Lesson Four • Graves Opened
Zach Honnen
“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
As we continue through our series of miracles at the cross, we have now come to the opened tombs. For many Christians who have grown up in the church (myself included), the opening of the graves is a small detail in Matthew’s Gospel account that does not get much thought. Today, however, I want us to take a good, deep look at this detail in Scripture and try to understand why Matthew (through the Holy Spirit) included it in his account.
In Matthew chapter 27, we see a chain reaction that all starts with the death of Christ, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). With that, it began. We first see the split of the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. Then Matthew describes the earthquake, which most scholars agree in speculating that this is what would have opened the graves for the risen saints to walk out of their tombs. So, let us look at the breakdown of this passage and see what God has for us today in His Word.
“The tombs also were opened.” We first see that, at the death of Christ, the tombs were opened wide and the opportunity for freedom was given to the saints, but they were still dead and unable to walk out. Much like Lazarus before, Jesus had told him to “come out” (John 11:43). We see in this example with Lazarus that without the power of God we, in and of ourselves, can do nothing. Without Christ we are “dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). However, when Christ steps in, He changes everything and we then can walk out of the graves of our old life into a new life with Him.
Continuing on in Matthew 27:52, we read, “And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.” Who were these saints? Truthfully, we do not have a definite answer, but we know that these were people who had fully given themselves to God and had trusted in Him for salvation. Next in verse 53, we read, “And coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” Here we find our final detail. These fallen saints did not rise until after Christ had risen, and when they had risen, they wasted no time in going out to their brothers and sisters in the flesh to reveal to them what God had done.
So, to recap, we see a physical picture of a spiritual reality as well as a confirmation that one day we will be raised by the power of Christ and glorify Him forever. Finally, I want to leave you with a few questions.
- Do you have faith in Christ? Has Jesus done the work in your spirit of raising you from the dead?
- If yes to question one, are you going out to your family, friends, and neighbors and showing them what Jesus has done for you?
- If no to question one, what is keeping you from asking Jesus for salvation from death? As we see in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, if you have not, repent and believe today.