I was just reading the end of Matthew this morning and people were talking about sealing up the tomb of Jesus in case His disciples would steal His body and claim that He raised from the dead when that didn't happen. However, even if Jesus
hadn't raised from the dead,.. wouldn't they have figured that out sooner or later when they didn't actually see Him alive? Or would they really be that stupid and gullible?
(Obviously this is just a hypothetical question since Jesus really
did raise from the dead.)
The Romans certainly could've just tried to let the rumor of Jesus' resurrection die, assuming Jesus would never appear again. But remember, this was a super government sensitive event, calling for serious media controls. The Romans were totalitarians, and dare not allow any kind of challenge to their rule go un-censored, since there was the constant danger of rebellion. And Christianity clearly had the tools to take advantage of the unpopular standing of the Romans in Israel.
The Romans didn't want to tolerate *any* Christian teaching. Writing it off as mere "superstition" didn't work, because according to the story, Jesus had miraculously healed many, many people, including raising people from the dead. There was a strong belief, among some, that God still raised people from the dead, including claimed appearances of Moses and Elijah on the Mt. of Transfiguration. After all, the Jewish God is the God of miracles, who had supernaturally defeated an out-numbered Israel in the Exodus.
So the Romans wanted to stop the story before it broke out, proven or not, rational or not. They did not perceive the people would be moved by anything but by a contrived and manipulated story line that appeared more rational.
