Pilate said to them, “You have guards. Go and keep watch carefully, as you know how.”
Pilate’s answer shows his indifference and spiritual blindness: he was simply trying to rid himself of the pressure from the religious leaders by allowing them to do what they wanted. With the phrase, “You have guards,” he in effect placed their fear into their own hands, leaving them to secure the tomb themselves. This word at the same time carries both the sense of human permission and divine allowance: Pilate provided a guard, but God allowed it, so that this very guarding would become a witness to the resurrection. His indifferent answer became part of the divine plan: human helplessness was used to confirm divine power. Pilate thought he was closing a story, but in reality he signed the beginning of the story of salvation.