The Earthquake and the Tombs Opened

Brian Schwertley

 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the topto the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves wereopened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of thegraves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared untomany. (Mt. 27:51-53)

Introduction

 At thesame moment that Jesus died and the veil was rent there was a great earthquake.This earthquake was miraculous and was probably limited to Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity or to the nation of Israel. (We have noted above that the Greek word ges can betranslated “earth” [as in the whole world] or “land” which refers to a countryor even a localized geographical area). This earthquake caused deep fissures inthe rocks around Jerusalem. The Greek word petrai indicates that it was not detached boulders (petroi) butcliffs and masses of solid rock that were split apart by the violent shaking.Matthew uses the same verb (eschisthesan, “were split open”) to describe the rending ofthe rocky masses that he used to record the tearing of the veil (eschisthe, “wassplit”). The evangelist records that the violent earthquake resulted in many ofthe tombs in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Mt. 27:53) being opened. These tombs were not like modernburial plots but were hewn out of solid rock. The violent shaking rolled awaystones, as well as split open stone doors and walls. This miracle serves as aprelude to the resurrection of many of the saints and their exhibition tobelievers in the holy city.

 Themiracle of the earthquake with the opening of the tombs and the resurrection ofmany saints is so amazing that many commentators refuse to take this section ofScripture literally. A. B. Bruce believes it may belong to “the region ofChristian legend.”[1] A.Plummer thinks it has “a legendary element in it.”[2]R. T. France says “it is a matter of faith; not objective demonstration.”[3]Many modern scholars believe “this passage is a piece of theology set forth ashistory.”[4]David Hill says these signs reflect “a primitive tradition.”[5]Donald A. Hagner thinks that the opening of the tombssuggested a resurrection to the early Christians and that “Matthew recorded thetradition, believing that it foreshadowed the reality of the eventualresurrection of the saints.”[6]Daniel J. Harrington believes that Matthew may have inserted “an existingapocalyptic fragment based on Ezekiel 37 to underline the decisive significanceof Jesus’ death.”[7] W.C. Allen asserts that this incident “probably comes from Mt’scycle of Palestinian traditions.”[8]All such thinking denies the verbal plenary inspiration of the Holy Scripturesand must be rejected as speculations influenced by higher critical modernistconcepts of Scripture. What Matthew recorded literally took place in history and must not be explained away asmyth, legend, early tradition or theology masquerading as history. If theevents that Matthew describes did not really happen in history, then they arenot real signs and they are not significant at all. The fact that they reallydid occur, points to the earth-shattering effects of the death of Christ. “Thisshows that the death of the Savior had—and still is having—significance for theentire universe.”[9]

 There area number of things that need to be examined regarding these signs. (1) What isthe significance of this powerful earthquake that splits apart rocks and openstombs? Although the passage does not elaborate upon the meaning of theearthquake, the Old Testament can help us understand the message of this sign.Sometimes earthquakes were a sign of the presence and action of God inredemptive history. When God appears on Mount Sinaito reveal His covenant law to the people “the whole mountain quaked greatly”(Ex. 19:18). Sinai was moved at the presence of God, the God ofIsrael (Ps. 68:9; cf. 6-7; 1 Ki. 19:11). With the death of Jesus the Mosaic covenant wasfulfilled, the new covenant established and the Temple as God’s earthly throne room was abandoned for the worldwide church of Christ. It was therefore appropriate that the death of theRedeemer was accompanied by a great earthquake.

 Scripturealso connects earthquakes to God’s revelation of Himself as a righteous judge(e.g. Is. 24:18-20; Jer. 10:10; Am. 8:8; Rev. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, etc). Therefore, it makes sense that the rending of theveil and the earthquake were coterminous. Israel had violated God’s covenant to the point that she wasrejected by God. Therefore, in “this waynot only did the earth bear testimony to its Creator, but it was even called asa witness against the hardheartedness of a perverse nation; for it showed howmonstrous that obstinacy must have been on which neither the earthquake nor the splitting of the rocks made any impression.”[10]Schilder writes:

The earthquake served as a woe whichheralded an advent, as a sign of the coming day of judgment, as a sign of thecoming of God with eschatological intent. God took this means to say to Israel that Golgotha was not a forgotten little place in whicha certain case of a certain Nazarene had been executed; but that His death is asharply accentuated moment in the day of the Lord, and a beginning of the lastjudgment. An earthquake always serves as a catastrophe of the last day in alladvent-prophecy. This goes to prove once more that Golgotha is indeed a place of judgment, and thatit was not an exaggeration but a declaration of the truth when we chose in thisbook to relate the events to catastrophes of judgment.[11]

