Matthew 27:52

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 

[Acts29]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

They only walked around for a very short time. Then they were taken up to heaven with Jesus. Remember, Jesus said this was going to happen in Luke as prophesied by Isaiah:

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Matthew was silent about that,
they could not rise from death earlier than Jesus,
Jesus must be first born and first risen up from death.

 

[Derf]

Matthew was silent about that,
they could not rise from death earlier than Jesus,
Jesus must be first born and first risen up from death.

That second verse explains it was after His resurrection, so the Christ is still first.
Matthew 27:53 (KJV) And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Very obscure text and only in Matthew. If I were to take it literal then I would say the event was similar to Lazarus being raised from the dead. He seemed to have continued his life on earth with no ascension.

Blessings.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

They only walked around for a very short time. Then they were taken up to heaven with Jesus. Remember, Jesus said this was going to happen in Luke as prophesied by Isaiah:

Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.

Though it seems Isaiah appears to be talking about this event, I am thinking it is referring to our Spiritual regeneration through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. If it were literal, then Saints would be rising from the dead all the time.
Anyway, my take.
Blessings

 

[Derf]

Very obscure text and only in Matthew. If I were to take it literal then I would say the event was similar to Lazarus being raised from the dead. He seemed to have continued his life on earth with no ascension.

Blessings.

We don't know what happened to either Lazarus or those, but why would Matthew's account not be taken literally?

 

[Maria Billingsley]

We don't know what happened to either Lazarus or those, but why would Matthew's account not be taken literally?

Well there's a chance the "holy city" is not 1st century Jerusalem. After all, the veil was torn and God was gone. Not holy any more.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21)

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

The Bible does not say Jesus went up to Heaven with anyone else.

Act 1:9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

 

[jamiec]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

As far as I can see, that passage Matthew 27.50-53 is based on Ezekiel 37. As to why it occurs in that position, that presumably is the Evangelist's way of showing that that event is the result of the Death of Christ - He yields His Spirit to the Father, & in so doing, He gives life to the "dry bones".

The passage is about theology, Christology, and the fulfilment of God's Purpose in & through Jesus - it's not about logistics.

Those raised are called "holy people" because God has chosen them as His own possession; they are God's People, not mere unspecified or miscellaneous corpses. but people who belong to God. The incident is not a mere Godless marvel, with no meaning.

I think also that the Evangelist is hinting at the relation between the OT Church & the NT Church; for the NT Church is an outgrowth of the OT Church, so that the promises of God to the OT Church are made good in the life of the NT Church.

 

[eleos1954]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?

Maybe not .... maybe it's a matter of people being present or knew of someone's earthly death and then ..... oh my ... here they are .... definitely had to be a strange experience.

These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?

They went to heaven .... was a mini example of what is yet to come.

 

[jamiec]

Well there's a chance the "holy city" is not 1st century Jerusalem. After all, the veil was torn and God was gone. Not holy any more.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21)

Well spotted ! STM you are onto something.

These occurrences of the phrase are well worth a look (despite the name of the link): Genesis 1:1 (NASB20)

 

[Derf]

Well spotted ! STM you are onto something.

These occurrences of the phrase are well worth a look (despite the name of the link): Genesis 1:1 (NASB20)

This one in your list refutes @Maria Billingsley's suggestion though it was a good thought:
[Rev 11:2 NASB20] 2 "Leave out the courtyard which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations; and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
It was still called "the holy city" when Revelation was written.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

This one in your list refutes @Maria Billingsley's suggestion though it was a good thought:
[Rev 11:2 NASB20] 2 "Leave out the courtyard which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations; and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
It was still called "the holy city" when Revelation was written.

I agree that " holy city" is used for both the new and the old Jerusalem however, it is also used today so I belive more discernment is called for.

 

[jamiec]

This one in your list refutes @Maria Billingsley's suggestion though it was a good thought:
[Rev 11:2 NASB20] 2 "Leave out the courtyard which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the nations; and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.
It was still called "the holy city" when Revelation was written.

John calls (what appears to be) the Earthly Jerusalem, and the Heavenly Jerusalem, “the holy city”. This might not, however, tell us what Matthew thought about the Earthly Jerusalem.

IMO, Rev was written - at least in part - before the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. So there is that. Rev uses the phrase “holy city” 4 times, to Matthew’s 2.

OTOH, Matthew 4.5 looks like a clear reference to Jerusalem - and may be a mirror to Matthew 27.53.

 

[sandman]

Question:
How did the author know they are holy people?
Did they go into the city and tell people they just rose from death?
Can you imagine, someone walked up to you and told you he just rose from death, do you believe?
These risen holy people, after that, where did they go?
Continue to live on Earth or went up to heaven?



Matthew 27:
52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[a] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

MMS 354 in Venice, Italy omits these verses.

The earliest MMS… including this section from Matthew date from the fourth century. Textual critics as well as marginal notes in other older MMS have recognized these verses (Matthew 27:52 & 53) as a later interpolation and not God breathed.

The phrase “after his resurrection” (Mat 27:53) demonstrate the passage is totally out of context and obviously a scribal addition.

Many extra-biblical records contain and verify the events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus. There is no mention in any of the extra-biblical records that lends any credence to the events in verses 52 &53.