Stealing the Body
This is an interesting accusation because if the disciples had stolen the body, 1) how could they have done it with the extra guards, and 2) when faced with death for preaching the resurrection, it seems they would have fessed up admitting it was a hoax rather than be executed.
Barton adds: Whereas the disciples in their despair had probably forgotten about Jesus’ promise of resurrection, the leaders hadn’t forgotten. Nonetheless, the religious leaders did not believe Jesus’ claims, but they were afraid of fraud—after all, the body had been taken down by two followers of Jesus. The Pharisees wanted Pilate to seal the stone to make sure that no one would steal Jesus’ body and claim he had risen from the dead. They tried to take every precaution that his body would remain in the tomb.
The first deception they referred to was Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah; the last deception would be a falsified claim to rising from the dead that would be used to support the first. The Jewish leaders did not want to have to answer to the people about such a turn of events.
Matthew 27:64New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update
“Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”