you can." If the people who try to sell us things are any indication, security is able to capture our imagination just as it captured Peter's and the chief priests'. Everything from tire treads to investment advice is marketed with a thirty-second story line that features a threat to our security and then answers the threat with the product offered for sale. The tire tread commercials are generally set on a dark and stormy night, and they generally feature a woman driving a toddler somewhere. It is all a cliche, but what-you want poetry in thirty seconds? What you get instead is news about what kind of tires your loved ones need to get home safely.