Just wondering why the resurrection of many saints at Jesus' death didn't make it into other historical records? Seems like it would have been a big deal.
The Saint Raised at Jesus' Death
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An ancient version of the Walking Dead. Here comes the Zion Zombies! On another note I agree. As detailed as Josephus is about events during that time you would think he would have reported it.
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Interesting that there is no other mention of this event (outside of the 2 verses in Matthew 27) in the rest of the Bible either. So, since we know nothing else than what is said there, we can only guess as to why such an event was not recorded elsewhere.
1) They appeared for a very short period of time to illiterate people only and then the Lord took them away?
2) They instructed the people who they saw/spoke to not to tell anyone for some reason?
3) The records from the 1st Century are scant, and if there were any records of this event, perhaps they were destroyed by the Scribes, Pharisees, and/or Romans? (remember that many tried to cover up the Resurrection itself, which happened just three days later)
Like I said, we have nothing to go on (as far as I know) other than conjecture.2) They instructed the people who they saw/spoke to not to tell anyone for some reason?
3) The records from the 1st Century are scant, and if there were any records of this event, perhaps they were destroyed by the Scribes, Pharisees, and/or Romans? (remember that many tried to cover up the Resurrection itself, which happened just three days later)
--David
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Quid est Veritas?
In Memoriam to CS Lewis
Hellenistic belief of dead raised during important events, never assumed them to be alive for ever more. It was a short term thing, usually in the form of Necromancy.
The best example here is Erichtho in Lucan's Pharsalia, a witch that cause the dead to be raised prior to the eponymous battle.
So the verses say they appeared to some people, not that they stayed around. Consequently, those who doubted Jesus would have no reason to believe nor report such events. Josephus wrote almost 40 years later, and probably wrote an account against Jesus (although a Christian redactor has been at work, most scholars agree an authentic reference to Jesus' crucifixion is present there, though panegyrically rewritten). Josephus, a Pharisee, has no reason to report things that confirm Jesus. Hence he doesn't mention other fantastic events either. Roman authors were fond of reporting two-headed calves, or other omens, but have no reason to care about a local event in the backwaters of the Empire. As an analogy: No 19th century Englishman would write about the miracles performed by a petty African shaman, unless to dismiss them, nor would his tribal rivals report it if trying to convince the English of the worth of his people in toto.
That there is no other reference is really not odd at all, and therefore says nothing as to the veridity of the whole.
The best example here is Erichtho in Lucan's Pharsalia, a witch that cause the dead to be raised prior to the eponymous battle.
So the verses say they appeared to some people, not that they stayed around. Consequently, those who doubted Jesus would have no reason to believe nor report such events. Josephus wrote almost 40 years later, and probably wrote an account against Jesus (although a Christian redactor has been at work, most scholars agree an authentic reference to Jesus' crucifixion is present there, though panegyrically rewritten). Josephus, a Pharisee, has no reason to report things that confirm Jesus. Hence he doesn't mention other fantastic events either. Roman authors were fond of reporting two-headed calves, or other omens, but have no reason to care about a local event in the backwaters of the Empire. As an analogy: No 19th century Englishman would write about the miracles performed by a petty African shaman, unless to dismiss them, nor would his tribal rivals report it if trying to convince the English of the worth of his people in toto.
That there is no other reference is really not odd at all, and therefore says nothing as to the veridity of the whole.
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The7thColporteur
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Not so, please consider:
Isaiah foretold, that the body of Jesus would be resurrected, and along with Him, others at Jerusalem:
Isaiah 26:19 KJB - Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
See also Psalms 40:6; Hebrews 10:5; Galatians 4:4 KJB;
Psalms 68, a Psalms of David, sang about the Son of David, Jesus Christ, and His victory over sin and the grave:See also Psalms 40:6; Hebrews 10:5; Galatians 4:4 KJB;
Psalms 40:6 KJB - Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Hebrews 10:5 KJB - Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Galatians 4:4 KJB - But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Hebrews 10:5 KJB - Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Galatians 4:4 KJB - But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Psalms 68:8 KJB - The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
Psalms 68:17 KJB - The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
Psalms 68:18 KJB - Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
Psalms 68:20 KJB - He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.
