Tula, also there is the issue of who we would include as "saints."
I'm wondering if these "saints" are considered those who belong to Christ? That is, specifically those who knew Christ and his teachings and were baptized is the specific reference here for "saints" as opposed to prophets of old or even John the Baptist who was not baptized into Christ?
If that's the case, then calling them "saints" would limit those resurrected at the time of the earthquake to those that were baptized into Christ and thus those who only recently died since Christ's ministry. Thus there is some basis for presuming these were of those who had only recently died, no more than 3-1/2 years earlier.
It would certainly make sense in this case that these who knew Christ and who had been "pushing forward" to the survive past Christ's death so they could become into this special covenant would come forth and be able to be anointed by holy spirit.
Thus my take on this is that some of those who accepted Christ and were baptized who had been sealed into these rock tombs were resurrected. The earthquake afforded the physical opening of the tombs that broke the seals. These bodies usually just were lying in the tombs. To think the earthquake was so violent that it bounced these bodies out of the tombs and they rolled down the hills into Jerusalem where people saw the dead bodies just doesn't work for me. OR inventing some other scenario for them to enter into the city as dead people, when the Bible clearly says they were RAISED, and if alive again, could have entered the city by their own mobility. In fact, the fact that they did enter the city suggests they were alive. Unless there were just lots of people hanging out around the memorial tombs for some reason at this time? I don't think so.
Furthermore, Joseph Malik thinks these were dead bodies that incidentally were disturbed and disentombed and that custom required their repreparation. In that regard I would thus think that this would have occurred to many bodies in general, not just those of the saints. So why would this miraculous earthquake just disentomb the dead body of saints and any miscellaneous people hanging around the memorial tombs then somehow cause the bodies to come into the city and then those bodies be seen by various people? That scenario compared to the simple reading here that the earthquake caused the stones that sealed these graves to be dislodged and the saints that were raised up to life, then entered into the city as part of this amazing event. Now THAT would have impressed people that Jesus truly was the Christ.
But this still was not the beginning of the first resurrection which clearly is associated with the end times and occurring close to the second coming and at a time when Satan is removed from heaven. Plus this was a PHYSICAL resurrection back into their own physical bodies.
Thanks for sharing your views on this, Tula. Interesting topic.
Finally, while my views are not specifically stated in the Bible they are not contradicted either. However, your view that this was part of the first resurrection to heaven is considered contradicted by scripture, at least by those who believe that the spiritual anointing took on a special aspect only after Pentecost. But as we all know, various ones have their various views and its interesting to share those views, even if in the end some of us agree to disagree.
Thanks.
JCanon
