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Split Rocks, Open
Tombs, Raised Bodies
What Happened in the Graveyards Outside
Jerusalem?
Article by John Piper
Founder &
Teacher, desiringGod.org
When Jesus let his spirit go (ἀφῆκεν τὸ πνεῦμα) and
died (Matthew 27:50), seven
results were set in motion which Matthew mentions in seven clauses, introduced
with seven “ands” (καί).
Including the first main statement that Jesus yielded up his spirit,
it seems to me they come in four pairs:
“Jesus, having cried out again
with a loud voice, yielded up his
spirit;
“and (καί) behold, the curtain of the temple
was torn in two, from top to
bottom;
“and (καί) the earth shook,
“and (καί) the rocks were split;
“and (καί) the tombs were opened,
“and (καί) many bodies of the saints
who had fallen asleep were raised,
“and (καί) having come out of the tombs
after his resurrection they went
into the holy city,
Entrance by the Curtain of Christ
I doubt that any of these results was random. Each had meaning.
And Matthew mentions them so that we will think about their meaning.
One of the reasons I think so is that the writer to the Hebrews saw
profound meaning in one of these seven results of Jesus’s death.
He connects the curtain of the temple with the body of Jesus, and
writes this:
“Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of
Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the
curtain, that is, through his flesh . . . let us draw near with a
true heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19–20, 22)
In other words, the tearing of the curtain that separated the sinful
people from the holy presence of God signifies what happened when the flesh of
Jesus was torn.
The tearing of Jesus’s flesh secured the reconciliation between God
and his sinful people. That is what the tearing of the curtain signified.
More Than Meets the Eye
That fundamental achievement of the death of Jesus is the basis for
the rest of the six results Matthew mentions. Perhaps that is why it comes
first in the list.
Without the death of Jesus, God’s wrath remains on all humans. That
curse must be removed as the basis for all other good things that come to
redeemed man — including open tombs.
In dying for us “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).
God cancelled “the record of debt that stood against us with
its legal demands . . . nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14).
Therefore, God’s curse and our debts are removed.
God is 100% for us with no more redeeming work needed to support such
a relationship. That work is finished.
gave himself up for his bride (Ephesians 5:25), and
Finished. Price paid.
With the splitting of the temple curtain “from top to
bottom” (by God), Matthew shows that events in the material world at
this moment are signifying far more than meets the eye.
Split Curtain, Split Rocks
The next pair of results which Matthew mentions is the shaking of
earth and the splitting of rocks.
“and (καί) the earth shook,
The fact that the same verb is used to describe the splitting of the
curtain and the splitting of the rocks (ἐσχίσθη . . . ἐσχίσθησαν) signals that Matthew is not leaving behind
his intention to show us more than meets the eye.
The split curtain has meaning, and the split rocks have meaning.
The least we can say is that the death of Jesus has effects on more
than spiritual relationships. It produces effects in the natural world, the
world of earth and rocks — and as we will see, human bodies.
What has just happened on the cross has to do with the one who holds
the earth in his hand and can shake it. And the one who holds boulders between his
fingers and can split them.
The earth was shaken and rocks split by a sovereign earth-controller
and a powerful rock-ruler.
Human deaths don’t shake the earth and split rocks. God does.
Rocks don’t have a mind of their own. They do what God bids them do.
And they shook and split.
Shaking, Collapsing, Removing, Replacing
When something shakes and breaks apart, it is on its way to
collapsing. Its former use is coming to an end. Something else is going to
replace it.
In other words, the death of Jesus means that the things we regard as
so firm and sure and unshakeable — the very earth and the great rocks — even
these are not stable.
They are not the final reality. They are fragile and temporary.
This is what Hebrews says about the things that are shaken. The day is
coming when we will live in a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
His voice shook the earth, but now he has
promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens.”
This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken — that is,
things that have been made — in order that the things that cannot be shaken may
remain.
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be
shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and
awe. (Hebrews 12:26–28)
Rocks Split, Tombs Opened, Bodies Raised
But the shaking of the earth and the splitting of the rocks point to
something even more specific. Matthew shows us what that is in the next pair of
results of Jesus’s death:
“and (καί) the tombs were opened,
“and (καί) many bodies of the saints who had
fallen asleep were raised”
The most important earthly change that the death of Christ secures is
the resurrection of the bodies of God’s people, the saints.
Matthew is very specific about this. He does not say, “Many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”
He says, “Many bodies of the
saints who had fallen asleep were raised.”
The issue is the material universe.
The split curtain spoke immeasurable truth about the spiritual realm of sin and alienation and
reconciliation.
But shaking earth and splitting rocks and opening tombs and
rising “bodies” — this is all
about the material stuff of creation.
Death Is the Ground of Resurrection
We usually think of the resurrection of
Christ, not the death of Christ, as the ground
of the resurrection of our bodies.