Psalms 68:21 KJB - But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.
Psalms 68:21 KJB - references Genesis 3:15 KJB, and notice the connection to harvest, firstfruits, wavesheaf and the "seed" that began it all -
Paul cites Psalms 68:18, in direction connection to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the freeing of the captives from the grave, and thus the specific persons around Jerusalem that had been sleeping the dust of the earth, in the graves are resurrected with Jesus, as Isaiah 26:19 shows:Psalms 68:17 KJB - The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
Psalms 68:18 KJB - Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.
Psalms 68:20 KJB - He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.
Psalms 68:21 KJB - But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.
Psalms 68:21 KJB - references Genesis 3:15 KJB, and notice the connection to harvest, firstfruits, wavesheaf and the "seed" that began it all -
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Ephesians 4:8 KJB - Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Ephesians 4:9 KJB - (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Ephesians 4:10 KJB - He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
1 Corinthians 15:20 KJB - But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
1 Corinthians 15:21 KJB - For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22 KJB - For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 KJB - But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
1 Corinthians 15:21 KJB - For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
1 Corinthians 15:22 KJB - For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:23 KJB - But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
Christ Jesus was fulfilling his duty, in the day of His resurrection, which was the 16th day of Abib, the 'first day of the week'; which began the numbering of days unto Pentecost; as it was written, to take of the "firstfruits", and to wave them, as the "wavesheaf", before the Father, and so took those He liberated from death to Heaven, and presented them before the Father in Heaven:
Leviticus 23:15 KJB - And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Leviticus 23:16 KJB - Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:17 KJB - Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:18 KJB - And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:19 KJB - Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Leviticus 23:20 KJB - And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Leviticus 23:21 KJB - And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Leviticus 23:22 KJB - And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 23:16 KJB - Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:17 KJB - Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:18 KJB - And ye shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be for a burnt offering unto the LORD, with their meat offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savour unto the LORD.
Leviticus 23:19 KJB - Then ye shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.
Leviticus 23:20 KJB - And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the LORD, with the two lambs: they shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.
Leviticus 23:21 KJB - And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
Leviticus 23:22 KJB - And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Matthew records the historical record:
Jesus dies:
Matthew 27:50 KJB - Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
An earthquake happens, and the rocks are split:
Matthew 27:51 KJB - And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
The graves of specific persons around Jerusalem are thus opened as angels descended to do their task [see connecting Matthew 28:2 KJB]:
Matthew 27:52 KJB - And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
These specific persons around Jerusalem, unnamed and unnumbered do not come out of those opened graves until the 'first day of the week' when Jesus arises, and the angel Gabriel comes down clothed in the panopoly of Heaven, calling forth the Son by command of the Father, and the other earthquake happens:
Matthew 27:53 KJB - And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Notice, the second earthquake in the descent of the covering Cherub and lesser arch-angel Gabriel:
Matthew 28:1 KJB - In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
Matthew 28:2 KJB - And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Matthew 28:3 KJB - His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Matthew 28:4 KJB - And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
The reason why history may not overtly record such an event, other than the historical account given by Matthew, and foretold by Moses in Leviticus, etc, by Isaiah, by David in the Psalms, and confirmed by Paul, etc, in scripture [KJB], may be because of the limited location, namely Jerusalem, and that the local persons in that area who were resurrected would only be recognized by loved ones [not necessarily by Romans, Samaritans, Greeks, or even strangers per se], and were not meant in general for non-believers outside of this area, but were as a proof to those in Jerusalem. Secondarily, just as other resurrections had to be covered up by the religious leaders, such as they wanted to even kill the evidence of the resurrection, namely Lazarus [John 12:10 KJB], and to spread false reports and to bury the truth [Matthew 28:11-15 KJB], just some thoughts.Matthew 28:2 KJB - And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
Matthew 28:3 KJB - His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
Matthew 28:4 KJB - And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
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Daniel Marsh
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Jerome wrote about it,
"Matthew tells us: The rocks rent, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto many? Matthew 27:51, 53 We must not interpret this passage straight off, as many people absurdly do, of the heavenly Jerusalem: the apparition there of the bodies of the saints could be no sign to men of the Lord's rising. Since, therefore, the evangelists and all the Scriptures speak of Jerusalem as the holy city, and since the psalmist commands us to worship the Lord at his footstool; allow no one to call it Sodom and Egypt, for by it the Lord forbids men to swear because it is the city of the great king. Matthew 5:35"CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 46 (Jerome)
"Matthew tells us: The rocks rent, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city and appeared unto many? Matthew 27:51, 53 We must not interpret this passage straight off, as many people absurdly do, of the heavenly Jerusalem: the apparition there of the bodies of the saints could be no sign to men of the Lord's rising. Since, therefore, the evangelists and all the Scriptures speak of Jerusalem as the holy city, and since the psalmist commands us to worship the Lord at his footstool; allow no one to call it Sodom and Egypt, for by it the Lord forbids men to swear because it is the city of the great king. Matthew 5:35"CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 46 (Jerome)
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Daniel Marsh
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The Jewish leaders bribe romans to say the that the body of Jesus was stolen. Why would they want to write about them?
