Being a constant reader of your valuable paper, and having derived great help and blessing from its "Private Corner," I should be glad if you would give me some information on the following:
Matthew 27:51-53 says: "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 their graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."
Now, can you please tell me what became of them? Did they die, or did they take part in the ascension?
The verses that you have quoted are all that the Bible contains directly on this subject. There is no other specific reference to those who were raised at the crucifixion of Christ. However, there is a very plain statement made in Ephesians 4:8, which enables us to come to a very clear understanding of the matter. The text reads that when Christ "ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." (Ephesians 4:8)
The margin has it, "a multitude of captives." Thus we know that when Christ ascended to heaven, He took with Him a multitude of captives redeemed from the grave as proofs of His power over death and the grave.
• That multitude, brought up from the graves and made immortal, and taken to heaven, stands as a demonstration of the fact that Christ has the keys of death and the grave.
• They are evidences that He died and rose again, not for himself, but for the world.
• In them is demonstrated the truth that the resurrection of Jesus means the resurrection and immortality of all the righteous.
Now while the record in the Gospel says nothing more concerning those who came from the grave at the crucifixion of Jesus than the mere fact that they appeared unto many, the fact that when He ascended on high, He took a multitude of captives with Him, makes it very evident that those mentioned by Matthew must have been among the number, for it is not reasonable to suppose that those saints were left to go back into the graves, and some others taken.
The item is of more than passing interest. It was not recorded merely as a matter of curiosity. Everything in the Bible is for practical use in everyday life; and this shows us what is the lively hope to which we are begotten by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
It shows us that even now, before the coming of the Lord, and before this mortal puts on immortality, and this corruptible incorruption, it is possible for human flesh to be delivered from the "bondage of corruption." (Romans 8:21) "The life of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh;" (2 Corinthians 4:11) for the Spirit that is given to dwell in us, is the Spirit which quickens our mortal bodies. (Romans 8:10-11) Therefore, Unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)--Present Truth, January 22, 1903.