One critic on the internet used the above label to refer to the strange account given to us by Matthew, and Matthew alone, concerning many of the dead leaving their tombs and walking into the holy city. The questions that arise from this unusual incident are many, as I will demonstrate below. However, let us begin with what we can say, at least from a conservative viewpoint. And for that I will rely on the comments from Hendricksen, given in his words:
“This was a real resurrection, not an appearance of corpses.” So much for the zombie idea!
“It occurred at the very moment of Christ's death and, together with the other signs, pointed to the significance of that death.”
“It is true that the original can be constructed in one of two ways.” (More of that below.)
“Everything points to the fact that these saints did not again die. It must be that after they appeared to many for some small period of time, God took them – now body and soul – to himself in heaven, where their souls had been previously.”
This sign, too, like those described in verse 51, 52a, is prophetic. It shows that Christ's death guarantees our glorious resurrection at Christ's return.”
Given that broad overview, we can now look at some controversial and dissenting opinions centered around the many uncertainties concerning Matthew's words.
Did this event actually occur?
“Questions concerning the historicity of this event are perennial in modern research. Some reject it out of hand as unhistorical...Wright leaves open the question of historicity suggesting that Matthew might have known a tradition about such strange occurrences.” (K.L. Anderson)
Davids admits, “It sounds like a fantastic detail, a legend which has slipped into the text.”
“The resurrection of dead people has no parallel in the other gospel accounts, and leaves plenty of unanswered questions for the historically minded interpreter...Most interpreters simply dismiss it as fiction...Wright concludes: 'Some stories are so odd that they may have just happened. This may be one of them, but in historical terms there is no way of finding out.' Hagner helpfully discusses the historical status of the report, concluding that it is 'a piece of realized and historicized apocalyptic.' Much more radical is the bold proposal of K.L. Waters that Matthew does not even intend the scene to be read as past history but, despite the 'historical' form of the narration, saw this as 'an event of the apocalyptic future,' set in the 'new Jerusalem' at the end of time.” (France)
Blomberg also says: “All kinds of historical questions remain unanswered about [these] events, but their significance clearly lies in the theology Matthew wishes to convey [see the final section below].”
Albright and Mann wisely state: “It is certainly no service to scholarship to find in these verses an imaginative piece of fiction on the part of the evangelist. Or simply an attempt to garnish the account of the passion with improbable details.”
Are any Old Testament passages relevant here?
“The resurrection of the saints draws on OT and Jewish eschatological expectation (cf. Dan 12:2; Ezek 37:12-13), especially Ezekiel 37:12-13. Ezekiel's prophecy, linked with the eschatological reign of the Davidic Messiah (Ezek 37:24-25), promises to Israel, dead in 'exile,' that one day 'you will come out of your graves' (Ezk 37:12) and experience final restoration from the judgment of exile (Ezek 37:14,21-22; Is 26:14; Dan 12:23).” (Dennis)
“Walvoord suggests that this event was 'a fulfillment of the Feast of the Firstfruits of harvest mentioned in Leviticus 23:10-14. On that occasion, as a token of the coming harvest, the people would bring a handful of grain to the priest. The resurrection of these saints occurring after Jesus Himself was raised is a token of the coming harvest when the saints will be raised.” (Barbieri)
“The whole complex of these verses is reminiscent of the triumph of the saints described in Dan vii 18,21,22,25, and 27.” (Albright and Mann)
France states, “Matthew's wording here especially calls to mind Ezek 37:13, 'when I open your graves and bring you up out of your graves, my people' (note also the earthquake-like imagery in Ezek 37:7), though there resurrection is a metaphor for national restoration rather than a promise of personal life after death.”
“Matt's insistence in the next verse (27:53) that they entered the holy city (of Jerusalem) may have been influenced by Zechariah's locale for the judgment [see Zech. 14:4]...Earlier and contemporary with the writings of Matt there is testimony to the importance that Ezek 37 had for the just who died for their convictions about God. At Masada, where Jewish zealots made their last stand against the Roman armies in AD 73, in the floor of the synagogue were found fragments of a scroll on which was written Ezekiel's account of his vision of the raising of the dead bones.” (Brown)
Allison is another scholar who feels that “Matthew 27:51-53 may also draw on Zechariah 14:4-5 (interpreted, as in the Targum and Did. 16:6-7, as a prophecy of the resurrection). In both texts there is a resurrection of the dead immediately outside Jerusalem, an earthquake occurs, the same verb is used (schizo ['to split'] in the passive), and the resurrected ones are called hoi hagioi ('the holy ones'). Even today, the western rise to the Mount of Olives is covered with Jewish graves because of the belief, inspired by Zechariah 14:4-5, that on the last day the Messiah will return to that place, where the resurrection will commence.”
Who are the 'holy ones”?
“Elsewhere in the NT the 'holy ones' or 'saints' are believers in Jesus (I Cor 14:23; Rom 1:7; Acts 9:13; Heb 13:24), even as sometimes in the OT they are the people of Israel (Isa 4:3; Dan 7:21; 8:25). In this passage they must be Jews who died after a saintly life...Although some commentators have proposed that Matt is describing the deliverance of the great known figures of OT history..., relatively few of them were supposed to be buried in the Jerusalem area.” (R.E. Brown)
“The 'holy people who had died' are presumably to be understood as pious Jews, but we do not know whether Matthew is thinking of recent contemporaries or of well-known people from the OT period buried around Jerusalem.” (France)
“'Holy people' (often translated saints) apparently refer to selected Old Testament believers.” (Blomberg)
What is the 'holy city'?
