The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised;
3 sermons cite this verse
… Jesus when he was resurrected. Did you know there were several people who were raised from the dead when Christ was raised from the dead? Matthew 27 verse 52. The first fruits, that's the sample of the harvest that is yet to come. Christ in a select few. And then the next group that receives their resurrection body will include you and me, the dead in Christ, and those alive at the rapture. The Bible says the next event is going to be the rapture of the church. If we're alive at that time, we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And at that moment, 1 Corinthians 15 says, we'll be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. If you have a loved one who has already died and they're a Christian, their spirit is already in heaven, but their bodies will be raised from the grave and they will receive a brand new resurrected body. That all happens at the rapture. Seven years later after the tribulation, that's when the tribulation saints, those who were martyred during the tribulation, as well as I believe the Old Testament saints, will receive their new bodies. You see, both the rapture and the second coming include a coming of Christ, so to speak. At the rapture, he comes into the clouds and we're caught up to meeting. At the second coming, he comes to earth. It's different events, but they're similar in that they both involve Christ coming. And then finally, the last group …
… the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs broke open. Now check this out. A lot of people miss this. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. So the moment he died, lots of tombs break open and dead people come out alive. Resurrection, this is our story. And they came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went in the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified. And they exclaimed, surely he was the son of God. Many women were there watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. As the evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea. Now this is, we're going to come back to this at the very end today, but this is the spirit of what we are doing today. …
… Bless the Lord, you may be seated in the presence of the Lord. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook. The rock split. tombs broke open. The bodies of holy people who had died were raised to life. And all them people came out the tomb after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. I'm going to preach for a little while today using as a subject, it's go time. Look at the person beside you, tell them it's go time. I'm reminded of the African proverb that says if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, take somebody with you. If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, take somebody with you. Don't judge me, but I took my wife the other day to go see New Edition. And while sitting in the tour, while sitting in the concert, it dawned on me how my generation was raised seeing groups. …