For all:
It is possible that Mat. 27:52-53 was the basis for the false idea that the resurrection had already happened: "The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many."
Some people claim this is an "apocalyptic statement" and therefore was not a real event. I don't agree with that, because it reads like a historical event IMO. I believe the tearing of the veil was a historical event just like the earthquake, and that this resurrection was also historical. So if this is true, it begs the question has the first resurrection already happened?
I get the idea that Matthew was written before 2 Thes, and 2 Thes. was written before Revelation. It seems to me that the apostle Paul knew about the Mat. resurrection, and still told the Thessalonians that their resurrection was still a future event. No doubt the false idea that was propagated at the time had to do with what they were saying about it, and not about the fact that Mat. had a resurrection account.
That is an awesome event in the Bible and perhaps where the idea of Zombie movies came from?
Did a googles search on Matt 27:51-53
https://www.google.com/search?clien...i30j0i13j0i13i30j0i13i5i30j33i160.OP7K2q-aYhk
What happened to the resurrected saints mentioned in Matthew 27: 52-53?
Matthew 27:51-53 tells us what happened right after Jesus Christ died: “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”
This resurrection of several believers was one of the phenomena accompanying the resurrection of Jesus Christ to underscore that monumental event. These saints came back to physical life. (In the Bible, the word
saints means those who are sanctified or set apart as holy, meaning all of God’s true followers.) We know from such scriptures as 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 that God has resurrected no one to eternal life as an immortal spirit yet—except Christ.
For example, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 says: “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
These references teach us that God will change the righteous dead along with living Christians to immortal beings when Jesus Christ returns.
After God brought the people mentioned in Matthew 27:52-53 back to life, they undoubtedly went back to their homes, where many acquaintances saw them. It’s hard to imagine how utterly startling such an experience would be for their relatives and friends!
The Bible says nothing further about these people God resurrected at Christ’s death, leaving us to conclude that they eventually died (again) and their families buried them (again). Along with all other saints who died, they await in their graves their resurrection to spirit life.
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This event in John shows Lazarus being resurrected and coming out of the tomb:
John 10:
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
“Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things,
He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
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A similar event happens in Revelation concerning the rapture of the 2 witnesses [of which I have a thread on]:
Lazarus and 2 witnesses of Reve 11 similarity
Revelation 11:
11 And after the three days and half days,
a breath of life out of the God entered in them and they stand upon their feet and fear great fall upon the ones observing them.
12
And they hear a great Voice out of the Heaven saying to them "ascend ye here!" And they ascended into the heaven in the cloud....
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Also, in this covenantle parable of Luke 16, a man named Lazarus is also shown as dead, but instead of being buried,
he is "raptured" to Abraham's bosom.
Lazarus and the Rich Man - Here a little, there a little - Commentary
Afterward, speaking primarily to his disciples but with the Pharisees (and probably the crowd) still listening in, Yeshua related the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-13). The Pharisees, who were "lovers of money" (Luke 16:14), realized that the Messiah was alluding to them with this parable and took offense. They scoffed at Yeshua.
The final part of his response to the derision of the Pharisees and scribes was the parable of Lazarus and the rich man.
We'll now examine this parable in detail to grasp exactly what the Messiah was teaching about the kingdom of God:
LUKE 16:
19 "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day."
20 "But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores."
22 "So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the Messengers to Abraham's bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried."
The next events recorded in this parable are the deaths of Lazarus and then the rich man. Since the parable has been figurative up until this point, there is no reason to assume it becomes literal now.
First, to prove that this language is symbolic and not meant to be taken literally, let's examine exactly what we are told by Yeshua. He says that
first, Lazarus dies and is taken to the bosom of Abraham. Notice, there is no mention of his burial here. Then
later the rich man dies, and he is buried (in Hades, according to verse 23). So the time sequence given indicates that upon his death, Lazarus was taken immediately to Abraham's bosom, while afterward the rich man was buried in Hades when he died.
If this story is literal, then we have a contradiction in the Bible. Here, Lazarus is shown to have immediately received the promise of eternal life. Yet the author of Hebrews clearly tells us that Abraham, as well as all the other Old Testament saints, have not yet received the promises given to them by God:
In contrast to Lazarus, the rich man was
buried in Hades. An understanding of the original meaning of the Greek word
hades is necessary to grasp the message of the parable. Regarding the possible etymology of this word, the
The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology states that
hades ". . . comes from
idein (to see) with the negative prefix,
a-, and so would mean the invisible . . . In the LXX
hades occurs more than 100 times, in the majority of instances to translate Heb.
she'ol, the underworld which receives all the dead. It is the land of darkness . . ." (p. 206, vol. 2).
While the significance of this seemingly pointless detail has been neglected by scholars throughout the centuries, you can be certain that it did not escape the notice of the Pharisees and scribes to which Yeshua was speaking. They thoroughly knew their history and were extremely proud of their heritage. Yeshua wanted those self-righteous Pharisees to know exactly who he was referring to with this parable. This detail cements the identity of the rich man as the House of Judah, the Jews!
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man, long used by mainstream Christian ministers to teach the "reality of hell," really has nothing to say about punishment or reward in the afterlife. Yeshua used this story, which fit the common misconception about life after death in his day, to show the fate that awaited the Jewish nation because of the unbelief and faithlessness which caused them to reject him as the Messiah. They still suffer from that fate to this very day. Yet the time is soon coming when God will pour on the Jews the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on their Messiah whom they pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zec. 12:10).
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