 Further, the earthquake and the rending of the rocks pointsto the complete victory of Jesus’ sufferings and death which will shake theheavens and the earth. Haggai prophesied about the world-transforming power ofthe Redeemer’s atoning death when he said, “For thus says the LORD of hosts:‘Once (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dryland; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of AllNations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts”(2:6-7; The author of Hebrews applies vs. 6 explicitly to Jesus Christ.). TheSavior’s propitiatory death achieved a definitive victory which will beprogressively accomplished in history and completed at the second coming. As aresult of His redemptive obedience our Lord is progressively establishing a newheavens and a new earth. The Mediator is removing those things that are beingshaken and establishing a kingdom which cannot be shaken (cf. Heb. 12:26-28). Thus, the earthquake speaks judgment and doom tothose who refuse to bow the knee to Christ, while it speaks victory, grace andpeace to believers. Jesus’ great power and sovereign authority are gloriouslymanifested in the earth shattering change that His completed work wrought bythe binding of Satan, the abrogation of the shadow ceremonies, the coming ofthe Holy Spirit and the promulgation of the gospel.

(2) The resurrection of many saints raises a number ofimportant questions that merits our attention. First, when did the resurrectionof these saints occur? Commentators are divided on this issue because the Greekis somewhat ambiguous. The phrase “after His [Christ’s] resurrection” (v. 53)can be taken with the preceding participial clause and thus could mean thatthese saints were raised and came out of their tombs after the resurrection of Jesus. Those who favor thisinterpretation point out that 1 Corinthians 15:20 refers to our Lord as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Further,Colossians 1:18 and Revelation 1:5 identify the Redeemer as “the firstborn fromthe dead.” Therefore, according to this view, it would be theologicallyinappropriate for these saints to arise beforethe resurrection of Christ.

The phrase “after his resurrection” could also go with theverb that follows. This would mean that the saints were raised the moment Jesusdied but did not enter the holy city until after the resurrection of theSavior. Those who object to this interpretation usually raise a questionregarding the whereabouts of these saints from 3:00 pm on Friday to Sunday morning. What did they do before theywent into Jerusalem? (Some commentators argue that after the saints wereraised they remained concealed in their tombs until after the resurrection ofChrist).

Although both views are possible and acceptableinterpretations the second interpretation is to be preferred for the followingreasons. a) Matthew is setting forth signs that are clearly associated with thedeath of the Redeemer. His account leaves the impression that all these signsoccurred virtually simultaneously. The saints showing themselves to believersin Jerusalem was not itself a miracle but rather the exhibition of amiracle. b) The objection that these saints could not rise until after ourLord’s resurrection is not tenable. Even if these saints arose before Christ’sresurrection they did so because of the efficacy of His death. “Jesus remains‘the Firstborn from the dead’ (Col. 1:18) because he alone conquered death, andeven these saints arose only through the blessed power of Jesus.”[12]We must remember that the Savior’s own resurrection is not an event unrelatedto the cross but was achieved and guaranteed by it. The Redeemer’s sacrificialdeath is the cause while the resurrection is the effect. “[T]he triumphantdeath and resurrection of Jesus remain the legal basis for the gloriousresurrection even of the saints. Besides, the comparison in 1 Cor. 15:20, taking its point of departure in Christ’sresurrection, looks to the future, the second coming: in relation to allbelievers who will then arise, Jesusis the firstfruits.”[13]Further, Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Elijah (2 Ki. 2:11) both escaped death and ascended directly to heaven. Thisproves that the efficacy of the Mediator’s death and resurrection was not boundby time. These Old Testament saints escaped the jaws of death because of theSavior’s merits and not their own “good works.”

