# Is there more to the story on Matthew 27:50-53? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167 "2012-03-29T15:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/21 "2012-03-29T21:36:21Z")
[quote=“rat\_avatar, post:17, topic:617167”] > [@hoopified](#): > > canon yes, dogma no. > > The Pope is quite free to have change dogma, as one did when he banned abortion in the late 1800’s Which is why I used the words I used. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/22 "2012-03-29T21:59:32Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > This is also one part of the reason why Christianity was able to gain the foothold that it did (see acts). Imagine a Jewish authority coming back from the dead and resuming teaching in the synagogue. Of course he would preach that Jesus is the Messiah. Actually Christianity didn’t gain much of a foothold at all in Judea. It did much better far away from the supposed events. If these things happened you’d think that the locals would be convinced instead of saying “meh.” That is kind of expected when the supposed Messiah, instead of becoming King as the prophecy called for, didn’t last a week in the Big Town. Jesus as Messiah is kind of like “Moose Murders” as a Broadway play. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/23 "2012-03-29T22:03:58Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I’m an atheist, so you can see where my opinion lies. I’m just curious for those who believe or if there’s more scripture out there that might give more insight into that passage. Aha - maybe your username should be “stpaulie” to avoid confusion. I’ve always liked this passage because it is such arrant nonsense. It is kind of like basing a religion on the appearance of glowing angels at the pitcher’s mound of Game 1 of last year’s World Series - and then explaining away the total lack of press coverage. Matthew was the fool who based the entire virgin birth myth on a misreading of the Bible. He’s kind of the Pel Toro of religious works. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/24 "2012-03-29T22:04:03Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > Isn’t that #2? I’m not sure what you’re saying. Odd, an atheist saying that something can be passed down verbally and not be false. It does reduce the credibility of the exact wording but there are several Christian sects that hold this as their belief. Thus the “parable” vs being biblical literalists. ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/25 "2012-03-29T23:07:44Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Actually Christianity didn’t gain much of a foothold at all in Judea. It did much better far away from the supposed events. If these things happened you’d think that the locals would be convinced instead of saying “meh.” That is kind of expected when the supposed Messiah, instead of becoming King as the prophecy called for, didn’t last a week in the Big Town. > Jesus as Messiah is kind of like “Moose Murders” as a Broadway play. Pentecost? ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/26 "2012-03-30T11:49:47Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > Interesting screen name though, for an atheist. I’ll assume you’re a Viking fan? 🙂 > [@Voyager](#): > > Aha - maybe your username should be “stpaulie” to avoid confusion. LOL, I used to live in St Paul, MN. St Paulite is the proper term, but I preferred that. Unfortunately, I’ve moved over to Minneapolis now and Minneapoliser is even worse. I’m gonna have to think up a better screenname. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/27 "2012-03-30T12:16:39Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > Pentecost? From $14 to $30, depending on where you shop. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/28 "2012-03-30T12:18:49Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. I don’t blame you for wondering about this; I wonder too. It’s not a verse that often gets written about or preached about (in my experience), and the first time someone really notices it they’re likely to go “Wait—_what_??” It’s as though Matthew (and/or God?) decided the story needed some dramatic special effects at this point. And yet, it’s sort of a throwaway line, with nothing more made of it. I suppose there could very well have been more written elsewhere about this incident, but it hasn’t survived. As far as I know, we don’t have any more information about this incident or about any of the “holy people” who were raised to life. Now I’m tempted to do some research and try to find out what Biblical scholars and commentators have to say about this verse. One thing, though: it’s hard not to read this without thinking of it as some sort of zombie apocalypse, but if you take it at face value, it says the dead people were restored to life, i.e. they were once again living human beings, not shambling reanimated corpses. And such resurrection is not totally unprecedented in the Gospels; it happened to Lazarus, for example. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/29 "2012-03-30T12:39:26Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > Since Easter is coming up, I’ve been reading those parts of the Bible. Out of the four Gospels, only one mentions something really different: > > Matthew 27:50-53 > And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.(NIV) > > It’s really the 52-53 part that has me curious. Surely this would be newsworthy for the other Gospels to mention, if not Josephus saying that some formerly dead holy people are appearing to the townfolk. They’re not mentioned again in Mark so I’m curious what was that about? What happened to them? It makes one wonder why they had to die a second time. If they were truly alive then they would still be here,or would have had more written about them…that is my perspective. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/30 "2012-03-30T12:44:57Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > To the OP: > > I had a hard time keeping up with the problems with the theory above. It would seem you have two choices: 1) treat the text as telling us what it wants to tell us; or 2) the text is completely made up. Both are worth investigating. If I remember the transfiguration story correctly, Jesus was seen with Moses,Elijha and some one else who had died centuries before, and it puts doubt on the story of needing to be saved in order to live in paradise with God, so then where were they all that time? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/31 "2012-03-30T12:45:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, everyone who knew that Matthew guy in high school knew he was a plagiarist and an embellisher. Basically this. ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/32 "2012-03-30T12:52:54Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > LOL, I used to live in St Paul, MN. St Paulite is the proper term, but I preferred that. Unfortunately, I’ve moved over to Minneapolis now and Minneapoliser is even worse. I’m gonna have to think up a better screenname. You have, indeed, had your trials. I’ll pray for you my brother.😉 And I’m a Packer fan. ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/33 "2012-03-30T12:53:56Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > From $14 to $30, depending on where you shop. I know a place where it’s a free gift. ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/34 "2012-03-30T12:57:47Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > If I remember the transfiguration story correctly, Jesus was seen with Moses,Elijha and some one else who had died centuries before, and it puts doubt on the story of needing to be saved in order to live in paradise with God, so then where were they all that time? Wasn’t it Moses, Elijah, and Jesus makes 3? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/35 "2012-03-31T10:59:15Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > Wasn’t it Moses, Elijah, and Jesus makes 3? I would have to look it up again, I think it was Abraham but I do not remember just that I always wondered why,'If people who had died hundreds of years before Jesus time. were then seen with Jesus, where they had been for all the centuries, since no one was to be saved until Jesus died for them! ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/36 "2012-03-31T11:02:14Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t blame you for wondering about this; I wonder too. It’s not a verse that often gets written about or preached about (in my experience), and the first time someone really notices it they’re likely to go “Wait—_what_??” > > It’s as though Matthew (and/or God?) decided the story needed some dramatic special effects at this point. And yet, it’s sort of a throwaway line, with nothing more made of it. I suppose there could very well have been more written elsewhere about this incident, but it hasn’t survived. As far as I know, we don’t have any more information about this incident or about any of the “holy people” who were raised to life. Now I’m tempted to do some research and try to find out what Biblical scholars and commentators have to say about this verse. > > One thing, though: it’s hard not to read this without thinking of it as some sort of zombie apocalypse, but if you take it at face value, it says the dead people were restored to life, i.e. they were once again living human beings, not shambling reanimated corpses. And such resurrection is not totally unprecedented in the Gospels; it happened to Lazarus, for example. This too makes one wonder where Lazarus was, and why he wasn’t an active Apostle,it seems to me he could have made a good wittness for the people about an after life! ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/37 "2012-03-31T12:54:17Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I would have to look it up again, I think it was Abraham but I do not remember just that I always wondered why,'If people who had died hundreds of years before Jesus time. were then seen with Jesus, where they had been for all the centuries, since no one was to be saved until Jesus died for them! I think it was only Peter, James, and John who saw the transfigured Christ. That’s not to say the three kept the event a secret in any way, rather, if you’re saying, the event was not witnessed by anyone else but the three. ---
**Author:** ![hoopified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cab0a1/32.png) [@hoopified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hoopified)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/38 "2012-03-31T12:55:17Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > This too makes one wonder where Lazarus was, and why he wasn’t an active Apostle,it seems to me he could have made a good wittness for the people about an after life! Because, apparently, Lazarus was not taught by Jesus and did not travel with Him. Why? Who knows. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/39 "2012-04-01T11:12:25Z")
Matthew is my favourite Gospel. Matthew 6 is my favourite part of the Gospel. [It starts](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFm_BAGKWs4) a little unusually though. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167/40 "2012-04-01T11:47:59Z")
> [@hoopified](#): > > I think it was only Peter, James, and John who saw the transfigured Christ. That’s not to say the three kept the event a secret in any way, rather, if you’re saying, the event was not witnessed by anyone else but the three. You misunderstood me, I guess i wasn’t too clear, I know that the 3 apostles were said to have witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus, but Jesus was seen with Moses,Elijha and I think Abraham at the time, and all three had died centuries before Jesus was said to have been born! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-more-to-the-story-on-matthew-27-50-53/617167.md?page=3)