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Expert: LEBoyd - 8/20/2007


Question
Mt. 27:52,53 refers to many saints being raised from the dead and then going into the holy city, and appeared to many. How come this isn't mentioned in any other gospels? Would this qualify as the firstfruits, or is only christ the firstfruit? Are there any other scriptures that prophesy or concur with this event? In light of Heb.9:27, what became of these saints?

Answer
Greg,

You have asked several good questions.

First, each of the Gospels were written by different writers to different people with different purposes.  Matthew wrote directly to the Jewish people in an effort to first show that Jesus was the Christ and second that the Jews had hope through Jesus.  In this passage, Matthew is giving more examples of why Jesus is the Christ.

Christ is definitely defined as the first fruits, but so are Christians.  There is no indication in the text that these people died again or were ascending later to heaven.  The "first fruits" is a reference to giving God your firsts.  The Jews in Exodus and Leviticus were told to bring their firsts fruits to God.  Christians are told they are first fruits, and should give all of ourselves to God.

Heb 9:27 is addressing the fact we will all be judged, and that we don't get second chances.  If we think of Enoch and Elijah, we see that they did not die, but will be judged.  Since the ones who were raised appear to be believing Jews, in my opinion they didn't need a second chance.  I wouldn't be dogmatic about this, but in my opinion I believe they died a second time and were not ascending into heaven at a later time.

Thanks,

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LEBoyd

Expertise

I am available to answer questions on most subjects dealing with the Old and New Testaments. I have more than 30 years of detailed study in both Testaments. Additionally, I have studied the many facets of evolution, including a detailed study of Darwin's Origin of the Species. I am a fundamentalist, in that I believe that all Scripture is inspired, or God-breathed, (II Tim. 3:16). I believe that there are no contradictions in the Bible, and that the Bible is complete in telling us our purpose on earth, how to gain salvation and how we should live to obtain salvation. I believe in sin, Satan, heaven, hell, choice-immersion, grace as the free-gift of God and that one can fall from grace. I am a 'layman' in that I taught myself Hebrew (in the English alphabet) and Greek (in the Greek alphabet).

Experience

I have taught many adult classes on the Scriptures on many different subjects over the last 25 years. I have also debated many people (several at once) over subjects such as evolution, original sin, the Diety of Jesus, whether Jesus was perfect by choice, and so-called Biblical contradictions.

Education/Credentials
I am a layman, so I come as a self-trained "expert". I can provide copies of sermanets, classes and emails where I have debated Scripture with others. I do have a BBA and an MBA from a Top-10 MBA School. I also have several NASD/SEC licenses.

Awards and Honors
In Bibilical areas, I have scored the highest score, or in the top 10, with other adults in an all day annual test on specific Bible books. Some of these books were Luke, Revelation, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronmy, Joshua, Judges, II Kings, and others. Currently, I am teaching an indepth study on the book of Judges.

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