Many came out of their tombs when Jesus died

[Lou Newton]

Matthew 27 NIV The Death of Jesus


⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

⁴⁷ When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 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 went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

KJV
⁵¹ 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;
⁵² And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
⁵³ And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

QUESTION: Doesn't this passage bring questions to your mind ? Do you think WHY, about anything in this passage ?

[Blane]

Verse 53 is puzzling to me, big time. I can’t think of any other references in scripture whereby people break out of their graves and appear to many people.

Sure, Jesus did. But he is Jesus Christ, Son of God, so that’s understandable. Death couldn’t hold him. How could it keep the one who holds the keys of death and hell?

Lazarus did. But Jesus commanded him to come out, so that’s understandable too. Neither death nor the grave can resist a direct command from the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

But why did people break out of their graves and appear to many at Calvary? That puzzles me.

Maybe the answer to this apparent unique event in human history is tied to the uniqueness of Calvary? God knows.

[Lou Newton]

Verse 53 is puzzling to me, big time. I can’t think of any other references in scripture whereby people break out of their graves and appear to many people.

Sure, Jesus did. But he is Jesus Christ, Son of God, so that’s understandable. Death couldn’t hold him. How could it keep the one who holds the keys of death and hell?

Lazarus did. But Jesus commanded him to come out, so that’s understandable too. Neither death nor the grave can resist a direct command from the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

But why did people break out of their graves and appear to many at Calvary? That puzzles me.

Maybe the answer to this apparent unique event in human history is tied to the uniqueness of Calvary? God knows.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU BLANE. I asked this question over two years ago and not one person has asked about it until you have today. Even though I see from 20 to 40 people reading this site every time I log on no matter the time of day or night. Thank you.

Please forgive my long answer. I know you know many of these things, but there will be those who do not, who will read this too.

The key to understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God is first ask a question. Next we need to confess that we are blind and can not see. Jesus gave sight to every single person who confessed they were blind. Those that confessed that they could see remained blind as Jesus told the Pharisees they would remain blind because THEY CONFESSED THEY COULD SEE.

I am blind, lame, pitiful and poor and I have no Hope except for The Lord Jesus. Jesus is my One and Only Hope and I have absolutely no Hope outside of Him.

Jesus proved He wants to save us by coming down from heaven and being born of a woman to become one of us so that He could shed His blood on that cross and die for us. God is Life and can not die, so He had to become a man to be able to die for us. His Manhood died when His Godhood ( His Holy Spirit) left His body. His Godhood can not die and of course did not die. His Godhood is Life.

Jesus proved He was able to save us by raising Himself from the dead:

John 2

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body.²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

His Manhood came back to Life when His Godhood ( His Holy Spirit) entered back into Him.

Jesus was BOTH man and God. His Manhood was a little lower than the angels and fully man. But His Godhood was God Almighty, our Creator and our Father.

Isaiah 9 GNV

⁶ For unto us a child is born, and unto us a Son is given: and the government is upon his shoulder, and he shall call his name, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The prince of peace.

Everlasting Father means Jesus always was the Father and always will be The Father. That is as far as His Godhood is concerned. As far as His Manhood is concerned Jesus was also fully a man.

Isaiah 43 (NIV)

Israel’s Only Savior


43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
³ For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west.
⁶ I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
⁷everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf.
⁹ All the nations gather together
and the peoples assemble.
Which of their gods foretold this
and proclaimed to us the former things?
Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right,
so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”
¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.
¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.

Matthew 27

⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 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 went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

There is One and Only One way to be Holy. That is to confess our sin and give our life to The Lord Jesus. Then His Holy Spirit will come and dwell is us and we will be born again by His Spirit. No one will enter heaven without His Holy Spirit dwelling in them. No one.

Notice it does not say that the people broke out of their tomb. Its says At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. ---- The same One who tore the curtain in the Temple also shook the earth and opened the tombs.

Just as the power of His Holy Spirit raised the human body of Jesus from the dead; the power of His Holy Spirit raised these people, who knew Him, from the dead. Can you imagine the disturbance this caused in Jerusalem. But those who are so sure of what they believe, are blind, and so can not see.

