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Why a Crowd Got Resurrected · Pastor John Piper's answers

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: You're reading through the first book of the New Testament,
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  Speaker 1: the Gospel of Matthew, and you get to the crucifixion
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  Speaker 1: account in that book. It's a story you probably know well,
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  Speaker 1: but they're right in the middle of it. Is one detail,
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  Speaker 1: one really weird detail. It comes as the ground shakes
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  Speaker 1: and the temple curtain tears in half. Those are amazing things.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm thinking of another thing, the moment when the
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  Speaker 1: tombs break open and formerly dead saints start walking around Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: Is this something out of a zombie movie? Or why
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  Speaker 1: is this bizarre miracle even in the text, And why
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  Speaker 1: is Matthew the only person to mention it? Today? On
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  Speaker 1: Askpastor John why a crowd got resurrected? We're reading the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel of Luke right now together, and Ed from Northern
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  Speaker 1: Ireland has a question about this event that Luke won't
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  Speaker 1: mention his Gospel, nor Mark nor John. Only Matthew describes it.
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  Speaker 1: Here's Ed's question, Pastor John. In Matthew twenty seven fifty
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  Speaker 1: to fifty four, we read that saints were raised after
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  Speaker 1: Jesus's death and later entered into Jerusalem, one of the
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  Speaker 1: greatest miracles in human history. And yet there is no
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  Speaker 1: further mention of it anywhere else, not in any other gospel,
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  Speaker 1: not in Josephus, nowhere. So why might Matthew include it
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  Speaker 1: so briefly, and why would no other gospel account expand
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  Speaker 1: on it? And then verse fifty three says after his
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  Speaker 1: resurrection they went into the Holy City. Does this mean
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  Speaker 1: that they were raised and waited until Christ rose himself?
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  Speaker 1: I would love your thoughts on how to read this
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  Speaker 1: really curious and glorious and under emphasized story faithfully.
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  Speaker 2: Well, we better start with the text, because I don't
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  Speaker 2: think most people will know what we're talking about if
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  Speaker 2: we don't. So here's the text. And Jesus cried out
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  Speaker 2: again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit,
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  Speaker 2: very last thing he does on the cross. And behold
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  Speaker 2: this is verse fifty one. Behold the curtain of the
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  Speaker 2: temple was split into from top to bottom, and the
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  Speaker 2: earth shook and rocks were split. The tombs also were opened.
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  Speaker 2: Many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were
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  Speaker 2: raised and coming out of the tombs. After his resurrection,
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  Speaker 2: they went into the Holy City and appeared to many.
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  Speaker 2: When Centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus saw the earthquake, and what took place. It's important
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  Speaker 2: phrase what took place? They were filled with awe and said, truly,
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  Speaker 2: this was the Son of God. Now, I believe all
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  Speaker 2: scripture is inspired by God and is without error, as
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  Speaker 2: it was written by those who were carried along by
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit. That it is profitable. All of it
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  Speaker 2: is profitable, as the apostle says in Second Timothy three sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: But that doesn't mean every sentence or every part of
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  Speaker 2: it is equally profitable. It doesn't diminish the glory of
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  Speaker 2: God or the truth of his word to say that
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  Speaker 2: some things he says are enormously important, and other things
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  Speaker 2: are true and helpful, but not of the same level
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  Speaker 2: of importance and helpfulness. You could think of stories and
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  Speaker 2: teachings in the Bible as different actors in a drama.
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  Speaker 2: Some actors are much more central and prominent than others,
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  Speaker 2: and others are supporting actors, all of them fitting together
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  Speaker 2: in their greater or lesser rules in order to get
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  Speaker 2: across God's infallible truth. Well, this story in Matthew twenty seven,
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  Speaker 2: I think is one of the minor actors in the drama.
