Holy-Zombie Land

Matthew 27-28 contain some amazing content, particularly the first, and only resurrection, recorded in history (of course I'm talking about Jesus' resurrection). But this morning what grabbed my attention was the passage found in Matthew 27:51-54. These are the events that occur immediately following the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and are incredible (in the new sense of the word) to say the least.

When Jesus dies, Matthew tells us that 1) the brightest part of the day, i.e. 12:00 Noon through 3:00 P.M., is actually dark, and that this darkness covers the entire land. Now, perhaps this was due to a natural event, such as an eclipse; we don't know, because the Bible doesn't tell us. But even if it was, what are the chances that this would happen naturally on the very day that Jesus is crucified? They have to be very slim indeed. This leads me to believe that God was letting us know something about the nature of Jesus and His death. But I think a casual reading of the text inclines us toward that anyway.

Matthew also tells us that 2) the curtain in the temple that veiled the dwelling place of God was torn in two from top to bottom. Why would Matthew tell us this? Because now by the death of Jesus we have access to God individually, because He is our great High Priest.

The third and most extraordinary thing to happen following Jesus' death (except His resurrection) was the resuscitation of, yes, you read it correctly, many of the saints, i.e. believers in Christ/pre-Christ faithful. So yes, the Bible has zombies in it... sort of. I suppose that technically a zombie is a reanimated corpse, and that here we actually have resuscitated persons. But just think of that day in a snapshot: the sky grows dark at high noon, there's an earthquake, the holy of holies is opened, and if that's not crazy enough, there's a very good chance that while you are walking around Jerusalem you might meet someone you knew to be dead just minutes before. I love the Scriptures; they are utterly unique, and full of wonder. Like C.S. Lewis once said, they are just strange enough to be true. If I was going to make something up and try to convince someone to believe it, I'm not sure I'd start with eclipses, earthquakes, and zombies followed by a resurrection and Pentecost.