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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[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
It is initial said the moment Christ died the curtain was torn,tombs were opened and the holy people raised to life,but the next verse seems to say they were raised when Christ was resurrected.
Was it during the death of Christ or when he was resurrected that the holy people came to life?
Matt 27:52, 53 is a much debated passage. Here is my translation starting in V51:
And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn from above to below in two; and the earth was shaken; and the rocks were split;
and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints having fallen asleep were raised; and having gone out from the
tombs after the resurrection of Him they entered the Holy
City and they appeared to many.
Notice the simple structure of what Matthew is saying - when Jesus died the following seven events occurred:
the curtain of the temple was torn from above to below in two
the earth was shaken
the rocks were split
the tombs were opened
many bodies of the saints having fallen asleep were raised
having gone out from the tombs after the resurrection of Him they entered the Holy City
they appeared to many
Note further, the V54 breaks this sequence as it begins with a different conjunction back at the time of the death of Christ with a remark from the guarding centurion.
Now, there is nothing in the sequence about how much time elapses between each of these seven events where it is a few seconds or days. However, we can note a few clues:
the sequence of seven events does reference the resurrection morning, days later
an earthquake occurred on resurrection morning, Matt 28:2. That is, were there two earthquakes (one on Friday and another Sunday morning) or just one?
There have been essentially three interpretations of Matt 27:51-53 & 28:1, 2 -
(A) Events 1-5 occurred almost immediately after Jesus death with events 6 & 7 on Sunday morning following Jesus' resurrection and the second earthquake of Matt 28:2. On this interpretation, event 6 would be punctuated as follows: "having gone out from the tombs, [ie on Friday] after the resurrection of Him [on Sunday] they entered the Holy City"
(B) Events 1-4 occurred in the hours following Jesus death with events 5-7 occurring on resurrection morning following Jesus' resurrection and the second earthquake of Matt 28:2
(C) Event 1 occurred immediately following Jesus death on Friday, with events 2-7 occurring on resurrection morning following Jesus' resurrection and the only earthquake of Matt 28:2. That is there is only one earthquake and Matt 27:51 and 28:2 are the same earthquake.
Interpreters are divided and I will not clutter this site with numerous and differing views - I leave that to the reader. Suffice to say here that a reasonable case can be made for each of these (there may be more) as the grammar is consistent with all three interpretations. That is, any one of them is equally possible both semantically and grammatically.
Put another way, there is nothing there that makes each of these seven events follow immediately after the previous one - it is only a sequence and no time is implied. All that is certain is these seven events occurred in that order. For example, events 4 and 5 may be separated by more than 24 hours, as could events 5 and 6.
It is possible that the repeated use of καί (= "and") could, in this sequence be translated by "then" without changing the meaning at all.
A similar foreshadow event happened in 2 Kings 13:21
Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
The coincidence here is clear.
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.
The passage reads like quick-fired happenings, one after another.
Were the holy people raised to life the moment the curtain was torn in Matthew 27:51-53?
While one cannot be certain based purely on hermeneutics, reading it as a movie script of actions, I would bet on a yes.
The raising of the saints fits into the overall rhetorical devices and strategies used by Matthew in his gospel. Examining Ezekiel 37 and the bones raised to life in connection with this story reveals that an Old Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the raising of these saints. Additionally, the raising of the saints relates directly to the coming kingdom. The raising of a few and not all of the saints shows that Jesus has power to resurrect, but also points forward to the second coming and judgment of Jesus Christ, which will include all those whose names are written in the Book Life by faith in the grace of God. Knowing that Jesus has died and conquered death through His resurrection ought to hasten our desire to repent and trust Him alone for salvation so we too can one day be resurrected “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52).
There was an earthquake. The bones and graves were thrown out or raised up into the city. The bones were visible to those in the city. This is not literal Christ was the firstborn to be resurrected to heaven not the holy ones that preseded him in death. They have yet to be resurrected in the last day. When Christ returns Daniel is told that he will sleep until the end of days.
DANIEL 12:13 “But as for you, go on to the end. You will rest, but you will stand up for your lot at the end of the days
We are told about a resurrection in the last days.
John 5;28-30
Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.
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Q. Was it during the death of Christ or when he was resurrected that the holy people came to life?
"Matthew" is very consciously making up stories that show Jesus doing or teaching about something from the OT, intertestamental literature, Jewish tradition, Greco-Roman mythology and so on, to show that Jesus is God's special son. He often takes a perfunctory approach, just to check off the check box and to consider it proven to be fulfilled. In this case, Matthew is "proving" that Jesus fulfilled this:
[Eze 37:11-14 NASB20] [11] Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the entire house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.' [12] "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. [13] "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. [14] "And I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.'"
So Matthew expects anyone who reads Matthew's "night of ghouls" to connect the dots with Ezekiel 37, where the resurrection is the resurrection of the northern kingdom aka "The House of Israel" from covenant death into the New Covenant:
[Eze 37:15-28 NASB20] [15] The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, [16] "Now you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' [17] "Then put them together for yourself one to another into one stick, so that they may become one in your hand. [18] "And when the sons of your people speak to you, saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' [19] say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' [20] "The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. [21] "And say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; [22] and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. [23] "They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but I will rescue them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. [24] "And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and follow them. [25] "And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever. [26] "And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. [27] "My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. [28] "And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"
However, in his reading, it is fulfilled by raising physically dead, and having them physically walk into Jerusalem. It is a comically incredible "fulfillment" story, and none of the other gospels seem to know nothing about it, or at least, didn't use it.
I should also mention that Paul (who is not Matthew) writes this:
[1Co 15:20-26 NASB20] [20] But the fact is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. [21] For since by a man death [came,] by a Man also [came] the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, [24] then [comes] the end, when He hands over the kingdom to [our] God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. [25] For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. [26] The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
For more information, please read Hosea 1ff and Ezekiel 34.
