Mathew 27:52-53

[Grafted In]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

 

[Soulx3]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

The moment Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the Holy of Holies was opened, the earth shook and the rocks were split which caused sepulchres to open and bodies rose to life came out and walked among the people in Jerusalem cursing those guilty of deicide.

On March 27th, 1945, Maria Valtorta received a vision from Jesus of this scene, and in it she sees that shortly after Jesus breathed His last, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus immediately left Calvary to see Pilate to ask for His body, and along the way they see the after effects of Jesus's death, including the raising of bodies. She describes the following as a first-hand witness:

...While on Calvary everything remains in this tragic situation, I join Joseph and Nicodemus, who are going down along a short cut to gain time.

They are almost at the bottom when they meet Gamaliel. An unkempt Gamaliel, with no headgear, no mantle, with his magnificent garment soiled with mould and torn by bramble. A Gamaliel who is running, climbing and panting, with his hands in his thin very grizzled hair of an elderly man. They speak to one another without stopping.

«Gamaliel! You?»

«You, Joseph? Are you leaving Him?»

«No, I am not. But how come you are here? And in that state?. ..»

«Dreadful things! I was in the Temple! The sign! The Temple door unhinged! The purple hyacinth veil is hanging torn! The Holy of Holies is open! There is anathema upon us!» He has spoken while running towards the summit, driven mad by the test.

The two men look at him go... they look at each other... they say together: «"These stones will shudder at My last words!" He had promised him!...»

They hasten their pace towards the town.

In the country, between the mountain and the walls and beyond them, many people looking idiotic are wandering, in the still dim light... They howl, weep and lament... Some say: «His Blood has rained fire!» Some exclaim: «Jehovah has appeared in the midst of the lightning to curse the Temple!» Some moan: «The sepulchres! The sepulchres !»

Joseph gets hold of a man who is striking his head against the walls and calls him by his name, dragging him as he enters the town: «Simon! What are you saying?»

«Leave me! You are dead, too! All dead! All outside! And they curse me.»

«He has gone mad» says Nicodemus.

They leave him and they hasten towards the Praetorium.

The town is a prey to terror. People roam beating their breasts. People who jump backwards or turn round frightened upon hearing a voice or steps behind them.

In one of the many dark archivolts, the apparition of Nicodemus dressed in white wool - because, in order to be quicker, he has taken off his dark mantle on Golgotha - causes a fleeing Pharisee to utter a cry of terror. He then realises that it is Nicodemus and he clings to his neck with a strange effusion, shouting: «Don't curse me! My mother appeared to me and said: "Be cursed forever!"» and then he collapses on the ground moaning: «I'm afraid! I'm afraid!»

«They are all mad!» say the two men.

They arrive at the Praetorium. And it is only here, while waiting to be received by the Proconsul, that Joseph and Nicodemus understand the reason for so much terror. Many sepulchres had been opened by the earthquake, and there were people who swore that they had seen skeletons come out of them, and that for a moment they resumed human appearance and were going about accusing and cursing those who were guilty of the deicide.

I leave them in the entrance-hall of the Praetorium, which Jesus' two friends enter without so many stupid horrors and fears of contamination, and I go back to Calvary, joining Gamaliel, who by now exhausted, is climbing the last few metres. He is proceeding striking his breast, and when he arrives at the first of the two open spaces, he throws himself on the ground, face downwards, a long white form on the yellowish ground, and he says moaning: «The sign! The sign! Tell me that You forgive me! A whisper, even only a whisper, to tell me that You hear me and forgive me.»

I understand that he thinks that Jesus is still alive. And he changes his mind only when a soldier, pushing him with his lance, says: «Get up and be silent. It's of no use! You should have thought of that previously. He is dead. And I, a heathen, am telling you: this Man, Whom you have crucified, was really the Son of God! »

«Dead? Are You dead? Oh!...» Gamaliel raises his terrorised face, he tries to see as far up as the top, in the twilight. He cannot see much, but he can see enough to realise that Jesus is dead. And he sees the compassionate group that is consoling Mary, and John standing on the left side of the cross and weeping, and Longinus, standing straight on the right side, solemn in his respectful posture.

