The Other Empty Tombs

What does the death and resurrection of Christ affect? If I were to ask you this question, what would be your answer?

According to Matthew, nearly everything. The event we have read about here, especially the later verses, shows that Matthew places the death of Christ at the center of several other signs that accompanied the death and resurrection of the Son of God.

We have read here about the torn veil, which signals that worship has changed forever. Access to God has been opened. Through the death of Christ, the subject of the veil and its tearing, and its significance, is explained in the book of Hebrews, as many of you know.

He also speaks here of the shaking of the earth and the splitting of the rocks, which tell us that not only has worship changed, but the very world has changed. It will never be the same again. The world, which groans under the burden of sin and awaits its own redemption, feels the effect of the death and resurrection of Christ.

And the open graves show that changes have also come to the saints who were waiting. Worship and the waiting saints are mentioned in succession as being affected by the death of Christ.

Everything changes. Nothing will ever be the same again. And I want us to focus particularly tonight on this detail: the bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose.

We find this recorded here. Of course, from verse 51, the text begins to unfold, where we are told to behold. Matthew wants us to pay close attention to this. The word “behold” calls for attention and meditation. He does not intend to explain every detail or elaborate on everything that could be explained.

“Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; the earth did quake, the rocks rent, the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared unto many.”

This is one of those passages where the preacher may come to it and wish to skip over it, because often he is uncertain about what to say. But I have been reflecting on this, and I believe there is something to be said here, hopefully, otherwise you will waste your time, as will I. Yet I believe there is real encouragement here—truths that unfold in just a few verses, powerfully teaching us what is true about Christ and what is true about his people.

So we are considering tonight the other empty tombs. The other empty tombs.

Most attention today has been on the specific empty tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, the new tomb, which had not been used by anyone, and in which Christ was laid. When the disciples came, they found the linen cloths folded and lying there. Much focus has been on that.

But I want to consider the other empty tombs at this time.

I have five main points tonight. I hope I can pace myself to cover them, but please bear with me as we look at this.

First, the power behind the other empty tombs. The power behind the other empty tombs. A few things here.

First, it was a sovereign act of God. These tombs that were opened did not occur by any natural event. This happened at a specific time, showing that it is under the governance of God, who is sovereign. It occurred to support and draw attention to important matters, so that we understand the significance of what is taking place.

The Lord is declaring through the death of Christ that the old order is being removed and a new order is being brought in. The powers of the age to come are being inaugurated by the death and resurrection of Christ. This presents a sense of hope. This old world will not remain as it has been. The curse under which it exists will be dealt a fatal blow through the death of Jesus Christ.

The graves were opened, as we read in verse 52. This was something the old saints had looked forward to—a time of resurrection. Of course, you know that the Sadducees denied the resurrection, but the Pharisees believed it. The Old Testament Scriptures also argue for it, though it is not as explicitly stated as it is in the New Testament. It is certainly present.

In Ezekiel 37, God promises in the vision of the valley of dry bones that He will open the graves. And there may be in the details of this event a foreshadowing, a glimpse of what is to come. We will explore this further as we continue.

The vision will not be left unfulfilled, and the reason is connected to the death and resurrection of Christ. The signs surrounding the cross, especially the opening of the graves, reveal something significant.

The other signs as well—such as the darkness and the earthquake—should bring to mind the words of Matthew, who writes with a Jewish audience particularly in mind. He assumes a deep familiarity with the Old Testament Scriptures.

In those Scriptures, certain prophecies are found: Isaiah 13:13, “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall be removed out of her place.” Joel 2:10, “The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble.”

Although this event may have a greater fulfillment in the future, which we do not deny, it shows that all these things are tied back to the death and resurrection of Christ. It is in this event that the foundation is laid, the platform is established, where believers can see the fulfillment of the hope that was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures.

This is not happening in isolation. It is connected to this event. It is not merely God shaking the heavens at some future time. It is all tied to this event—the death of the Messiah.

It was a sovereign act of God.

It was also a solemn message from God. God is not merely displaying power. He is preaching. He is communicating truth. The open graves announce that the hopes spoken by the prophets will be fulfilled.

We will see this more clearly as we proceed. But it is not only showing us the fulfillment of a passage like Ezekiel 37; there are other passages as well.

The choir sang this morning the passage from Job 19, did they not? “In my flesh shall I see God,” said Job. He is anticipating this. By some means, we do not know how. Job was revealed this truth and anticipates a future time when, in his flesh, he will see God after his death.