Second, what kind of resurrection is described by Matthew?The evangelist describes a real bodily resurrection. He uses the expression“many bodies” (polla somata) whichrefutes all those who view the resurrection in purely spiritual or metaphysicalmanner (e.g. Gnostics, neo-platonists, modernists,full-preterists, etc). The people who are raised aredescribed as “the saints” (oi agioi).“The expression (oi agioi) isfound nowhere else in the Gospels; and elsewhere in the N.T. it is used alwaysof Christians (Act. Ix. 13, 41; Rom. Xii. 13, xv. 25, 26, 31, etc).”[14]It may be that these resurrected saints were Jewish Christians such as Simeonand Anna, Zacharias and Elizabeth who had recentlyperished. If these kinds of people were resurrected they would have beenimmediately recognized by friends and loved ones. It also could have been asampling of believers from many periods of history. Matthew doesn’t elaborateon who these “holy ones” were. If the saints raised were notable historicalpersons such as Job, Moses, Abraham or Isaac, it is likely that they would havebeen identified by name. “[T]hose who lived and died before the death andresurrection of Christ, had saving benefit thereby, as well as those who havelived since; for he was the same yesterday that he is today, and will be for ever, Heb. xiii.8.”[15]

Regarding the specific nature of this resurrection Matthewis silent. Therefore, commentators are divided as to whether these saints wereresurrected like Lazarus, who resumed a normal earthly existence and died ofold age; or, received glorified spiritual bodies which were eventually receivedup into heaven. Given the fact that these saints were resurrected as a sign ofthe victory of the Redeemer’s sacrificial death; and, as a token of allbelievers, it is likely that they were resurrected with glorified bodies thatcould not die. “[I]t would appear to be absurd to suppose that, after havingbeen once admitted by Christ to the participation of a new life, they againreturned to dust.”[16]According to Hebrews 11 (cf. 11:13-16, 35,39-40) the Old Testament saints all died looking forward to resurrection and abetter life in a heavenly country. For a select group that hope now comes tofruition at the death of Jesus.

Third, why did God only raise some saints to life when Hecould have raised all, now that the Redeemer’s vicarious suffering and deathwas accomplished? The answer to this question lies in the purpose of thisresurrection. The purpose of this resurrection was to testify regarding theefficacy of the Savior’s suffering and death. It was designed to give thepeople of God an example of the new lifewhich they ought to expect. “[I]n order that the minds of believers might bemore quickly raised to hope, it was advantageous that the resurrection, whichwas common to all of them, should be tasted by a few.”[17]

Further, the New Testament makes it abundantly clear thatthe final resurrection of the saints and their receiving glorified bodiesoccurs at the second bodily coming of Christ. Therefore, a resurrection of allwould be premature. God ordained that in the salvation of His elect, whichoccurs over a long process of history, the final act in the application ofredemption in the broadest sense of that term comes at the very end of humanhistory. Therefore, in this resurrection of “many saints” around Jerusalem Godwas giving His people a taste of the result of Christ’s redemptive work.Although their appearance on Sunday testified to the Redeemer’s resurrection,it also gave the church, which would soon be sorely persecuted, a glimpse ofthe end of history. Therefore, this resurrection looks back at the death ofJesus and looks forward to complete victory of the cross at the consummation.This exhibition of the resurrected saints ought to give the church a greatoptimism as it battles the forces of evil and suffers affliction. It would beakin to the British troops at Dunkirk in 1940 getting a glimpse of the end result of World WarII and seeing themselves marching in a victory parade in London.

Fourth, why is it significant that only believers wereraised? Our Lord is showing us that the benefits of His death and resurrectionare applied only to His people and not unbelievers. The cross opens the prisonsof our graves. It takes rotten flesh, old bones and even bodies obliteratedinto nothing but dust and makes them into perfect, beautiful, flawless,glorified, incorruptible bodies. Adam was formed from the dust of the groundand we shall be reformed from the dust of death. Modernists, skeptics and full-preterists cannot accept this truth. But the eyes of faithknow that our omnipotent Savior will have no difficulties with this miracle.

This miracle demonstrates the efficacy of Christ’s death tospiritually resurrect His own people. If the Redeemer can take the dust of adead man and give it new glorified life, then can He not also raise up deadhearts of stone? These miracles that accompanied the death of the Savior provethat the resurrected, glorified Mediator will continue to exercise His greatsaving power throughout history until He comes again: “rocky hearts are rent,graves of sin are opened, those who have been dead in trespasses and sins, andburied in sepulchers of lust and evil are quickened, and come out from amongthe dead, and go into the holy city,the New Jerusalem.”[18]“This is the wondrous work of the cross: it is by the death of our Lord thatregeneration comes to men. There were no new births if it were not for that onedeath. If Jesus had not died, we…[would have] remained dead. If he had notthere on the cross passed from among the living, we must have remained amongthe dead for ever and ever.”[19]“Christ died and was buried, not to remain under the power of death and thegrave, but to quicken the dead and to raise them out of their graves.”[20]He didn’t die for Himself. He died to redeem his own from death; to give themresurrection unto life eternal.

