The chief priests bribed the soldiers to spread a false story, "fake news!" that Jesus' disciples came during the night and stole his dead body from the tomb. They did not pause to reflect on the illogical nature of their lie. If the soldiers had indeed been asleep they would not have known what happened. Mathew notes that the soldiers' story was still in circulation when he wrote his Gospel. Variations of the story have continued down to our own day, simply because people cannot face the truth that Jesus' tomb was empty, not for some merely human reason, which would only be lie, but for the divine truth that God would not abandon Jesus' soul to the nether world nor allow his body to undergo the corruption of the grave, as the Psalmist expressed the human desire for immortality. It is only the truth that sets us free: lies continue to grow and fester and lead us astray.