Matthew 27:51-54: The Tombs That Were Opened

Matthew 27:51-54: Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared exceedingly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God." -- World English Bible.

It has been the claim of some that these verses speak of the dead saints rising from the dead and going to heaven with Jesus. Some have even claimed that these verses are "first resurrection" spoken of in Revelation 20:4-6. Others believe the saints were resurrected at that time (although nothing is said about a resurrection, but only that their bodies were raised from the tombs). The reality is that nothing is said about anyone being made alive from the dead in the verses; thus, the idea has to be created beyond what is written and then read into what is stated.

The Sinaitic manuscript does not have the phrase rendered above as: "And the tombs were opened," and it does not have a word that could be rendered as "entered".

While there is some evidence that Matthew did not actually wrote the words in these verses, we believe that it is probable that he did write something about the bodies being raised, but it is possible that what he wrote may have been corrupted. 

(1) The persons mentioned could not have been the saints of the OT, perfected; because of those the Apostle declares that "they without us [the Gospel Church] shall not be made perfect." In other words, their resurrection will not be due to take place until after the first resurrection of the Church has been completed. (Hebrews 11:39,40) So if these "saints" were the faithful ones of old, then they would have only been returned to life temporarily as discussed under point (3).

(2) The class mentioned cannot have been saints of the Gospel Church, because the Church had not yet been selected. If it referred to any disciples who were following Jesus, we would have to assume that those disciples had died, and were buried in that particular cemetery. We have no scriptural record of Jesus' followers having died at that time, except Lazarus, who had already been raised from the dead. In reality, we certainly have no reason to think that the apostles had died (except Judas, who betrayed Jesus), thus we have scriptural reason to think that they were raised from the dead at that time.

(3) The record as it appears in most translations seems to imply that the earthquake which occurred at the time of our Lord's death opened these graves -- produced the raising of the bodies mentioned; but that the ones raised for some unstated reason did not come out their tombs until Jesus' resurrection. It then seems to say that these arisen saints went into Jerusalem and appear to many in Jerusalem. Lord's resurrection.

At the very most, if there was an awakening (the scriptures do not actually say that they were awakened or resurrected) it was an awakening similar to that which Lazarus experienced, and the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow of Nain. Their being raised, however, did not free them from the condemnation in Adam, as they still died later. We may be sure of this because the express declaration of the scriptures is that Jesus is the "firstborn of the dead" -- the first human to be lifted out of death to perfection of life, never to die again. (Romans 6:9; Colossians 1:18;  Revelation 1;5, 17,18; 2:8) The persons mentioned in Matthew 27 could have been no more than merely aroused from the slumber of death temporarily, and for some purpose of which we have no knowledge.

(4) The Greek word translated "arose" does not necessarily refer to coming back alive. The ones entering into the city do not necessarily mean the dead bodies of the saints got up and walked into the city of Jerusalem. More than likely, it is saying that their bodies had appeared to many who then went into the city, and many from the city went to the burial grounds to see those dead bodies.

The New World Translation thus renders these verses like this: "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, (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."

However, as we noted at first, there is some evidence that the words were not originally written by Matthew. The very wording has led some to believe that these words are not original to Matthew, but rather a later addition. Ellicott states: "It is scarcely, perhaps, surprising that a narrative so exceptional in its marvellousness, and standing, as it does, without any collateral testimony in any other part of the New Testament, should have presented to many minds difficulties which have seemed almost insuperable. They have accordingly either viewed it as a mythical addition, or, where they shrank from that extreme conclusion, have explained it as meaning simply that the bodies of the dead were exposed to view by the earthquake mentioned in the preceding verse, or have seen in it only the honest report of an over-excited imagination."

Some, based on an examination of Bible numerics pertaining to this chapter, claim that the parts of this scripture referring to bodies of the saints being raised out of their tombs were not originally part of Matthew's account, but were added later. -- See "Numerics and Matthew 27:51-54," Present Truth and Herald of Christ's Epiphany, January 1935, pages 13,14.

Addendum One

Another explanation offered by some is that the expression, "bodies of the saints" [pure or holy people], is a reference to some of Jesus' disciples who were watching these events from the area of the tombs, perhaps hiding among the caves that contained the sepulchers. Having waited for so long, the theory is that these had gone asleep; thus when the earthquake occurred at Jesus' death, they were awakened and came out of the tombs. Seeing what had happened they went back into Jerusalem and told others what had taken place. They would have verse 53 to read like this: "And came out of the tombs area after their awakening, and went into the Holy City and disclosed [told what they saw] to many.

Addendum Two

It is unlikely that this refers to a temporary resurrection of some who had died before Christ, or there would have been additional references to these remarkable individuals. There have been many attempts to answer the difficulties presented by this text. We suggest that the problem may not lie in the translation, but in the manuscript itself. A paraphrased translation of the fifth century Codex Bezae (D) reads: "And many bodies of the holy ones which slept were tossed upright in their graves where they were manifest to many after his resurrection at the holy city." -- "Why Seek the Living Among the Dead?" Herald of Christ's Kingdom, March/April 2000;' author not given.

See also:
Matthew 27:51-54 - Bodies of Saints Raised

Related from "Christian Questions":
The Meaning of Matthew 27:52-53

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