And it is true that if Christ were not raised, we would not be
raised. “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11).
But Matthew surprisingly (though not uniquely) puts the emphasis on
the death of Jesus as opening the tombs and giving
life to our mortal bodies.
Not all bodies. But “many.”
The resurrection of God’s people is future. But this was a foretaste.
A trailer.
To be sure, Paul calls Jesus’s resurrection “the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20) — meaning that Jesus’s resurrection is part of the final
resurrection of all his people.
So, ours is as sure to happen as his has surely happened. It is all
one harvest.
But Matthew shows something different. Not contradictory, but
different.
He says that when Jesus died, and before the
resurrection of Jesus, tombs were opened, and bodies of saints were raised.
That is the most natural way to read the flow of his words:
That is the most natural way to read the flow of his words:
“Jesus, having cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up his
spirit;
and behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom;
and behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom;
“and the earth shook,
and the rocks were split;
and the rocks were split;
“and the tombs were opened,
and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised . . .”
and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised . . .”
Even though it sounds very strange, Matthew locates the raising of the bodies of the saints at the death of Jesus, and their coming out of the tombs and entering Jerusalem after the
resurrection.
The phrase “after his resurrection” (μετὰ τὴν ἔγερσιν αὐτοῦ) does not naturally modify “many
bodies of the saints were raised” — as if the bodies of the saints
were raised only after Jesus’s body was raised.
Rather, it most naturally modifies “having come out of the
tombs . . . they entered the holy city” (καὶ ἐξελθόντες ἐκ τῶν μνημείων μετὰ τὴν ἔγερσιν αὐτοῦ εἰσῆλθον εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν): “. . . and having come out of the
tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city.”
It seems to me that Matthew is showing us the foundational and
essential power of the death of Jesus as the cause of resurrection life in
natural bodies, while affirming the Pauline truth that the resurrection of
Jesus is also necessary for the full public experience of our physical
resurrection — bodies raised at Jesus’s death, bodies out of the tombs and into
the city at Jesus’ resurrection.
Raised by His Own Blood
This crucial role for the death of Jesus is not unique to
Matthew.
Hebrews 2:14 puts it like this: “Through death he [destroyed] the one who has the power
of death.”
Paul puts it like this: “[Christ] died for
us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with
him” (1 Thessalonians 5:10).
In other words, the death of Jesus
is the foundational and essential act of God to secure the resurrection of our
bodies.
In fact, Hebrews goes so far as to say the blood-shedding of Jesus
secured the resurrection not just of our bodies, but
also of Jesus’s body.
The word order in Hebrews 13:20–21 is unmistakable: “May
the God of peace who brought again from the dead . . . the great shepherd of
the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip
you with everything good” (Ὁ δὲ θεὸς τῆς εἰρήνης, ὁ ἀναγαγὼν ἐκ νεκρῶν τὸν ποιμένα τῶν προβάτων τὸν μέγαν ἐν αἵματι διαθήκης αἰωνίου, τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν, καταρτίσαι ὑμᾶς ἐν παντὶ ἀγαθῷ).
God raised Jesus “by the blood of the eternal covenant.”
As Henry Alford says, “By virtue of that blood also He was
raised up as the great Shepherd.”
A Death-Defeating Death
So, Matthew is showing that the raising of many saints’ bodies at the
point of Jesus’ death gives glorious tribute to what was accomplished in that
moment when he gave up his spirit (Matthew 27:50).
We owe our future resurrection foundationally and essentially to
the death of Jesus, because the greatest obstacle to
our resurrection was removed there, not at the point of Jesus’ resurrection.
The greatest obstacle to our resurrection was not physical death and
dissolution. The greatest obstacle was our sin and God’s righteousness.
God can put decayed bodies back together with the wave of his little
finger. But the righteous removal of holy wrath cost the death of his Son.
Many Saints Seen by Many
One last statement in the sequence of seven remains: “. . .
and [they] appeared to many” (Matthew 27:53).
“Many” raised saints are seen by “many.”
In other words, this was not a solitary visionary experience of some
dreamer.
This was many raised bodies appearing to many living inhabitants of
Jerusalem. It was real, physical, and public.
That is what it will be in the last day, when we are raised.
Inexhaustible Death
In sum, the power and importance and foundational significance of the
voluntary death of Jesus for us is inexhaustible.
Spirit surrendered, curtain split, earth shaken, rocks split, tombs
opened, bodies raised, Jesus raised, city entered, many saints seen by many.
The implications of these results of the voluntary death of Jesus are
as real today as ever.
And they will bring history to a final close. Then, the main song we
will sing is the song of the Lamb that was slain (Revelation 5:9–13).
John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of
desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33
years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He is author of more than 50
books, including Desiring God: Meditations
of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Why I Love
the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons.
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