The Six Miracles of Calvary –
The Resurrected Saints Went Where?
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 27:50-53)
JERUSALEM IS SURROUNDED by thousands of dug graves covered with slabs of stones and markers. Among the common graves are some elaborate, expensive tombs. The text does not mention tombs being disturbed. “Graves were opened.” Common graves can be opened, and the slabs moved aside or up-ended without breaking the slabs and markers.
IN CONTRAST, A GRAVE INSIDE A TOMB could hardly be opened without destroying the tomb surrounding it. Because of the difference in construction, I assume that the opened graves were of the simpler construction rather than of the elaborate tombs. Anyway, grave and tomb construction is not the big question. The big question is:
AFTER THESE RESURRECTED SAINTS APPEARED UNTO MANY, where did they go? Walvoord suggests this event was “a fulfillment of the Feast of the Firstfruits of harvest mentioned in Leviticus 23:10-14. On that occasion, as a token of the coming harvest, the people would bring a handful of grain to the priest. The resurrection of these saints, occurring after Jesus Himself was raised, is a token of the coming harvest when all the saints will be raised” (Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come, p. 236). (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (Leviticus 23:10-11)
IN OTHER WORDS, these saints were raised “after” Jesus was raised from the dead, albeit only a few seconds after Jesus was raised. After their earthly mission was completed, we may assume that they proceeded to Heaven to await the arrival of the full harvest of millions of resurrected bodies.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1Thessalonians 4:16-18)
“THE RESURRECTION OF THESE SAINTS, occurring after Jesus Himself was raised, is a token of the coming harvest when all the saints will be raised.” (Repeating the above quote.) We remember that much meaning of the Old Testament comes from its treasure house of types and shadows that are explained best (or only) in the New Testament. “The New is in the Old contained. The Old is in the New explained.” That feature of the Old Testament gives us the only means of knowing what happened to the saints that came out of their graves when Jesus was raised from the dead.
OTHERS RAISED FROM THE DEAD BEFORE CHRIST was raised were destined to die again because they were before the “Firstfruits” had been raised from the dead. No resurrected body in the Old or New Testament escaped having to die again except those who were raised after Jesus was raised from the dead. There remains the question of what happened to the young man who fell from the window while Paul was preaching and was killed. Paul raised him from the dead.
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. (Acts 20:9-10)
Others may have been raised from the dead at the hands of the apostles and what of those who might be raised from the dead today, if that should occur? Most assume they would die again because they were not in the group, the sheaf, that were raised with Jesus. I know of no Scripture that settles that question. Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
APRIL 18, 2019 – THURSDAY
A.M. 1 Samuel 25-26 P.M. Luke 16:19-31
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verses to Memorize:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31)
Song for Today:
Then Came Sunday (3:38) (Calv.Mem.Chur. Choir)
https://www.facebook.com/faith.r.schofield/videos/10155472822927780/ You may need to adjust your volume control
Health Tip:
Tablets, Capsules, and Jell Capsules. Most tablets are harder to digest than capsules but recently some tablets are made to crumble easily, even in your mouth. Generally, we will digest more of the product if it’s in capsule form and faster. Some tablets are so big you have to crunch them with your jaw teeth or a set of pliers. Desiccated liver tablets are big tablets. I crunch them with my jaw teeth and wash them down.
Some B-12 tablets are slow-dissolving under the tongue, so the product is absorbed under the tongue and by-passes the stomach. These days with so much acid reflux going on that scars up the esophagus and shrinks it, (you may have to have it stretched) we need to pay attention to the size and difficulty of swallowing medications (meds). Have a glass of water in hand before attempting to swallow MEDS of any kind except for the under-the-tongue kind; The little nitro tablets, for example. Ω
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