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- The bodies of the saints around Jesus’ tomb were changed – from death to life. Just like your life and mine will be, when we recognize the Resurrected Christ for who He really is.
Athanasius: “…by Christ death was destroyed.”
Augustine: “…what the new creature… hopes for regarding itself, it has already in Christ.”
John Wesley: “Christ has risen: therefore rise in the image of God.”
John Calvin: “…his resurrection is the ground-work and pledge of ours.”
“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.” (Matthew 27:52-53)
Wait. What? Truly one of the most fascinating passages in all our Bibles.
It is a line tucked into one of the resurrection accounts, so unexplained and so unexpected that the typical reader will simply gloss over it when reading the Passion story and the subsequent Great Commission. Nonetheless, there it is: a detail intentionally included in the Spirit-inspired narrative of that momentous weekend. A few things come to mind when pausing at those two sentences from Matthew’s gospel.
First, what happened at the Cross and the Tomb was bound to have what might be called a “blast radius.” There is no way that the death and resurrection of the Son of God could occur without cataclysmic, cosmic impact. And while the resurrection of the God-Man was a one-time epochal event, it shouldn’t be wholly surprising that it inspires other related events. Matthew includes this information in the midst of the crucifixion story but emphasizes that the saints emerged from their tombs AFTER Christ’s resurrection. His defeat of death was so profound that others also shook off their grave clothes and made their presence known. Such a dramatic occurrence underscores the fact that this wasn’t just another in a long line of crucifixions; something entirely different had happened and it was time to take notice!
Second, what a shock to Jesus’ persecutors! Into the very city that Jesus had just wept over, where power brokers had schemed to have a righteous Man killed, in paraded “saints” who were undoubtedly recognizable to many of the inhabitants. Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin thought they had pushed the Messiah and his movement to the periphery; instead they are faced with the miraculous appearance of known, previously-deceased individuals. Who wouldn’t have loved to see the mortified looks on the faces of the Jewish intelligentsia that day?
Third, the awesome outlook of hope. In light of the Resurrection, the tomb and the cemetery were henceforth to be known as contested areas. Death is oh-so-final…until the resurrection of Christ opened the door to resurrection for us all. Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live.”
Matthew’s account notes three times that the tomb was “secured.” I have always thought that a curious way to put it. Secure from those who might want to come and steal Him away? Secure from fraud? Secure from the rumor that Jesus kept implying a resurrection?
Maybe part of that “security” was that they wanted to be secure from Him. Secure from His Messianic authority. Secure from Jesus being in charge of our lives. Secure from His uncomfortable teachings.
But, in that sense, we can never be secure. Not after the resurrection.
Wolfhart Pannenberg was right. The evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is so strong that there is no one who, after examining the evidence, would dare doubt it. Well, except for two things: “…it is a very unusual event. And second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live.”
The bodies of the saints around Jesus’ tomb were changed – from death to life. Just like your life and mine will be, when we recognize the Resurrected Christ for who He really is.