Just as we trust in His blood who were born AFTER Jesus shed His blood for us on the cross; they also trusted in His blood BEFORE Jesus shed His blood on the cross. God has no beginning and so He existed before He created time in the beginning. God can see the past and the future and so knows all things. We can only see a tiny part of the present and we see that with blind eyes.

This event proves, to all who will confess they can not see and seek Him for sight, that people were saved and His Holy Spirit dwelt in them before the cross, just as His Holy Spirit saves us and dwells in us,.after the cross.

God tell us all to be patient:

Psalm 37:7 Be patient and wait for the Lord to act

What is patience ? Is it not the ability to ignore time ?

But sinful men make time the focus of much of the Bible. They make time the focus of the very first chapter of His Book. When God made LIGHT the focus of that passage, not time. They make time an obstacle for the salvation of the people of the OT, when it is written that David had His Holy Spirit.

There is One and Only One condition to being saved. That is to trust God to save us.

Colossians 1 TLB

¹⁵ Christ is the exact likeness of the unseen God. He existed before God made anything at all, and, in fact, ¹⁶ Christ himself is the Creator who made everything in heaven and earth, the things we can see and the things we can’t; the spirit world with its kings and kingdoms, its rulers and authorities; all were made by Christ for his own use and glory. ¹⁷He was before all else began and it is his power that holds everything together. ¹⁸ He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead so that he is first in everything; ¹⁹ for God wanted all of himself to be in his Son.

²⁰It was through what his Son did that God cleared a path for everything to come to him—all things in heaven and on earth—for Christ’s death on the cross has made peace with God for all by his blood. ²¹ This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies and hated him and were separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, yet now he has brought you back as his friends. ²²He has done this through the death on the cross of his own human body, and now as a result Christ has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are standing there before him with nothing left against you—nothing left that he could even chide you for; ²³the only condition is that you fully believe the Truth, standing in it steadfast and firm, strong in the Lord, convinced of the Good News that Jesus died for you, and never shifting from trusting him to save you.

Only is an adverb having to do with ONE. That ONE condition is never shifting from trusting him to save you.

The Enemy will try to get everyone to trust in anything except Jesus. Or He will try to get them to trust in Jesus PLUS something else.

You can not get into two Arks ( lifeboats) . Either you get into the Ark of Christ alone, or you get into the ark of some work that you do yourself. Satan will tell you that you are trusting in Christ and what Jesus told you to DO. But that is just trusting in your work instead of His work on the cross.

Paul makes this very clear in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 2 TLB

¹⁷ But what if we trust Christ to save us and then find that we are wrong and that we cannot be saved without being circumcised and obeying all the other Jewish laws? Wouldn't we need to say that faith in Christ had ruined us?

Lou Newton
Bond Servant of The Lord Jesus

[Blane]

It’s no surprise that the unimaginable power required to raise Jesus from the dead was able to accomplish far more. Ripping a four inch thick curtain, shaking the earth, and breaking open tombs were surely child’s play by comparison.

What puzzles me is that many were raised from the dead and allowed to appear to people. It’s an unparalleled event in scripture.

So Lou, are you saying that God’s purpose for allowing and recording such an unparalleled event was as follows? To verify that OT saints are saved in the same way as NT saints...by grace through faith in Christ.

[Lou Newton]

It’s no surprise that the unimaginable power required to raise Jesus from the dead was able to accomplish far more. Ripping a four inch thick curtain, shaking the earth, and breaking open tombs were surely child’s play by comparison.

What puzzles me is that many were raised from the dead and allowed to appear to people. It’s an unparalleled event in scripture.

So Lou, are you saying that God’s purpose for allowing and recording such an unparalleled event was as follows? To verify that OT saints are saved in the same way as NT saints...by grace through faith in Christ.

I feel sure that God had many purposes for doing this. One is as you wrote. But also to give the Jews every opportunity to seek Him instead of deciding that they were sure that they were right in rejecting Jesus. To give them every opportunity to repent. Also to reveal to the world that the death and resurrection of Jesus was the most important event in the history of the universe.

Can you think of any more reasons ?