In Daniel 12, we are told that many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Of course, this points forward. But you can see the reason why. The reason, the foundation upon which such a resurrection will take place, is tied to the death and resurrection of Christ.

God is declaring that the key to all of this, the reason why these prophecies will be fulfilled, is not separate from the Son of God and not separate from His redemptive work. It is all integral to it. If Christ had not come, if He had not lived, if He had not died, if He had not risen again, then these things would have no hope of fulfillment.

We look at these things, even the passage that tells us that many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose, and we think, what a miracle. And, of course, it is a miracle. We do not deny it. It is a miracle.

But I want you to remember, I want you to think upon this. As God reveals this through the miracle, He is not primarily showing how He has the power to overcome the problem of matter—how the body, decaying into molecules, is brought back together again. That is not a problem for God.

If we are to speak of problems, the problem is not in the fact that man dies and how the body is restored. We may see that as a difficulty, but for God, it is not a difficulty. Not a problem at all.

That is the easy part.

The problem is the problem of sin. It is sin that brings about death, so that humanity is under judgment. Humanity is condemned. The righteousness of God does not permit Him to give life to those who rebel against Him.

The problem, men and women, is sin.

Therefore, what this preaching truly emphasizes is not that God has the power to raise the dead. They already knew that. It is that God, through Christ, has the power to deal with the problem of sin. And this is the message that must not be missed. Consider this carefully.

I know, I know, we are often tempted to say, “Isn’t it a marvel that He has been raised from the dead?” But we so easily avoid the real issue, because the real issue becomes deeply personal.

My sin. Your sin.

The hope for the sinner is tied to this event: the Son of God died and rose again from the dead. God is proclaiming that your hope must be in Him alone, not in yourself or in anything else.

Death had never faced an innocent man, and when it did, it could not hold Him. This is what Peter preaches in Acts 2:24 on the day of Pentecost. He speaks of the One whom God has raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

Death collapses when confronted with innocence. Its claim to keep humanity under the curse and under judgment collapses when confronted with One who is innocent.

Isaiah prophesied of the servant who would be cut off from the land of the living, as written in Isaiah 53, yet he would see his offspring, and his days would be prolonged. These open tombs indicate something of the harvest that is to come.

This is also, we must see, a saving triumph of God. Not only a sovereign act, not only a solemn message, but a saving triumph of God.

Christ is delivering a decisive blow to death. These open graves are early signs that He has begun to reverse the reason why people die. He has come, as Hebrews 2 states, to destroy the one who holds the power of death, that is, the devil.

This teaches us that Christ is the key. Matthew does not want us to miss this: the event of Jesus Christ’s death, a public death, is followed by the opening of graves. The key is Christ.

Victory over death is impossible without Christ, the One who represents His people, who bears the judicial penalty on their behalf, who removes the charges brought against God’s people, and who gives this promise: the graves will be opened. The saints will rise.

In the second place, consider with me the people in the other empty tombs. Not only the power behind the empty tombs, but the individuals within them.

Who were they? I cannot give you their names, but I can tell you, first of all, that they were redeemed. He says the saints arose. These saints, the bodies of the saints, the holy ones who had fallen asleep, arose. These are the Lord’s own.

I do not know how long they had been in the grave. I do not know whether any or all of them were able to walk and meet living relatives who remembered them before they died, or whether these are saints from an earlier time. I have no knowledge of that.

All I know is that they were redeemed. They belonged to the Lord, and the One who was promised and would come—by His stripes they would be healed—has come. There is a small indication of the healing power of His stripes.

These ones who looked for, those ones who awaited, who, like Abraham, looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, they arise. They are redeemed. It is not random. It is the Lord’s people. What they had embraced at some point in their life, looking forward, they now experience in this moment.

And not only redeemed, but they are resurrected. You know this, of course, it is plain. “Many bodies of the saints which slept arose.” They were resurrected.

Of course, there is some discussion about the timing of all of this, and there is interesting reading on the various perspectives. If you look at it, from verse 51, you have the veil of the temple rent, you have the earthquake and the rocks rent, you have the graves opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose and came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city.

There is some debate, and some are very strong in believing that the way this is spoken indicates the graves were opened and the resurrection took place at the death of Christ. And so they remained in their tombs, waiting until Christ rose, and then they emerged sometime after Christ left his tomb. That is how they read the grammar of it.

