What does Matthew 28:11 mean?
Matthew has described how the women who came to treat Jesus' corpse were instead sent away to deliver the message that Jesus was alive (Matthew 28:1–10). A different group will take a similar message to those who will not want to hear it.The Roman soldiers who had been guarding the tomb (Matthew 27:62–66) awaken from their fear-induced unconsciousness. Some of them go into Jerusalem, to the temple, to tell the chief priests what they have seen happen at the tomb. It's unlikely these soldiers saw Jesus alive. But they did experience the earthquake and see an angel from heaven roll a huge stone out from in front of Jesus' tomb. They know that the body is gone, even if they can't say for sure that Jesus has been raised from the dead.
The soldiers must have been worried about making this report. After all, they have failed in their duty to protect the body from being stolen. Their story of how it happened is bound to sound outlandish. Fortunately for them, the Jewish religious leaders will be eager to make use of them for their own ends.