Some people believe that the resurrection in Matthew 27:51-53 was a resurrection of Old Testament saints who were then raptured into heaven when Jesus ascended. However, other scriptures contradict this, and I believe there is a better explanation of what happened.
Matthew 27:51 (NLT) At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, 52 and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. 53 They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.”
The Matt 27:51-53 resurrection is a temporal mass resurrection. Just like Lazarus (John 11), Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter (Mark 5:21-43), the widow’s son (Luke 7:11-17), as well as the other people resurrected by prophets in the Old Testament (1 Kings 17:17-24, 2 Kings 4:18-37, 2 Kings 13:20-21). Those people were resurrected, but eventually, they died again as they aged, so it was a temporary resurrection, just a second chance at life.
The people revived in Matthew 27 are residents of Jerusalem and the surrounding area, from around the time of the 1st century or possibly some years before, rather than Old Testament Saints like Abraham and David. It states that they entered the city of Jerusalem and appeared to many people. However, nobody from that era would have recognized Abraham and David, as they lived thousands of years before, and the people of the 1st century didn’t have an image of them to compare. Additionally, Abraham and his immediate family are buried in Hebron, approximately 40.4 km (25 miles) away, and these verses appear to indicate a more localized event in Jerusalem. In addition, it simply states that they went into Jerusalem, but it doesn’t mention that they were raptured when Christ ascended. Also, Peter (in Acts 2:25-36) and Paul (in Acts 13:34-37) both make it clear that David is still dead after the resurrection of Jesus.
In Acts 2:29-34, when Peter preaches about Jesus’ resurrection, he quotes Ps 16:8-11 and specifically highlights verse 10, which says, “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.” He then clarifies that David was not referring to himself, but rather to the Messiah, who is Jesus.
Acts 2:25 King David said this about him: ‘I see that the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. 26 No wonder my heart is glad, and my tongue shouts his praises! My body rests in hope. 27 For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave. 28 You have shown me the way of life, and you will fill me with the joy of your presence.’[Ps 16:8-11]
29 “Dear brothers, think about this! You can be sure that the patriarch David wasn’t referring to himself, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us. 30 But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David’s own descendants would sit on his throne. 31 David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this. 33 Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today. 34 For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand 35 until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”’[Ps 110:1] 36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
In Acts 13:34-37, Paul preaches in Antioch and just like Peter, he references Psalm 16:10, stating that this isn’t about David, since David’s body is still in his tomb.
Acts 13:34 For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’[Isa 55:3] 35 Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’[Ps 16:10] 36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. 37 No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.
Furthermore, what is the significance of Old Testament believers being resurrected if no one would recognize them? It makes more sense that these were recognizable people from that era and location. Furthermore, if there were a mass ascension that would have been mentioned, not just here in Matthew 27, but in the other gospel accounts, since that would be a significant event with major theological implications. There is no proof that OT saints were resurrected here. It seems most likely that they will be resurrected along with every other believer in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6) to eternal life, which hasn’t yet occurred. This is the resurrection that the Old Testament patriarchs would have been eagerly awaiting.
We must ask the questions of why and how this event occurred, and why it is only mentioned in one gospel account. I don’t know why this is only in Matthew’s account. As for the why and how, my best understanding of the why is that they were resurrected so that people could testify they witnessed a remarkable resurrection, making it easier for them to believe that Jesus could also be raised from the dead. If they hadn’t seen Jesus walking around after the crucifixion, they still may have had no problem believing he was alive if their recently buried relatives were alive and well. I have an idea of how as well. It could have been like in 2 Kings 13:20-21 when some Jewish men were going to bury a dead man and saw some Moabite raiders coming. So in a panic, they threw the corpse into a tomb and hid. The tomb they threw the corpse into was the prophet Elisha’s, and the body of the dead man came to life again when he touched the bones of Elisha. This was because of the anointing on his bones. When Christ died, there was a physical city-wide earthquake, which tore the veil and broke physical tombs. When he rose, perhaps his anointing sent out a spiritual shockwave throughout the area, awakening all the recently deceased people from the city of Jerusalem, who then returned to visit their relatives. He is the Christ/Messiah (anointed one) after all, so his anointing is greater than all of the prophets.
A final resurrection, in contrast, would be one of the two resurrections described in the New Testament. The resurrection of the righteous (the first resurrection) is when people receive new bodies and live forever (1 Cor 15:12-58, Heb 11:35, Rev 20:4-6). Then the 2nd Resurrection of the wicked, who are cast into the Lake of Fire forever on Judgment Day, which happens after the millennial reign of Christ, and is described in Rev 20:4-6 & Rev 20:11-15. There can only be one first resurrection, so if the future resurrection of the saints has yet to happen, then the Matthew 27 resurrection could not be it. These final resurrections are the last resurrections before Judgment Day and the new world.
Resource:
This article on the subject talks about a bunch of other possibilities and interpretations as well. One thought is that the saint’s tombs were open when Jesus died, but they didn’t get up and go to the city immediately but rather weren’t raised until Jesus rose. The explanation is that Matthew simply narrated their resurrection first so that he could focus on Jesus later. “This preserves Jesus’s place as the true ‘first fruits’ of resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23), rather than certain other saints preceding him.”