Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that were done.
This verse occurs on the morning of Jesus' resurrection. Earlier in the story, the chief priests — the Jewish religious leaders who had orchestrated Jesus' crucifixion — had asked the Roman governor Pilate to post soldiers at Jesus' sealed tomb. They feared Jesus' disciples might steal the body and then falsely claim he had risen from the dead. When Jesus actually rose, those Roman guards were present to witness whatever happened. Shaken by the experience, they didn't report to their own commanding officer — they went directly to the chief priests, the very men who had arranged their posting. This sets up the next scene in Matthew's Gospel, where the priests bribe the guards to spread a cover story.
God, I don't want to be someone who witnesses something real and immediately looks for a way to contain it. Give me the courage of the women — to run toward what you're doing, not away from it. When you show up in my life, help me follow the thread. Amen.
This might be the most underrated moment in the entire resurrection story. Two groups are moving simultaneously on the same morning. The women who had come to the tomb are running toward the disciples with the most staggering news in human history. And at the same time, trained Roman soldiers — men whose professional identity was built on staying unflappable under pressure — are running in the opposite direction, completely undone, straight to the priests. Notice what the text says: they reported "everything that had happened." These men told the truth. They were eyewitnesses. They saw it. And the response of the religious establishment wasn't wonder — it was immediate damage control. Here's the thing worth sitting with: the same event can produce radically different responses depending on what you want to be true. The soldiers told the truth, and the priests' first instinct was to suppress it. Evidence doesn't automatically produce faith — sometimes it produces a bribe. You might have your own version of this: something you've experienced or felt that points toward God — and the question isn't whether you noticed it. It's what you'll do with it. Follow it, or find a way to quietly explain it away?
Why do you think the guards reported to the chief priests rather than to their own Roman commanding officer — what does that choice reveal about who really held social power in that moment?
Have you ever had an experience that seemed to point toward God that you were tempted to explain away or quietly ignore? What did you do with it, and why?
The priests' response to what the guards described was to immediately suppress it — what does that tell us about the relationship between religious power and genuine, open-handed truth-seeking?
The guards and the women both encountered the aftermath of the same event but ran in completely different directions — what do you think accounts for such opposite responses to the same reality?
Is there something God has made clear to you that you've been slow to act on or tell anyone about? What is actually holding you back?
While they were on their way, some of the [Roman] guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
AMP
While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place.
ESV
Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened.
NASB
The Guards’ Report While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.
NIV
Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened.
NKJV
As the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened.
NLT
Meanwhile, the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened.
MSG