 (3)Whatever opinion one holds regarding the moment these saints were raised, thereis no ambiguity as to when they made their appearance. Matthew says that “afterHis [Christ’s] resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared untomany” (27:53). This appearance raises a number of questions.

 First, whydid these saints wait until after Jesus arose to make their appearance?Apparently, God was teaching the believers in Jerusalem to view these saints’ resurrection as logically andtheologically dependent upon Christ’s resurrection. “The disciples were thustaught to look on that resurrection, not as an isolated phenomenon; but as the‘first fruits’ of the victory over death (1 Cor. 15:20), in which not they themselves only, but those also whomthey had loved and lost were to be sharers.”[21]Christians are always to look to the Redeemer as the captain of salvation; thelead climber who opened the path into heaven before them. “These saints thatarose, were the present trophies of the victory of Christ’s cross over thepowers of death, which he thus made a show of openly.”[22]

 God waiteduntil the humiliation of His Son was ended before exhibiting the victory partyin Jerusalem. If (as most commentators believe) these risen saintsappeared only to Christians in Jerusalem, then their appearance after theglorification of the Mediator would be a celebration of victory by the saintsin heaven and on earth. God brought together the saints from two separaterealms to exult in the victory of Christ. The Redeemer, who now has allauthority in heaven and on earth, brings heaven to earth and then earth toheaven. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chiefcornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it ismarvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice andbe glad in it” (Ps. 118:22-24). Thus it happens that the first Sunday of theChristian church, the first Sabbath of the New Covenant era, is acknowledgedand kept by the dead who were brought to life. And these glorified saints whodied under the Old Covenant administration instruct the living by example andby teaching of the significance of this Christian Sunday-Sabbath and therestoration of all things by Christ’s victory.

 Second, towhom did these risen saints make their appearance? Matthew simply says that themany which were raised went to the holy city and appeared unto many. Mostscholars believe that the risen saints only appeared to believers because afterHis resurrection Jesus always appeared to Christians. He never showed Himselfto unbelievers. Interestingly, unbelievers could look upon the cross and seethe humiliation and suffering of the Savior. But, they were not given theprivilege of beholding the glorified exalted Redeemer. They will only see theMediator on the final day of judgment as He sits upon His lustrous whitethrone. They received the evidence of the empty tomb, Pentecost and the gospelpreached. If these appearances followed Jesus’ pattern and example, then theserisen saints would have appeared to believers to increase their faith; lift uptheir sad hearts and explain the accomplished redemption of the Lord. One caninfer from the fact that all these saints went to the same city at the sametime, that they were following specific instructions from Christ.

 If theseresurrected-glorified believers did appear to all, whether Christian ornon-Christian, it would have caused widespread astonishment in the populationand severe panic among the leadership. A reading of the early history of thechurch in Jerusalem in the book of Acts gives the distinct impression that theresurrection saints were not seen by unbelievers. If they had, it would havefigured into the discussions of the Sanhedrin on how to stop this new, vibrantmovement.

 Third, whydid these resurrected saints only appear in the city of Jerusalem? One reason is that this city had been set apart by Godand chosen as the place for His special presence. It had been chosen by God andthus Matthew calls it the “holy city.” Its holiness obviously did not derivefrom the character of its populace, the vast majority of whom were wicked, butfrom its adoption by God. It was the center of the Jewish religion and thecapital of the Hebrew nation. Therefore, Jesus designated this city as thestarting point for the spread of the gospel after His resurrection. “But youshall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall bewitnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Ac. 1:8). According to Lukethis is precisely what happened. Powerful gospel preaching began in Jerusalem (Ac. 2:1); then went into Judea and Samaria (Ac. 8:5); and, then went deep into the Gentile world (Ac.8:26ff.).

 Anotherreason is that Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity is the stage in which the wholepassion of Christ was played out. His arrest, trial, conviction, torture,crucifixion and death were well known in the holy city but were not yet knownin the countryside. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the great victory ofthe Savior’s death and resurrection was first explained to people who were theimmediate witnesses of these redemptive events. 

 Copyright © Brian Schwertley, 2006