And I am looking at it and saying, well, there are three phases here. Three phases. There is the opening of the graves, there is the raising of the bodies and their emergence from the tombs, and there is the final movement into the holy city.

The first phase, we have the timing of that, right? The opening of the graves seems to be tied to the earthquake and the events at the death of Christ. The last phase happens sometime after the resurrection.

The middle phase, I would suggest, is not clearly stated. I mean, if you consider it, of course, you begin to debate, well, what is the theological significance?

If they rise at His death, it shows that through His death, there is victory. There is victory over death in the death of Christ. Death is defeated in His death, so they rise. I understand that.

But there is also a sense in which we rise with Him in our union with Him. Therefore, it may be argued that the grave was open, and at the resurrection of Christ, they rose. After He had left His tomb, they appeared. Thus, they are understood theologically as being united with His resurrection rather than as a victory over death.

I am not certain. If you have greater clarity, you can tell me afterward. I am not sure. That is not the main point, however.

The main point, I believe, is to understand that this is a real resurrection. Many bodies. He does not say “many of the saints,” but “many bodies of the saints arose.” If he had said “many of the saints,” you might wonder whether they were raised in a disembodied form, whether these were the spirits of saints wandering around the holy city.

Matthew is making a theological point. These are bodies. They are actual bodies that rose from their tombs. And he is emphasizing this point.

This is what we are meant to understand: that Christ’s saving work extends to the body. Those Sadducees who sought to minimize the resurrection must have been silenced by this event. The very body is important.

I have said this to you before: we have a tendency, and it is an error that we must correct, to overemphasize the importance of the soul and to downplay the significance of the body. The same blood of Christ was shed to redeem both. They matter to God.

Your body matters. It matters now, because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And it will always matter because it will ultimately be raised. Yes, it will be changed. This mortal body will be transformed to be like His glorious body.

What we see here is that Christ’s death did not give life and hope only to the soul of humanity, but also to the body. That is the point Matthew is emphasizing. That is what we must not miss. The body must be raised.

If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised, 1 Corinthians 15:13.

You may remember, some time ago—perhaps a year and a half ago, or maybe a couple of years ago—I preached on 1 Corinthians 15:58. “Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

This is one of those key texts, a profoundly powerful and self-contained message. It is a message to communicate.

But why is your labor not in vain in the Lord? It is because of 1 Corinthians 15, which presents an argument for the resurrection of the body and for standing before God. In these bodies we labor and serve, for they will be raised.

They were redeemed, as we see in the other empty tombs. They were resurrected, and we might say, they were representative. We are told of many bodies, not all bodies, but many. A representative number—we do not know how many—but a sample.

God is showing here that Christ will secure this resurrection for all His people. He has the power to raise many, and He will raise all in due time. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, and with His resurrection, the harvest follows. It must be this way.

The firstfruits come before the harvest. That is why they followed His exit from the tomb. They could not leave until after. I might suggest that this may relate to the argument that they rose at the time of His resurrection or shortly afterward, though I do not know for certain.

Whatever the case, they could not leave because Christ is the firstfruits, and they signify the harvest that will follow. This points to the gathering of all His people. All of them will be raised.

In the third place, note the priority of the other empty tombs. The priority is significant.

What is the significance of this? First of all, we may say that these events substantiate the uniqueness of Christ. Has any man ever died with such a sign accompanying his death?

Christ is unique. He is unique. And His people, a great number, rose with Him, demonstrating again His significance. There is none like the Lord Jesus Christ, none.

They entered the holy city and appeared to many. I do not know whether they spoke anything. The text does not say. It does not say whether they preached or uttered anything. It simply says they appeared to many.

I know one thing: if they said anything, they certainly did not contradict the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were there to present and substantiate His uniqueness, to confirm His claims, and to prove that this is the Son of God, adding further evidence to the glory of His person.

They substantiate the uniqueness of Christ, and of course they fulfill the firstfruits pattern as well, because they came after. It was after His resurrection, as stated in verse 53. They came out of the graves after His resurrection. Christ rises first. He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep, as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:20.

This shows the pattern. The timing is important. It is not merely an incidental detail. Matthew, in a concise manner, is communicating: look, this is what we expect based on what the prophets have revealed. This is what occurred at that time.

The firstfruits precede the harvest, as we said earlier. All of this ties back to our union with Christ.

