The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed by Nelly Kaye of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, from the tape, GC 1301-H, titled "Bible Questions and Answers Part 10."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE. ©1978. All Rights Reserved.

Question

Can you discuss Matthew 27:52, when Jesus died and all the people came out of the graves?

Answer

That was quite an interesting thing. When Jesus died on the cross, the graves were...well they were literally emptied, in some cases. It says in verse 51 “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks were split; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints that slept were raised; and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

Now this is a fascinating thing and we’re going to get into this in a few years when we get to Matthew 27. But I really feel that the whole point of this, was that at the very instant of Jesus’ death, he showed His resurrection power. This was a tremendous prophecy of what was going to happen. This was like a little preview of the resurrection. And you notice that it was Old Testament saints whose bodies were in the grave and they came out of the graves. The graves were cracked open. Many of the bodies of the saints that slept were raised and came out of the graves, and I think it should be read, "...and after His resurrection went into the holy city and appeared unto many." They came out at His crucifixion and after the resurrection they went into the city and did their thing, their ministry. Boy, what a deal that would be.

Now people always say did they die again? I think not, I think this was special group of resurrected Old Testament saints, it doesn’t say they died again. They got their glorified body right there. You say, well I thought the Old Testament saints get their glorified bodies at the end of the Tribulation. That they do. In fact read Daniel 12. Daniel 12 says first there’s a tribulation, at the end of the tribulation the Old Testament saints are going to awake from the dust and they are going to rise. That’s right. The mass, the majority of them will at that point receive their glorified bodies. The church at the Rapture, seven years later, at the end of the Tribulation after God has finished redeeming Israel, right, because He redeems Israel during that seven year period, then the Old Testament saints get their bodies .By the way, when Jesus came out of...remember we talked about Sheol led captivity captive, what He took were their spirits not their bodies. Some people were confused about that…took their spirits, their bodies will be raised at the end of the tribulation time. So I think this was a tremendous prophecy. Our Lord was saying to the whole world that He had resurrection power. And when these Old Testament saints started mingling with the population after the resurrection what a fantastic impact, in fact we haven’t talked much about that but it may have been a contributor to the wonderful thing that happened on the day of Pentecost.

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur’s Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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