He kneels down, stretches his arms out and weeping says: «It was You! It was You! We can no longer be forgiven. We have asked Your Blood upon us. And It cries to Heaven, and Heaven curses us... Oh! But You were Mercy!... I say to You, I, the destroyed rabbi of Judah: "Your Blood on us, for pity's sake ". Sprinkle us with It! Because only Your Blood can impetrate forgiveness for us...» and he weeps. And then, in a lower voice, he confesses his torture: «I have the requested sign... But ages and ages of spiritual blindness are upon my interior sight, and against my present will rises the voice of my proud thought of the past... Have mercy on me! Light of the world, let one of Your rays descend on the darkness that did not understand You! I am the old Judaean faithful to what I thought was justice, and it was error. I am now a barren land, no longer with any of the ancient trees of the ancient Faith, without any seed or stalk of the new Faith. I am an arid desert. Work the miracle of making a flower, that has Your name, spring up in this poor heart of an old obstinate Israelite. Since You are the Liberator, come into my poor thought, which is a prisoner of formulas. Isaiah says so: "...He paid for sinners and took upon Himself the sins of many." Oh! also mine, Jesus Nazarene...»

He stands up. He looks at the cross which is becoming neater and neater in the light that is clearing up, and then he goes away, stooping, aged, destroyed.

And on Calvary there is once again silence, just broken by Mary's weeping. The two robbers, worn out by fear, no longer speak.

Nicodemus and Joseph arrive back running and they say that they have Pilate's permission. But Longinus, who is not too trustful, sends a horse-soldier to the Proconsul to learn what he has to do also with regard to the two robbers. The soldier goes and come back at a gallop with the order to hand over Jesus and break the legs of the other two, by will of the Jews.

You can read in full here.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

Take it at face value, no hidden meaning.
Be blessed

 

[AlexB23]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

Matthew 27:52-53 describes an event that took place after the crucifixion of Jesus. The chief priests, taking precautions to prevent Jesus' disciples from stealing His body and presenting it as a resurrected Messiah, requested Pilate for a guard at the tomb. Pilate granted their request, securing the tomb with a seal and posting a Roman guard. These actions were carried out to prevent any deception or false claims regarding Jesus' resurrection. In other words, the verse is pretty self explanatory. It means that the Resurrection was true, as there were guards at the tomb to witness it.

 

[Grafted In]

Are you sure you read my post correctly?

 

[Grafted In]

Take it at face value, no hidden meaning.
Be blessed

Really?

 

[AlexB23]

Are you sure you read my post correctly?

Can you please clarify for us? We can not get enough context from your original post. Thank you, brother.

 

[Yekcidmij]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

I don't know I can say that "God has given me this understanding", but I do have a comment that may be helpful. It seems to be related to something in Zech 14:4-5. Some ancient interpreters thought these verses in Zechariah were referring to the resurrection of the dead and the messiah's coming. In this interpretation. the "holy ones coming with him" are the resurrected dead accompanying the messiah as he wins the ultimate battle. This interpretation is most clearly seen in one of the Aramaic Targum's on Song of Songs 8:

​

8:4 King Messiah will say, “I adjure you, my people, House of Israel. Why are you warring against the nations of the earth to leave the Exile? Why are you rebelling against the forces of Gog and Magog? Wait a little longer until the nations who come up to make war against Jerusalem are destroyed, and after that the Lord of the World will remember for you the love of the righteous, and let it be His will to redeem you.”​

8:5 Solomon the prophet said, “When the dead will come to life, the Mount of Olives will be split and all the dead of Israel come forth from beneath it; and even the righteous who died in exile will come from under the earth by way of caverns and will come forth beneath the Mount of Olives. And the wicked who have died and been buried in the land of Israel will be cast up as a man throws up a stone with a stick. Then all the inhabitants of the earth will say, ‘What was the merit of this people that have come up from the earth, myriads upon myriads, as on the day when they appeared beneath Mount Sinai to receive the Law?’ At that hour Zion, mother of Israel, will bear her children and Jerusalem will receive her captive children.” (Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs or Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs 8:5 )​

This interpretation is also seen in a famous ancient fresco painted in a synagogue at Dura Europos (Ezek. 37 at the Dura-Europos Synagogue) with what appears to be an explicit reference to Zechariah 14:4-5 and a connection to the resurrection in Ezekiel 37.

This is probably what's happening in Matthew 27. Jesus, the messiah, has won the battle of Zechariah 14 and [at least some of] the resurrected dead accompany him with this victory. Note in Matt 27 there is also a splitting of the rocks, just as In Zech 14, at which point some people are resurrected from the dead and go into the city.

In short, the mention of resurrected dead in Matt 27 is probably best seen as referring, at least in some sort of partial fulfillment, of Zechariah 14.