Brown mentions that a number of commentators treat the holy city as the heavenly Jerusalem. That would explain away the lack of historical references to resurrected bodies waling about the earth. However, he points to the one 'fatal flaw' in this interpretation. It does not fit in with the statement that they were seen by many people.
Exactly when did these holy ones rise from the dead?
Many readers of these verses may not realize it, but this is actually the most controversial point regarding the whole episode. Brown says, “'After his raising' is the most difficult phrase in Matt 27:51-53.” He notes that here is the only place in the New Testament where egersis ('raising') appears. It opens the possibility that what is being referred to is the raising of the bodies of the dead holy ones, not to Jesus' own raising (generally expressed by egeirein). And a related problem is the apparent contradiction of Matthew with Paul's understanding in I Corinthians 15:20 that it was Christ who was the firstborn from the dead, not the holy ones.
In an attempt to resolve this difficulty, France points out: “The Greek word order allows 'after Jesus' resurrection' to be read either with 'coming out of their tombs',...or with 'they came into the holy city'. Gundry regards the latter as more in keeping with Matthean idiom.”
Nixon: “It is most natural to take the Greek as meaning that they were raised at this time [i.e. at Christ's death] but did not come out of the tombs until after his resurrection. Christ is 'the first-born from the dead' (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 15:20), and there is some difficulty about an anticipation of His resurrection unless it is intended to be something like the raising of Lazarus.”
“As the NIV stands, Matthew's account contradicts Paul, inasmuch as the saints actually precede Christ out of the tomb. But the text should probably be punctuated with a period after the 'tombs broke open.'” (Blomberg)
Hill says that the resurrection of the holy ones “takes place after the Resurrection. This view of eschatology...did not fit into what became the commonly accepted teaching that Christ was 'the first fruits of those who had fallen asleep' (I C. 15.20), and that all others await the general resurrection; therefore it did not survive in the main stream of tradition.”
“His [Jesus'] resurrection is the first, theirs the consequence (cf. 1 Cor 15:20-23; 1 Thess 4:14)...That he [Matthew]...records it here, despite the difficulty of postponing the resurrection and or appearance for two days after the earthquake, suggests that he sees Jesus' death, not just his resurrection, as the key to the new life which is now made available to God's people.” (France)
The problem alluded to by France above is explained by Hendricksen, who asks, “But is it reasonable to believe that these saints, with glorious resurrection bodies, remained in the darkness and corruption of the tombs from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning? The meaning is, in all probability, that these saints were raised and left their tombs at the moment of Christ's death.” That scenario, however, brings us right back to the contradiction with Paul's insistence that Christ was the first fruit from the dead. This issue will probably never be successfully resolved this side of the grave.
What subsequently happened to this resurrected “holy ones”?
“The answer is 'We do not know.' Since this appears to be the firstfruits of the eventual general resurrection of the righteous, it is unlikely that Matthew thought for a minute that they later returned to their tombs. It is possible that he believed they were waiting around on earth for the return of Jesus, but it is far more likely that he believed that they went to heaven with Jesus.” (Davids)
At this point we should heed Ellison's words: “This section of Mt. stands unique in the NT and we have no other Scripture to help us understand it...Mt's own reticence suggests that he himself had no clear understanding of what happened.”
“If these saints were genuinely resurrected rather than simply revivified or reanimated like Jairus's daughter or Lazarus, then presumably, like Jesus himself, they appeared to others only for a short time and were eventually taken to heaven. But the text refuses to satisfy our curiosity about these points.” (Blomberg)
What is the theological significance of this event?
Here, at least, there is some general agreement among scholars. Anderson says, “The resurrection of saints has a twofold significance. First, the apocalyptic nature of the event signals Jesus' resurrection as the inauguration of the age to come and precursor to the final resurrection (cf. Acts 3:15; 26:23; 1 Cor 15:20,23; Col 1:18). Second, the saint's resurrection amplifies Jesus' vindication. The self-curse of the people for shedding Jesus' innocent blood (Mt 27:4,19, 24-25) has already gone into effect. According to Jesus' prediction, the 'righteous blood' of all the prophets is testifying against the people, as the saints come out of the very tombs that their murderers built for them (cf. Mt 23:29-31)...All of the resurrection miracles in the Gospels assume this eschatological declaration. They are signposts pointing to Jesus' resurrection, which is the beginning of the age to come and the final resurrection.”
Pitre notes that “in the Gospel of Matthew the death of Jesus is so efficaciously eschatological that it actually triggers the bodily resurrection of 'the holy ones,' who come forth from their 'tombs' after his individual resurrection.”
David Hill says, “The point being made in this verse is clear: with Christ the general resurrection has begun; the power of death is now vanquished.”
Blomberg: “The resurrections illustrate the teaching of 1 Cor 15:20-22. Christ is the firstfruits of the new age, guaranteeing the bodily resurrection of all his people.”
“Matthew's report of the saints' opened graves (Mt 27:52-53) interprets Jesus' resurrection as an eschatological event associated with the widely expected general resurrection.” (Schellenberg)
Brown states that “this raising of 'many bodies' as Jesus dies is not the universal final resurrection but an inbreaking of God's power signifying that the last times have begun and the judgment has been inaugurated...their appearance both attested that Jesus had conquered death and promised that eventually all the holy ones would be raised.”
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