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  Speaker 2: You could think of this story as a cameo appearance
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  Speaker 2: of an actor that lasts for a moment and he
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  Speaker 2: never shows up again in the New Testament. But that's
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  Speaker 2: not at all unusual. I mean, our friend who asked
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  Speaker 2: this question makes it sound a little bit unusual. Lots
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  Speaker 2: of events in the Gospels are reported only once in
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  Speaker 2: the whole New Testament. The raising of the widow's son Nane,
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  Speaker 2: the coin in the fish's mouth, the healing of the
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  Speaker 2: bent over woman, the healing of the ten lepers, the
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  Speaker 2: replacing of Malchus ear in the garden, the raising of Lazarus,
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  Speaker 2: and omly going to so many more occur one time
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  Speaker 2: and never again in any of the New Testament. And
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  Speaker 2: I think that ed overstates the situation a bit when
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  Speaker 2: he says there's no further mention of it anywhere else,
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  Speaker 2: not in the Gospels, not in Josephus, nowhere. Well. Actually,
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  Speaker 2: it is mentioned in most of the earliest church fathers,
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  Speaker 2: starting from the early Church Ignatius, Arenaeus, Clement, etc. So
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  Speaker 2: the fact that it doesn't get reported anywhere else in
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  Speaker 2: the New Testament is not unusual. And outside the New Testament,
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  Speaker 2: it was well known among Christians from the beginning. The
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  Speaker 2: main question is not the frequency of the report, but
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  Speaker 2: what does it mean? Why is it here? So let
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  Speaker 2: me mention six possible things that Matthew may be trying
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  Speaker 2: to communicate in telling us this story. Some of these
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  Speaker 2: I feel strongly about this is what he's doing. Others
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  Speaker 2: maybe less so, but I commend them for your consideration. First,
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  Speaker 2: at the moment of Jesus' death, the curtain in the
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  Speaker 2: temple was split and the rocks were split. Now that
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  Speaker 2: leaps off the page in Greek because the same word
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  Speaker 2: is used skidzo in both cases. Unfortunately, in English translations
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  Speaker 2: it almost always says the curtain was torn and the
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  Speaker 2: rocks are split, so you can't see it's the same word.
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  Speaker 2: And the splitting of the rocks is connected with the
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  Speaker 2: tombs being opened. So in verses fifty one, second half
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  Speaker 2: of the verse and the beginning of verse fifty two,
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  Speaker 2: the rocks were split and the tombs were opened. So
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  Speaker 2: two splittings and two openings the curtain separating the holiest
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  Speaker 2: place in the temple, where God met his people in
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  Speaker 2: person person of the High Priest once a year, and
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  Speaker 2: where redemption was trans on the day of Atonement. That
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  Speaker 2: was now open. Jesus death made a way of access
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  Speaker 2: to God by becoming the final sacrifice and the final
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  Speaker 2: redemption for sinners. Then the splitting of the rocks and
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  Speaker 2: the opening of the tombs is a parallel opening into
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  Speaker 2: the way of the life of God. So the splitting
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  Speaker 2: of the curtain represents the overcoming of the separation of sin,
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  Speaker 2: and the splitting of the rocks represents the overcoming of
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  Speaker 2: the separation of death. That's the first thing I think
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  Speaker 2: Matthew wants us to see. Second, Matthew wants us to
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  Speaker 2: make the connection between the death of Jesus and the
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  Speaker 2: resurrection of the body. It isn't just Jesus' resurrection that
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  Speaker 2: secures our resurrection. His death defeated our death and secured
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  Speaker 2: the resurrection. It says in Hebrews two fourteen, he died
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  Speaker 2: to destroy the one who has the power of death.
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  Speaker 2: Death defeated death. Wasn't just resurrection that defeated death. Jesus'
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  Speaker 2: death defeated our death. And in Hebrews thirteen twenty amazingly,
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  Speaker 2: it says that Jesus himself was raised by the blood
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  Speaker 2: of Jesus. So the death of Jesus for sin is
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  Speaker 2: decisive in opening his grave and our graves. That's the
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  Speaker 2: connection that I think Matthew wants us to see. Connect
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  Speaker 2: the resurrection of the body with the death of the
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  Speaker 2: body of Jesus. Third, the fact that the bodies which
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  Speaker 2: came out or saints who had died under the Old
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  Speaker 2: Covenant makes clear that the life giving power of Jesus'
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  Speaker 2: death works backward as well as forward. It secures the
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  Speaker 2: resurrection of Old Testament saints, not just Christians. I think
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  Speaker 2: he wants us to see that. Fourth, the fact that
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  Speaker 2: the word bodies is used stands out. It might have
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  Speaker 2: said the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. That
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  Speaker 2: would be perfectly natural. That's not what it says. It
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  Speaker 2: says many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep
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  Speaker 2: were raised. So it seems that Matthew wants to underscore
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  Speaker 2: Jesus' bodily death and resurrection guarantees a bodily resurrection for
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  Speaker 2: all God's people. Fifth, why did Matthew refer to the
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  Speaker 2: appearances in the Holy City coming out of the tombs
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  Speaker 2: after his resurrection? They went into the Holy City and
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  Speaker 2: appeared to many Verse fifty three. This was God's most
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  Speaker 2: privileged city.
