how do you explain Matthew 27:52?

Question

look into your bible

Answer 1

still confusing

Answer 2

The 'bibles' Old and New Testaments are full of unanswered questions, but if we could just keep them in context we know that they are very recent documents as far as the age of Homo Sapiens is concerned ( That has nothing to do with Gays)!
But if we stick to one item at a time and blast them all back to where ever they came from?
The little item you refer to could mean anything, the same as the rest of the bibles, interpret as you like and to suit your purpose!
The Christian bible (New Testament) consists of 4 main Gospels' according to Matthew Mark Luke and John!
'Gospels' are the teachings of Christ, and so we can assume that these teacings have been related to the said folk? cant we??
What we do know as a FACT is that these four did not write those Gospels, I dont think that even Chrstians would dispute that??
(I could be wrong about that, they dispute anything else that smacks of logic)!
So much data in both bibles has been proved to be utter rubbish that it really isnt worthy of any disscussion!
It's interesting to see the new answers from religious folk popping up every now and again, but also pathetic really!!
Never mind all this cra* will die out soon, its well on the way out now, Yipeeeeeee to that day!!

Answer 3

When Jesus died on the cross, the graves were...well they were literally emptied, in some cases. It says in verse 51 “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks were split; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints that slept were raised; and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

Now this is a fascinating thing and we’re going to get into this in a few years when we get to Matthew 27. But I really feel that the whole point of this, was that at the very instant of Jesus’ death, he showed His resurrection power. This was a tremendous prophecy of what was going to happen. This was like a little preview of the resurrection. And you notice that it was Old Testament saints whose bodies were in the grave and they came out of the graves. The graves were cracked open. Many of the bodies of the saints that slept were raised and came out of the graves, and I think it should be read, "...and after His resurrection went into the holy city and appeared unto many." They came out at His crucifixion and after the resurrection they went into the city and did their thing, their ministry. Boy, what a deal that would be.

Now people always say did they die again? I think not, I think this was special group of resurrected Old Testament saints, it doesn’t say they died again. They got their glorified body right there. You say, well I thought the Old Testament saints get their glorified bodies at the end of the Tribulation. That they do. In fact read Daniel 12. Daniel 12 says first there’s a tribulation, at the end of the tribulation the Old Testament saints are going to awake from the dust and they are going to rise. That’s right. The mass, the majority of them will at that point receive their glorified bodies. The church at the Rapture, seven years later, at the end of the Tribulation after God has finished redeeming Israel, right, because He redeems Israel during that seven year period, then the Old Testament saints get their bodies .By the way, when Jesus came out of...remember we talked about Sheol led captivity captive, what He took were their spirits not their bodies. Some people were confused about that…took their spirits, their bodies will be raised at the end of the tribulation time. So I think this was a tremendous prophecy. Our Lord was saying to the whole world that He had resurrection power. And when these Old Testament saints started mingling with the population after the resurrection what a fantastic impact, in fact we haven’t talked much about that but it may have been a contributor to the wonderful thing that happened on the day of Pentecost.

Answer 4

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life Mathew 27:52

Breaking open tombs is an everyday happening. Even the animals rights activists did this, not so many months back. The raising of the dead will take some doing but if enough DNA remains it will not be impossible in days to come.

Have faith.

FOR GOD TO DO THIS IS A PIECE OF CAKE.

Questioner Reported.
Implying raising of the dead is impossible.
Doctors revive people who have died on the operating table daily.
The dead will come back to life with DNA techniques currently under development.
The question is an insult to medical science and technology as well as to all Christians.

Answer 5

Lets look at verses 51 and 52 of Matthew 27: And, look! the curtain of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rock-masses were split. And the memorial tombs were opened and many bodies of the holy ones that had fallen asleep were raised up, 53 (and persons, coming out from among the memorial tombs after his being raised up, entered into the holy city,) and they became visible to many people.

These were supernatural phenomenon that occured, marking God's anguish at the death of His Son.

First, whoever “the holy ones” were, Matthew did not say they were raised up. He said their bodies, or corpses, were. Second, he did not say these bodies came to life. He said they were raised up, and the Greek verb e·gei´ro, meaning to “raise up,” does not always refer to a resurrection. It can, among other things, also mean to “lift out” from a pit or to “get up” from the ground. (Matthew 12:11; 17:7; Luke 1:69) The upheaval at Jesus’ death opened tombs, tossing lifeless bodies into the open. Such occurrences during earthquakes were reported in the second century C.E. by Greek writer Aelius Aristides and more recently, in 1962, in Colombia. German scholar Theobald Daechsel gives the following translation: “And tombs opened up, and many corpses of saints laying at rest were lifted up.”

Who were those that “entered into the holy city” a considerable time later, namely after Jesus had been resurrected? As seen above, the exposed bodies remained lifeless, so Matthew must refer to persons who visited the tombs and brought news of the event into Jerusalem.

Tthe translation by Johannes Greber (1937) renders these verses: “Tombs were laid open, and many bodies of those buried there were tossed upright. In this posture they projected from the graves and were seen by many who passed by the place on their way back to the city.”

Answer 6

Matthew"s Gospel was written with the Jews specifically in mind and he was the only one to recall this event, which is generally held to mark Jesus’s death as the dawn of the new age. It is likely that Matthew drew his scene of risen saints from 1 Enoch 93.6, where ‘visions of the Holy Ones’ accompany the gift of the Torah. Matthew used this motif from the Mosaic era not to give escatological significance to Jesus’s death but to build up to the climax of the crucifixion narrative in verse 54 where in the light of all the signs and wonders around, the centurion proclaims Him as the Son of God.

Answer 7

This was the effects of an earthquake.
Matthew did not say THEY were raised up. He said their bodies, or corpses, were. Also, he did not say these bodies came to life. He said they were raised up, and the Greek verb e·gei′ro, meaning to “raise up,” does not always refer to a resurrection. It can, among other things, also mean to “lift out” from a pit or to “get up” from the ground. (Matthew 12:11; 17:7; Luke 1:69)

The upheaval at Jesus death opened tombs, tossing lifeless bodies into the open. Such occurrences during earthquakes were reported in the second century AD. by Greek writer Aelius Aristides.

Answer 8

The earthquake was of supernatural origin but as for the 'raising' of dead Holy Ones the above text doesn't imply they were resurrected. The Greek verb egeiro used here can mean to 'lift out' of a pit, so it seems more reasonable that the quake tossed lifeless bodies out of their tombes or graves out in the open. This has happened before, most recently in the Colombian earthquake of 1962.

Answer 9

It is kinda hard to explain but this is how I see it... In verse 50 Jesus yielded up the ghost (died) and by that the veil of the temple was ripped from the top to the bottom, and the earth quaked, And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. I believe when Jesus died it made all the dead saints come back alive. Cause it says in verse 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. It just means that the saints which were dead, came back to life.

Answer 10

You should add verse 53 "and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Here Matthew is reporting a resurrection before the end of the world!

Answer 11

It seems to be one of the Miracles that accompanied Christ's death and resurrection.

A careful reading seems to be that when Christ died, those graves were opened.

While Jesus was dead (and His body laid in the tomb), He went and preached deliverance to those held in Paradise (St. Luke); after He was resurrected, the bodies of those other saints came back to life and were seen in the streets of Jerusalem. I think there is no indication whether they were those who were only dead a few years and were seen by close relatives or whether they had been lone dead -- like some of the prophets, etc. Also it seems unclear as to whether they were resurrected or just restored to mortal life (like Lazarus of Bethany had been).

They do indicate a time when all the believers (living and dead) will take part in the Resurrection to Eternal Life.