📌 Matthew 27:52–53 (NKJV)
▪️“and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
and coming out of the graves after His resurrection,
they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”▪️
Who Were These People?
1. They were “saints” — righteous believers who died before Jesus’ resurrection.
These were Old Covenant believers who died in faith, people like:
• godly Jews
• righteous men and women
• those who trusted God before the Cross
• saints who were waiting in Abraham’s Bosom (Paradise)
They were NOT random dead people.
They were NOT everyone in the cemetery.
These were select, righteous believers who had been held in the place of comfort (Luke 16:22) until Jesus completed redemption.
❗ Why Did They Come Out of Their Graves?
Because Jesus’ resurrection broke open the prison of death.
When Jesus rose, He became the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18)
— the first of a new creation.
But when His victory rippled through the unseen realm, it shook Paradise itself and opened the way for the saints who died in faith to step into resurrection power.
As Kenneth Hagin put it:
“When His spirit hit Hell and He was made alive, resurrection power surged backward into Paradise, and the saints felt the shock wave of life.”
This was not full glorification yet — but a resurrection demonstration.
❗ Why Did They Go Into Jerusalem?
To testify.
To validate the resurrection.
To show that death’s power was broken not in theory, but in manifestation.
They became literal, walking signs of:
• Jesus’ victory
• Resurrection power
• The defeat of the grave
• The end of Satan’s authority over death
Imagine:
People saw their dead relatives alive and walking into the city!
It was a supernatural announcement:
“Something has changed in the universe.”
❗ What Happened to Them Afterward?
Your Faith Generals overwhelmingly agree:
\*\*They did NOT die again.
They ascended with Jesus.\*\*
❗ Why?
Because Hebrews 9:27 says:
“It is appointed unto man once to die…”
They already died once.
They won’t die twice.
These were part of what Ephesians 4:8 refers to:
“When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive…”
Meaning:
Jesus emptied Paradise (Abraham’s Bosom),
and took the Old Testament saints into Heaven with Him.
These resurrected saints were part of that company.
📣 What Our Faith Generals Teach About This Event
📌 Kenneth Hagin
He taught that these saints were a firstfruits demonstration of resurrection power — a preview of the resurrection at the Lord’s return.
He also emphasized that Jesus’ resurrection shook the entire spiritual realm, triggering this visible sign.
📌 Kenneth Copeland
He taught that this was a legal demonstration of Jesus’ victory over death.
The saints appeared bodily in Jerusalem to establish the truth of His triumph.
📌 Lester Sumrall
Sumrall went further — saying these saints were a testimony to Israel that the Messiah had broken the gates of death.
He also taught they ascended when Jesus ascended.
📌 F. F. Bosworth
Bosworth viewed them as evidence that the resurrection life of Christ is not symbolic — it is real, physical, and unstoppable.
📌 John G. Lake
Lake said resurrection power “flows like electricity,” and this event was the overflow surge of divine life entering the world.
✨ Ponder
• These were righteous Old Testament believers.
• They rose because Jesus’ resurrection unleashed unstoppable life.
• They walked into Jerusalem as supernatural proof of Jesus’ victory.
• They did NOT die again.
• They ascended with Jesus when He took the saints from Paradise into Heaven.
They were a preview — a trailer — of the resurrection believers will experience at His return.
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✿⊰ B e l i e v e ⊰✿
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Eagle’s Way Ministries 