 

[Grafted In]

I don't know I can say that "God has given me this understanding", but I do have a comment that may be helpful. It seems to be related to something in Zech 14:4-5. Some ancient interpreters thought these verses in Zechariah were referring to the resurrection of the dead and the messiah's coming. In this interpretation. the "holy ones coming with him" are the resurrected dead accompanying the messiah as he wins the ultimate battle. This interpretation is most clearly seen in one of the Aramaic Targum's on Song of Songs 8:

​

8:4 King Messiah will say, “I adjure you, my people, House of Israel. Why are you warring against the nations of the earth to leave the Exile? Why are you rebelling against the forces of Gog and Magog? Wait a little longer until the nations who come up to make war against Jerusalem are destroyed, and after that the Lord of the World will remember for you the love of the righteous, and let it be His will to redeem you.”​

8:5 Solomon the prophet said, “When the dead will come to life, the Mount of Olives will be split and all the dead of Israel come forth from beneath it; and even the righteous who died in exile will come from under the earth by way of caverns and will come forth beneath the Mount of Olives. And the wicked who have died and been buried in the land of Israel will be cast up as a man throws up a stone with a stick. Then all the inhabitants of the earth will say, ‘What was the merit of this people that have come up from the earth, myriads upon myriads, as on the day when they appeared beneath Mount Sinai to receive the Law?’ At that hour Zion, mother of Israel, will bear her children and Jerusalem will receive her captive children.” (Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs or Aramaic Targum to Song of Songs 8:5 )​

This interpretation is also seen in a famous ancient fresco painted in a synagogue at Dura Europos (Ezek. 37 at the Dura-Europos Synagogue) with what appears to be an explicit reference to Zechariah 14:4-5 and a connection to the resurrection in Ezekiel 37.

This is probably what's happening in Matthew 27. Jesus, the messiah, has won the battle of Zechariah 14 and [at least some of] the resurrected dead accompany him with this victory. Note in Matt 27 there is also a splitting of the rocks, just as In Zech 14, at which point some people are resurrected from the dead and go into the city.

In short, the mention of resurrected dead in Matt 27 is probably best seIen as referring, at least in some sort of partial fulfillment, of Zechariah 14.

Thank you, Yecsidmid. It's a place to start looking. This event has always fascinated me and I've never heard anyone teach about it.
My personal thoughts on the matter have always been along the lines of it being related to perhaps Christ's First Fruits offering to the Father.
You are the only person to show any interest in the matter.
My responce to them has been that God led Mathew to write that down for us for a reason.

Bill

 

[Grafted In]

Can you please clarify for us? We can not get enough context from your original post. Thank you, brother.

I have no understanding about the verses. It I'm simply searching for the reason God led Mathew to write it down for us.
If reading it you cannot understand my question, simply skip over my thread and let it pass.

Bill

 

[Grafted In]

Take it at face value, no hidden meaning.
Be blessed

So noted.

Bill

 

[Grafted In]

"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit, and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people" (Matt. 27:50-53)

The moment Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the Holy of Holies was opened, the earth shook and the rocks were split which caused sepulchres to open and bodies rose to life came out and walked among the people in Jerusalem cursing those guilty of deicide.

On March 27th, 1945, Maria Valtorta received a vision from Jesus of this scene, and in it she sees that shortly after Jesus breathed His last, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus immediately left Calvary to see Pilate to ask for His body, and along the way they see the after effects of Jesus's death, including the raising of bodies. She describes the following as a first-hand witness:



You can read in full here.

Since the information you provide is based on what has been handed down from a source unknown to me, I will simply thank you for responding with such vast detail and perhaps in the future, if God leads me, I will take a serious look at your words.

Bill

 

[Yekcidmij]

Thank you, Yecsidmid. It's a place to start looking. This event has always fascinated me and I've never heard anyone teach about it.
My personal thoughts on the matter have always been along the lines of it being related to perhaps Christ's First Fruits offering to the Father.
You are the only person to show any interest in the matter.
My responce to them has been that God led Mathew to write that down for us for a reason.

Bill

Yea, I agree it's written there for a reason, even if that reason is obscure to us now. It's one of those weird and puzzling passages, and I had to dig through some commentaries some time ago to run across the explanation I gave (I think it was in Dale Allison's critical commentary on Matthew). It's the best explanation I've seen so far, assuming that either the Targum itself, or the interpretation in the Targum, go back to at least the first century. And given Matt 27:51-53 it seems reasonable to think they do; seems to fit.

 

[Soulx3]

Since the information you provide is based on what has been handed down from a source unknown to me, I will simply thank you for responding with such vast detail and perhaps in the future, if God leads me, I will take a serious look at your words.