This morning, again, we spoke in the college and career class about the body of Christ. We are discussing Old Testament passages that anticipate the resurrection of Christ, because this is what the apostles had to argue in their case. They had only the Old Testament.

Therefore, they were building their case on one of the important points. One of the passages was Psalm 16, which speaks of the body of Christ not seeing corruption, not being left in the grave. I believe there is theological significance in the body of Christ not seeing corruption. I have already hinted at this in the sense of His innocence.

Death could not hold Him. Corruption and the curse could not seize or gain control over the perfect Son of God. Therefore, He did not corrupt. His body was without corruption. It was laid in a tomb that was also without corruption. No one had ever been in that tomb before.

But I believe this signifies theologically what is true of the body of Christ, namely the church. Because of Jesus Christ, because of who He is and what He accomplished, death cannot seize or have victory over His body.

This is true: every child of God, every member of His body, will not be overcome by death. The power of corruption, decay, and destruction will not prevail over the people of God because of our union with the One who is life.

In the fourth place, the publicity of the other empty tombs. There is a certain public aspect to this, is there not?

They came out of the graves, as stated in verse 53, after His resurrection and entered the holy city and appeared to many.

First of all, they entered the holy city. They did not return home, wherever home might have been, or to any occasion of their former lives. They entered the holy city. All of them entered the holy city. They did not remain hidden. They did not stay in the shadows of their tombs.

They entered the holy city.

This demonstrates the significance that these raised ones would enter the holy city. Now, Isaiah 52 speaks of Jerusalem, the holy city. It is a city of glad tidings, of hope, of joy, of expectation.

Consider the Psalms of ascent, which the Jews would sing as they made their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They would enter the holy city singing these songs, lifting up their eyes to the hills from whence comes our help, and so on. There is a deep sense of joy in entering and making one’s way into the place where God is known.

And this is where these saints go. They go to the holy city.

Now, I will have more to say about that in just a moment.

They also appeared to many. This was not a private event. The entire event was public, a public witness. It was connected to the victory of Christ in what He has accomplished. It was a vindication of Him, and it sent these witnesses into the very city that only a short time before had cried, “Crucify Him! His blood be on us and on our children.”

And God sent many witnesses into that city to communicate to them their error and their sin.

You must wonder, as I have noted before, that there has never been a time in history—never, not in the past 2,000 years—when more Jews were converted than during the time after Christ’s ascension and in the days of the apostles. Never.

And it is not difficult to understand why. There are many things seen in the book of Acts, but events such as this are deeply etched into their memory, inscribed in a way that they cannot forget. They wish to deny it. They wish to refuse to believe it. They wish to assign some other meaning to it, but it remains, persistent and undeniable.

When brought together with the other events, with the appeal to Scripture, with the power of the apostles’ preaching, and with the other things we read, many of them eventually yield.

It appeared to many.

Of course, it authenticates the victory of Christ. It stands as living proof that His death was not a victory for His enemies. They may have been celebrating and praising themselves, but that joy did not last long.

They sat there, observing Passover and all that it entailed, until afterward, as they reflected on having accomplished their goal—an end that some had long desired. It was not something that arose only at the end of Christ’s ministry. The hatred of some, the animosity, had begun very early in His ministry. There had been a growing feeling of hostility and a desire to put Him to death.

So, when they finally achieved that goal, they would have praised themselves and felt satisfied with their accomplishment.

As they were about to celebrate their victory over His death, the earth shook deeply. The question arose: what was this? As those around the cross began to discuss the events of His death, along with the other signs—the darkness from noon that lasted for three hours, the shaking of the earth, and the splitting of the rocks—it did not take long for them to understand the connection.

Christ’s victory is authenticated. They were not victorious in putting Him to death.

And finally, the promise of the other empty tombs. This is a promise. There is a promise in this, and this is where we come to some of the meaning of it all.

As Matthew presents this historic detail and includes all of this in a few short sentences, there is great meaning here.

In the first place, it gives assurance that all saints will be raised. It points to this reality, functioning as a pledge to the people of God. As they look at this event and read of it, Matthew is appealing to them. He is grabbing his Jewish countrymen by the lapel and asking them, do you not see? Do you not see?

Can you not come to the same conclusion as that Gentile Roman centurion and the Romans who were with him? It is meant to alarm them. That is why it is placed at the close of the account, when the centurion—violent, irreligious, and certainly despised by the Jews, especially the Pharisees—watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that were done, and feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

Matthew is grabbing his audience. He is grabbing his Jewish countrymen. He is saying, can you not see it also?

