Coming to the end of Matthew's gospel is somewhat of a relief. Not that I don't enjoy reading it, it is just that Matthew does not seem to have the same writing skills as the other three gospel writers. His agenda seems to always interfere. At least it seems to me that is the case.
Nevertheless, as with the other gospels, the end of Matthew deals with the death, burial, and resurrection of the Christ. Now Matthew includes a few one-of-a- kind comments in his Gospel that intrigue me. However, none like we find in Matthew 27:51-54 where at the moment of Jesus death, not only is there an upheaval in the earth and the temple curtain torn in two, but apparently something more significant is about to happen. Somewhere, or in many places around the city, the text says that, "The tombs were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised..." (28:52)
Now Jesus was chided about a lot of things during his trial and crucifixion. During his crucifixion, they even mocked him and said, "...Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him." (Matt. 27:42) That would have been something! No doubt Jesus would have gotten their attention at that point. Yet, that is not what happened.
What did happen is apparently there was a mini-resurrection of some type, other than Jesus', that took place after Jesus' resurrection and those who came out of their tombs "went into the holy city and appeared to many." (v.53) That has to be the next best thing to Jesus coming down off the cross that night, but apparently, it goes relatively unnoticed. Matthew comments on it, but none of the other gospel writers mention it. I wonder why you would ignore such an eye-opening event!
After the resurrection, Jesus visits the twelve and the women, these other saints go into the city. Since we have no other evidence, apparently they said a "hello" to their family and friends. Then what? Did they die again and go back into the tomb. Or were they translated into the heavenly kingdom of God.
One must admit this is a rather significant event in the scheme of things. After all, resurrections from the dead are not a daily occurrence. However, apparently this event goes somewhat unnoticed and unrecorded as to its effect. Then again, you can understand why, imagine showing up at the family meal after Synagogue with Phineas in tow, knowing that someone is going to say, "What the heck! Didn't he die last year in a camel accident?"
Scripture is not always easy to understand when you see events like this occurring in isolation. Especially when they seem to be such a significant event. I suppose when we get to heaven we can ask Matthew why he chose to put this there - or Luke, Mark and John, why they chose to leave it out. Or another option, maybe it just didn't happen they way Matthew thought it did or wanted it to happen. I don't know.
Does that impact how I look at the rest of his story. Not at all. Does that change the veracity of scripture, not at all. It could very well be that everyone was rightly focused on Jesus and the rest of these folks, now no longer at "rest", simply took a back seat.
Does that mean keeping your eyes on Jesus may cause you to miss "significant events" going on around you? Perhaps, but then maybe they are not that significant after all.
Merry Christmas!
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