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A podcast listener emailed me a question, wanting to know what I make of Matthew 27:52-54, where Matthew tells us that "many" saints of the Old Testament were raised at Christ's crucifixion and "appeared to many people" in Jerusalem. I've always been perplexed by this passage
It seems very odd that such an incredible and dramatic event wasn't mentioned by any other Gospel writer, or any Epistle writer, or any historian of the time. And Im not sure how to square the whole thing with Paul's statement that Christ is the "first fruits of the resurrection"
Seems this gang of raised saints would be the first fruits, by Matthew's telling. It's a head scratcher. But I think we have to be okay with head scratchers sometimes. That's never the answer we want but sometimes it's the only one we've got.
Some Christian scholars have tried to interpret it in a metaphorical sense. I have no problem with metaphorical interpretations where appropriate, but it's clear that Matthew didn't intend it that way. We have to resist the urge to avoid every difficulty by retreating to metaphor
