Sermon Encore

Last night was our monthly “Questions & Answers” session.  Here’s one I didn’t have time to address during the evening worship hour:

“Please discuss the resurrection of the saints that occurred when Jesus died.”

The resurrection that is mentioned in the question is related in Matthew 27:50-53.  Matthew is the only gospel writer who mentions it, and he places it directly after the death of Jesus Christ.

The bodies of those who were raised from the tombs had to have been physical bodies.  Matthew says they were “raised.”  You cannot raise something that was never laid down.  Furthermore, the text is quite clear that “bodies” came out of the tombs.

There is no way of knowing for certain how long after Christ’s resurrection these dead saints arose from their tombs.  A good guess, though, is within fifty days, which was the time between the Passover when Jesus died and the Day of Pentecost when the church was established (Acts 2).  Remember, these resurrected saints went to the holy city (Jerusalem) and appeared to many, presumably for the purpose of witnessing to the resurrection of Christ.  On the Day of Pentecost in that same city, Peter was able to say, “This Jesus god raised up, and of that we all are witnesses” (Acts 2:32).

It is a common misconception that these saints came out of the tombs on the day Jesus died.  An earthquake did occur at that time, which opened the tombs, but the saints did not rise until “after his resurrection.”

We can assume that the resurrected saints continued to live as normal human beings until they died a second time by any number of causes.