Interpretation of Matthew 27:52

[Dan_Defender]

A Protestant friend asked me about this passage, does it refer to the resurrection?.. according to him this is a very confusing passage for his Bible study group:
‘The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many’
I told him that it is my understanding this was a temporary miracle by which certain souls were allowed to ‘animate’ their former earthly bodies and give testimony to Christ as the Messiah in Jerusalem. Make a short appearance, then back to the grave. Certainly nothing to do with the Last Judgement and Resurrection.

 

[undead_rat]

Proves to me that our Creator can bring anyone back to life at any time and at any place.

 

[Dan_Defender]

I wonder if Caiaphas and Annas saw these bodies too? I would think they would be targeted by this miracle

 

[Gorgias]

It’s a difficult passage to interpret. Let’s set aside the fact that it’s inserted, as something that happens “after his resurrection”, right smack-dab in the middle of the narrative of Jesus’ death! And then, just as soon as he mentions it, he’s back at Golgotha, describing the women looking on at the crucifixion scene.

It’s difficult to interpret because it’s somewhat vague:

• what’s the ‘holy city’? is this a reference to Jerusalem in 33 AD? Or is this a reference to heaven?
• what does it mean that the bodies were raised? does it mean ‘given new life’, or could it just mean that the bodies were raised up by the earthquake and exposed to view?
• what does “appeared to many” mean here?

Harrington, in his volume in the Sacra Pagina series on Matthew, states:

What may have been an existing apocalyptic fragment based on Ezekiel 37 has been inserted by Matthew to underline the decisive significance of Jesus’ death as the event that makes possible the resurrection of others. For a similar idea, see 1 Cor 15. These resurrections anticipate the fullness that accompanies the end-time.

Matthew has inserted into the scenario based on Ezekiel 37 a qualifier (“after his resurrection”) that confuses the sequence of events that he narrates. The qualifier is really a theological correction that ties the resurrection of the saints to that of Jesus (not simply to his death).

 

[Dan_Defender]

To me the main point, and my Protestant friends agree, it is an event not meant to tie to the general resurrection. The rest is speculation. I have no problem with possible theories. But it is hard for Protestants because they expect the Bible to more or less interpret itself by cross reference.

 

[Gorgias]

But it is hard for Protestants because they expect the Bible to more or less interpret itself by cross reference.

OK, then: tell them that Matthew is making the connection between the apocalyptic prediction in Ezekiel and its fulfillment that will be found as the result of the resurrection of Christ.

 

[RichardsPlanet]

My Orthodox Commentary says the following:

The completeness of salvation won by Christ is signified in the resurrection of the saints from the OT. This guarantees the promise given to Ezekiel that that God can and will one day open the graves of all mankind (Ezk 37:1-14). The saints entering the holy city is an icon of resurrected humanity entering the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 11:10; 12:22-23; Rev 21:2-22:5)

My New Jerome Biblical Commentary is a little more academic (the commentary is on verses 51-53):

These verses constitute a Matthean midrashic gloss in paratactic style. The OT apocalyptic background is found in Joel 2:10; Ezek 37:12; Isa 26:19; Nahum 1:5-6; Dan 12:2. Together these verse answer the mockery of 27:43 and begin the process of divine vindication: Jesus’ death is life-giving.