Resurrection of the Saints when Jesus died?

24 February 2006, 08:55 PM

quote:
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth
hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli,
Eli, lama zabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This
man calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge,
and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The
rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves
after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto
many."(Matthew 27:45-53)

I cannot find another account of this resurrection in the New Testament. Is there any theology surrounding this event? I would think that this would be a pretty profound event but there isn't much detail here.

Is there any other historical accounts of this resurrection? Maybe in Jewish literature?

24 February 2006, 09:25 PM

Phil

Asher, that's the only such account, and many scholars don't consider these to be instances of bodily resurrection, but of encounters with those who, released from Sheol, now belong to Christ. The "appearances" may have been more along the lines of how various saints and mystics continue to manifest themselves to others after death.

24 February 2006, 09:54 PM

Eric

Asher? Lol.

I am wondering if it was along the lines of Paul's encounter with Christ.

Paul's encounter seems to be more mystical than actual. Since others that were with him did not see Christ.

24 February 2006, 10:27 PM

Phil

Right, w.c.

(ha - I had read through the posts received via email and confused the authors).

Paul met the glorified Christ, whose manifestation was apparently different from the early post-resurrection appearances.

You might think of the passage you mentioned in your opening post to be aking to experiences people have of encountering their loved ones briefly when they die.

There's some recent research on After Death Communications from loved ones, and I suspect that's what was happening.

25 February 2006, 01:25 AM

Eric

quote:
but of encounters with those who, released from Sheol, now belong to Christ.

I didn't see the depth of what you had said until just now.

It would make sense. Them appearing after his resurrection if he had released them from Sheol. It would fall in harmony with the theology.

I also often wonder why Matthew made reference to this and how he knew.