Cover Up!
Dan Kunz
Have you read it all? Half of it? A quarter of it? Any of it? Last month the Trump administration released approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. That’s in addition to another six million pages of existing declassified materials. Even if you started reading at a young age, it might take you a lifetime to read all that! Over the years, many people have suggested a possible cover up in connection with the assassination. Now, even though the materials are available, I’m not sure we’ll still get the truth, the “whole” story.
Cover ups, conspiracy theories, and shady dealings are, of course, nothing new. Government officials and bureaucrats may take the largest share of the blame, but those things can be found in a lot of other places, too. When you read the account of Easter morning in the four Gospels, Matthew’s account gives us some insight which isn’t surprising but certainly enlightening. Matthew 28:11-15 11 As they were on their way, there were some members of the guard who went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 After the chief priests had assembled with the elders and had reached a decision, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole him away while we were sleeping.’ 14 If the governor hears about it, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 After the soldiers took the money, they did as they were instructed. And this story has been repeated among the Jews until this day. Matthew certainly pulls back the curtain and allows us to see a cover up in action!
Even if the chief priests and elders believed that Jesus had actually risen from the dead, they couldn’t let that news get out. Imagine the reaction of the people! If they put Jesus to death because they feared he was drawing people away from their control, they had to squelch any thought or rumor about a resurrection. They had a plan! It would be tricky, though. The soldiers who were supposed to guard the tomb had to admit they had fallen asleep on duty, which would have put their very lives in jeopardy. It took a lot of money and a lot of assurances from the leaders that everything would be okay. The soldiers agreed and the story continues to this day. Jesus-haters, skeptics, and unbelievers still won’t look beyond the cover up. As a matter of fact, more conspiracies have evolved. His body was never actually left in the tomb. He wasn’t really dead. The entire situation was a case of mass hysteria. On and on go the “explanations”.
Believers know the truth. Mark 16:6 He said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Hundreds of people saw the risen Savior over the next month – his disciples and many others. Many people wrote about their contact with him. He spoke to them. He ate with them. He blessed them. Those are all facts which can’t be covered up.
Sunlight kills germs. Sunlight reveals the hidden. Sunlight highlights reality. The light of the rising sun on Easter morning was glorious! It showed an empty tomb to Jesus’ followers on that fateful day when our salvation was sealed. The light was so magnificent we can still see it today! He is risen! He is risen, indeed!