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You raise an interesting question. Why isn't there more places where this is talked about even in Matthew's gospel? And what constitutes "many". Two wouldn't nor three...five or six maybe? I've read it's estimated that the population of Jerusalem was around 40,000 in the time of Christ. With five or six raised back to life surely it must have made some type of impact. And did this "many" find out about each other...get together and exchange notes of what their experience was and that they were now apart of a group that had something very unique in common?
Perhaps they became afraid too for the religious leaders were already putting forth a censorship campaign having to do with anything Jesus. We know they fought against the truth of exactly what occurred at Jesus tomb by the deal they made with the Roman soldiers to lie about it. While the leaders would have heard about the "many" they're goal would be to label it as FAKE NEWS! Thinking about it from another standpoint maybe we can understand why Matthew didn't expand on even his talking about it. While it was an impressive, startling event as he's writing the gospel he's inspired when he gets to what we'd call this chapter, to more so keep the focus on Jesus and Jesus himself.
Why even mention it then with one verse? I suppose so we in our day KNOW that the resurrection of Jesus was like a spiritual earthquake that hit Jerusalem. God was wanting to make an impression on the inhabitants of that city in no uncertain terms. I can imagine as time went by after Jesus resurrection and his ascension while most of the population of 40K never saw the Lord they'd still have the knowledge that when Jesus allegedly was raised from the dead they'd come back to say something powerful had to have happened for it happened as well to person A, B and C of whom we know.
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GoldenKingGaze
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It may have only been in Israel that they rose, and not China... children coming back...
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Well, virtually all the early Church writers who had contact with the Apostles or disciples of them verify the passage in Matthew. So what modern textual critics think about it is irrelevant. Dr. Norman Geisler did a major thesis paper on this and documents the early writers who confirmed the text in Matthew....
The Early Fathers and the Resurrection of the Saints
Yeshua always seemed to be pointing us to the Harvest. Leviticus 23 is the requirements for the harvest. I have felt that these resurrected saints were the first fruits of the harvest that are required to be taken by the High Priest and presented to the Lord.
Now don't get what I said screwed up. Yeshua is the first fruits of the resurrection, but He is not part of the harvest. He is the High Priest. He told Mary not to hold onto Him since He had not yet ascended to the Father. This had to be a special circumstance since He had the Apostles touch Him later. He, as High Priest, would have to remain ceremonially pure to deliver the first fruits of the harvest to the Father.
And many early Church writers concur that these resurrected saints were taken to heaven.
The Early Fathers and the Resurrection of the Saints
Yeshua always seemed to be pointing us to the Harvest. Leviticus 23 is the requirements for the harvest. I have felt that these resurrected saints were the first fruits of the harvest that are required to be taken by the High Priest and presented to the Lord.
Now don't get what I said screwed up. Yeshua is the first fruits of the resurrection, but He is not part of the harvest. He is the High Priest. He told Mary not to hold onto Him since He had not yet ascended to the Father. This had to be a special circumstance since He had the Apostles touch Him later. He, as High Priest, would have to remain ceremonially pure to deliver the first fruits of the harvest to the Father.
And many early Church writers concur that these resurrected saints were taken to heaven.
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