You Pharisees who hope and anticipate the resurrection of the just—can you not see that the only hope is in this One whom you crucified?

And every believer watches on, thrilled at the anticipation. The end is not yet. The best is truly yet to be.

Oh, what assurance it is meant to give to those so united to Christ, that because He lives, we shall live also. It is a guarantee. The earth cannot hold forever the bodies of the people of God. Therefore, it gives assurance that all saints will be raised.

Also, they indicate that Christ’s resurrection ensures entrance into the holy city. They indicate that Christ’s resurrection ensures entrance into the holy city.

This detail should not be overlooked. He came out of the graves after His resurrection and entered the holy city.

This communicates again that this is the city where God is known and where God is worshipped. It is a foreshadowing, a type of a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. It points to another place that believers from Abraham and even earlier looked for and anticipated and longed for.

It is not merely about going to Jerusalem, but about going to the place that was then identified with communion with God. If you desire fellowship with God, if you desire to know the nearness of God, if you desire to abide in the presence of God, you make your way up to Jerusalem.

And these saints who had fallen asleep arose and entered the holy city.

All our loved ones who have gone before us. We will see them again. Those who died in Christ, the Lord will raise their bodies. On that last day, and together, we will enter the new Jerusalem, where only the holy can enter. Not the defiled, but the saints, the holy ones. Those made holy by Christ. Those who sing of the Lamb, who were redeemed to God by His blood.

A city where God dwells, a city where His people will abide and enjoy forever, a city of fellowship, a city with a table around which are gathered all who believe, like faithful Abraham. There are such mysteries, are there not?

Those who died at an advanced age, those who died in terrible circumstances in which their bodies were destroyed, those who were yet unborn—all will be there, in that holy city.

It is a holy city, friends. It is a holy city because it is for holy people, because there is a holy God who dwells there.

As I said already, it is clear: nothing that defiles can enter. You must have the blood of Christ applied. You must have cleansing from the shed blood of the Son of God. You must. Because the slightest sin will not escape the all-seeing, knowing eye of God. One sin is one too many. One sin condemns you to hell.

The holy city is where a holy God is, and where His people, made holy by His holy Son through the power of the Holy Spirit, will be forever.

It is remarkable that many who live unholy lives and have no appreciation for holy things in this life believe they will be in a holy city in the life to come. This is utterly deluded. If you have no appreciation for holy things and a holy God here, you will not gain admittance there.

They suggest that Christ’s resurrection secures entrance into the holy city, and they declare that death has begun to lose its power. Death is still present in this world. We still see it. Sometimes it deeply breaks our hearts. We mourn when it takes a loved one.

But this shows that death will not go unchallenged. The victor, Jesus Christ, confronts death and defeats it. This is a small but significant sign that the great last enemy no longer reigns unchallenged. And the kingdom of darkness begins to crumble in the face of the Lord Jesus.

In Revelation 1:18, it is written that Christ has the keys of hell and of death. He has authority. Death does not hold authority over Him. And here is the One who triumphed over it.

Yes, Christians still die. We will stand, God willing, at a graveside tomorrow. The graves still receive our loved ones, but they receive those who die in Christ in a different way, so that we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

Matthew would have us understand that here is the key to our hope: it is in Christ. He lived, died, and rose from the dead. This is our only hope, and it is enough.

It is remarkable to see the peace that often comes upon the saints as they face the certainty of their own death. I have heard countless people, too many to count, respond in such a way when told of the inevitability of their own death that the doctor giving the news felt as though they had misunderstood.

There is a difference for those who belong to God. They are joined to Christ, the ever-living One. And they will never die in the final sense. They will never be held under the dominion of death, ultimately.

Believe this, though: do not merely dwell on the empty tomb of our Lord, which is indeed the foundation of all our hope. But see how God, in His mercy, condescends to give a sign in the other empty tombs, to communicate to your doubting heart that so it will be for you who believe.

You will rise from the dead. You must rise from the dead.

Let us bow together in prayer.

Are you prepared to die? I do not mean have you arranged a will. I do not mean have you bought a plot. I mean, have you prepared to meet your God?

We cannot leave you lost and alone. We want you with us. We want you over there.

Seek the Lord tonight. If we can be of any help to you, please let us know.