Bill

You're welcome! I'd also like to share a few of the studies done and conclusions given by professionals in various fields, who've analyzed and tested the credibility of Maria Valtorta personally and her literary works. I hope you read these excerpts at least. Be blessed :]

(i) The results from the mathematical analysis of Maria Valtorta's Work by Professor Emilio Matricciani and Dr. Liberato De Caro, where they concluded:

In conclusion, what do these findings mean? That Maria Valtorta is such a good writer to be able to modulate the linguistic parameters in so many different ways and as a function of character of the plot and type of literary text, so as to cover almost the entire range of the Italian literature? Or that visions and dictations really occurred and she was only a mystical, very intelligent and talented “writing tool”? Of course, no answer grounded in science can be given to the latter question.

(ii) The results from the astronomical and meteorological analysis of Maria Valtorta's Work by Professor Emilio Matricciani and Dr. Liberato De Caro, where they concluded:

It seems that she has written down observations and facts that really happened at the time of Jesus’ life, as a real witness of them would have done. The question arises, unsolved from a point of view exclusively rational, how all this is possible because what Maria Valtorta writes down cannot, in any way, be traced back to her fantasy or to her astronomical and meteorological knowledge. In conclusion, if from one hand the scientific inquire has evidenced all the surprising and unexpected results reported and discussed in this paper, on the other hand our actual scientific knowledge cannot readily explain how these results are possible.

(iii) In David Webster, M.Div.'s chapter "Proof by Geography and Topography and Archaeology" of A Summa and Encyclopedia to Maria Valtorta’s Extraordinary Work, he relates:

An additional line of incontrovertible evidence (which Valtorta was encouraged by Jesus to include for the benefit of “the difficult doctors” of the Church) deals with the vast amount of geographical, climatic, agricultural, historical, astronomical, and cartographical information given in her work. Authorities in these fields have verified the accuracy of what she has reported with appropriate astonishment. Valtorta accurately identifies this agricultural and climatic information that is often unique to Palestine with the appropriate calendar period which she often specifically identifies. Without any evidence of planning and with hardly any corrections, Valtorta ends up with a perfectly flowing 3½ year story line with Jesus appropriately in Jerusalem and Judea for Passover and Pentecost in all four spring seasons, and at the Tabernacles in all three fall seasons of His ministry. Valtorta shows Jesus to have traversed the land of Palestine from one end to another in at least six cycles (some 4,000 miles), ministering in some 350 named locations, including places in Palestine known only to specialized archaeologists. Not once, however, does she have Jesus (or any one of the other 500 characters) in a place inconsistent with either the story line or distance or timing necessities.
Click to expand...

(iv) In professional engineer Jean-François Lavère's The Valtorta Enigma, he writes:

The work [The Poem of the Man-God] overflows with exact data from the viewpoint of history, topography, architecture, geography, ethnology, chronology, etc. Furthermore, Maria Valtorta often provides precise details known only by some scholars, and in certain cases, she even records details totally unknown at the time she recorded them, and which archeology, history, or science have later confirmed.

 

[Grafted In]

You're welcome! I'd also like to share a few of the studies done and conclusions given by professionals in various fields, who've analyzed and tested the credibility of Maria Valtorta personally and her literary works. I hope you read these first at least. Be blessed :]

(i) The results from the mathematical analysis of Maria Valtorta's Work by Professor Emilio Matricciani and Dr. Liberato De Caro, where they concluded:



(ii) The results from the astronomical and meteorological analysis of Maria Valtorta's Work by Professor Emilio Matricciani and Dr. Liberato De Caro, where they concluded:



(iii) In David Webster, M.Div.'s chapter "Proof by Geography and Topography and Archaeology" of A Summa and Encyclopedia to Maria Valtorta’s Extraordinary Work, he relates:



(iv) In professional engineer Jean-François Lavère's The Valtorta Enigma, he writes:

Thank you.

Bill

 

[Aaron112]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

Did you find any yet ?

 

[Grafted In]

Did you find any yet ?

No

 

[Grafted In]

Did you find any yet ?

That isn't true. Actually 2 people responded.
It was such an unusual thing that I do not understand why no one discusses it.

 

[Grafted In]

It's all there above.

 

[Paul4JC]

I'm searching for believers who God has given understanding regarding Mathew 27:52-53.

We are all still learning, yet God gives us understanding.


[Mat 27:52-53 NET] 52 And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. 53 (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.)

The text says this happened after the resurrection. So that would be 3 days or more later. I would say that these very recently had died, like Lazarus.

[Jhn 11:43-44 NET] 43 When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, "Unwrap him and let him go."

So, like Lazurus, these people also confirmed the resurrection of Christ, and that he was the resurrection and the life.

[Jhn 11:25 NET] 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies,