Graves Open and the Sleeping Arose - Matthew 27:52

Matthew the apostle wrote, “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 sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calls 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 in chapter twenty-seven and verse fifty-two of his book, Matthew wrote how, “the graves were opened” where we read:

And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The verse reads, “And the graves were opened;” Matthew began words, “and the graves” which refers to “the sepulchers and tombs” “were opened” or “were opened up”. Matthew shared how the “tombs” of buried people were “opened” when the earthquake and “tearing of the veil of the temple” occurred.

The verse continues, “and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,” Matthew added the words, “and many bodies” or “and a great and massive amount of corpses” “of the saints which slept” or “which pertained to the pure, morally blameless and religiously and ceremonially consecrated who were deceased” “arose” which means “rose up from death and appeared”. Matthew shared how many of the “tombs” were opened, and people who previously died were resurrected from the “graves”.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we understand this was a preview of things to come. Because Jesus died for the sins of mankind, people may now be “saved” and receive “everlasting life”. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die”, and He continued His words with this question, “Believe you this?” (See John 11:25-26) These who were raised from the dead were examples of the “resurrected” life that shall be given to all who believe and trust in Jesus, and when they submit their lives to Him, “even though they die”, they shall live again.

Next time Matthew wrote how those who, “came out of the graves … went into the holy city, and appeared unto many”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.