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  Speaker 1: In the world.
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  Speaker 2: Yet Jesus had said, it cannot be that a prophet
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  Speaker 2: should perish away from Jerusalem. It was a deadly city,
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  Speaker 2: an unbelieving city. Yet there were so many warnings to
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  Speaker 2: Jerusalem to repent. Perhaps this is another You have crucified Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: But here's what it means. You didn't succeed. It means
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  Speaker 2: life from the dead. It's not too late, Jerusalem. Here's
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  Speaker 2: another witness to the reality of Jesus. Jerusalem, repent while
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  Speaker 2: there's still time. Finally, number six, here's what it says
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  Speaker 2: about the centurion at the cross. When the centurion and
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  Speaker 2: those who were with him saw the earthquake and what
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  Speaker 2: took place, they were filled with awe and said, truly,
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  Speaker 2: this was the Son of God. What was Matthew referring
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  Speaker 2: to by the words what took place? They saw? They
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  Speaker 2: saw the earthquake and what took place. Well, in the
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  Speaker 2: immediate context, what took place was the curtain split and
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  Speaker 2: the tombs opened. The curtains too far away, they're not
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  Speaker 2: going to see that. He's not. Maybe the tombs, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I don't know how close they were, and I don't
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  Speaker 2: know what they could see. But at least in the
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  Speaker 2: context of the text as it flows. The most clear
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  Speaker 2: antecedent to what took place was the rocks were split,
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  Speaker 2: the curtain was split, the bodies were raised, they came out.
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  Speaker 2: They bore witness to the resurrection. So this last suggestion
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  Speaker 2: is the raising of the dead was another witness to
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  Speaker 2: the confession. Surely this is the Son of God, his
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  Speaker 2: death raises the dead. There are many, I mean, just
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  Speaker 2: let's admit it, there are many unanswered questions about this
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  Speaker 2: text and this event. But there's enough here to keep
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  Speaker 2: us amazed and thankful for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, amazed and thankful for a long time, and still
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  Speaker 1: in awe. Over All the unanswered questions about this text,
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  Speaker 1: in this event, all of it there at least to
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  Speaker 1: show us that this life giving power of Jesus's death
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  Speaker 1: works backwards as well as forwards, to prove that the
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  Speaker 1: Cross didn't just forgive sins, It literally broke the power
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  Speaker 1: of death itself, securing the resurrection of Old Testament saints,
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  Speaker 1: not just Christians of the New Testament era. I've never
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  Speaker 1: thought about that in this account as a bridge of
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  Speaker 1: Christ back to the Old Testament believers. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: I guess I always thought they were just people who
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  Speaker 1: died recently, like during Christ's life. Fascinating. This type of
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  Speaker 1: question reminds me of one of our most famous episodes
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  Speaker 1: of all time. Shockingly famous, another gospel account that makes
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  Speaker 1: you scratch your head? Why did the Demons ask Jesus
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  Speaker 1: for pigs? If you ever wondered about that story, see
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  Speaker 1: the as Special John Book if you have a handy
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  Speaker 1: and my digestive it on page three point fifty two.
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  Speaker 1: How Pastor John handles that text, too, is remarkable. Don't
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  Speaker 1: missage this episode reminds me of that one. So yes,
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  Speaker 1: the Cross of Christ works backward to save Old Testament saints,
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  Speaker 1: and the crossworks backwards to obliterate the past sins that
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  Speaker 1: have haunted us in our lives. Next time, why your
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  Speaker 1: regrets cannot ruin your life? I'm Tony Ranky. We'll see
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  Speaker 1: you back here on Monday.