What Is The Meaning?

Just a cpl of Bible verses that have me wondering as to there meaning.

Matthew 27:52-53.

And the graves were opened;and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,53And came out of the graves after his resurrection,and went into the holy city,and appeared unto many.

Any ideas on who these people were and why so little has been written about such an event??



Mark 9:38-40.

And John answered him,saying,Master,we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us:and we forbad him,because he followeth not us.39 But Jesus said,Forbid him not:for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name,that can lightly speak evil of me.40 For he that is not against us is on our part.

Luke 9:49-50.

And John answered and said,Master,we saw one casting out devils in thy name;and we forbad him,because he followeth not with us.50 And Jesus said unto him,Forbid him not:for he that is not against us is for us.

Now,the apostles got their power to perform miracles etc from Jesus,where did these people get their power from,and who were they??

Do these verses mean that you don't have to be part of any organized church/faith to be able to do good in Jesus' name??

Or does it mean that you can do good without believing in Jesus because miracles etc can only come from God??

As to the 2nd question, Jesus didn't literally GIVE them the power to perform these miracles, just gave them the knowledge that they could do it because of their belief. Jesus himself said that all he does is from the Father. Also, didn't Jesus tell his disciples that in addition to that, fasting and prayer was required if they wanted to perform certain miracles (I can't remember if it was casting out demons, or bringing people back to life)?

The purpose of life is to strive for perfection so that one may reunite with the Divinity. This process of evolution takes many lifetimes to achieve. As one progresses outer manifestations become sign-posts along the way and other abilities begin to be realised until one becomes Christed as was Jesus.

The Bible clearly denotes the basics of what is required - do unto others as you would have them do unto you, be humble, be a peacemaker, avoid excess and sloth, give service to humanity, spend time in prayer and contemplation and so on.
One must seek wisdom - ask the right questions and discover the universal laws of the Divinity which need to be understood and fully internalised. Seek and you will find. All mankind will eventually achieve this state.

Sorry about the glitch in saving my reply.

The saints referred to in these passages from the Bible would seem to support the view that people can and have achieved the ultimate in inner evolution prior to Jesus ministry on earth. It is an inevitability that everyone will one day reach this goal. Religion is not a requirement to realise God.

Jesus didn't literally GIVE them the power to perform these miracles, just gave them the knowledge that they could do it because of their belief.

It still comes from Jesus though,he also gave them the authority to do these things in his name.

Originally posted by jakyll
Just a cpl of Bible verses that have me wondering as to there meaning.

Matthew 27:52-53.

And the graves were opened;and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,53And came out of the graves after his resurrection,and went into the holy city,and appeared unto many.

Any ideas on who these people were and why so little has been written about such an event??

that is a really tough one... i did some research and i dont have a definite answer.

from the greek wording the scripture can have 2 meanings.

1 - that the earthquake that occurred as jesus died upheaved dead bodies out of their tombs, but thats all they were, just dead bodies

or 2 - the literal interpretation is that they were raised alive. then there is belief that they either went with jesus when he ascended or died again like normal people (like lazarus)

i think the first possibility is more likely because of several things i noticed.

the first is that matthew specifically says the "bodies of the saints". if they were infact alive, then why would he refer to them as bodies?

second, e·gei'ro (to raise up) doesnt necessarily mean "to raise up from the dead". you can say lifted up the bodies. so its not really saying that they are alive.

the third point you brought out which is that there isnt much brought out about this. even the apostles dont mention this anywhere else, even when they talk about the resurrection.

there is also this confusion as to when it happened, if it was at his death (as the surrounding scriptures are) or after his resurrection (3 days later)

Thanks for your reply,very helpful.

reply to post by jakyll


This is rather important, as to the timing.
It seems very strange that these people came to life at the time of Christ's death but remained in their tombs until Jesus left his tomb, three days later.
Who ever these people were, the important thing would be that they had been laid to rest in big enough tombs to be able to live for three days.
The most important thing is that the hour of God's Judgment was when Jesus died.
As Jesus took on the sin of the world and then received the Judgment for those sins, to the point of death, so also righteous people were the subjects and beneficiaries of that Judgment, into life.
There is a future Judgment of the world, to come.
If we have already gone through it with Jesus, symbolically through baptism, we do not have to go through the second judgment and we have that verdict, by faith.

reply to post by jakyll

reply to post by jakyll


hello here is my opinion

1) the saints that were raised, i wouldn't be surprised if these were a few of the NT saints, those that expected Christ such as john the baptist etc.
this gives us a taste of THE resurrection

2) neither is correct. What this means is that you DO NOT have to be part of organised religon casting out demons is not just "doing good" you have to have faith in Christ. certain demons need great preparation of fasting and prayer as do other things, remember Daniel? He fatsed and prayed for some time before the Angel came to him. I suspec that the prayer and fasting is to consolidate your faith before going up against demons in such a way.

david

reply to post by jakyll


hello here is my opinion

1) the saints that were raised, i wouldn't be surprised if these were a few of the NT saints, those that expected Christ such as john the baptist etc.
this gives us a taste of THE resurrection

2) neither is correct. What this means is that you DO NOT have to be part of organised religon casting out demons is not just "doing good" you have to have faith in Christ. certain demons need great preparation of fasting and prayer as do other things, remember Daniel? He fatsed and prayed for some time before the Angel came to him. I suspec that the prayer and fasting is to consolidate your faith before going up against demons in such a way.

david

this aint about "spiritual evolution" people. that's a false new age deception.

the Bible teaches first and foremost that we WERE ONCE a perfect reflection of the Most High, but we FELL. Our task is to GET BACK to where we started from, like baby huey said in his song.

Remember what Billy Blake said, If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is - infinite.

Christ reminded us that we need to wash the inside of the bowl, not the outside, and how to do it through love and selflessness. It is this inner cleansing and RENEWAL that can bring spiritual gifts like healing and power over demons and evil spirits. anyone who accomplishes this in Truth and humility is doing it in the name of Christ, whether they know/believe it or not. that's what makes the King the King, he rules over all the living and the dead, despite what the living and dead know or believe, its about the renewal of their inner spirit and the fruit that comes forth because of that renewal.

Don't be fooled by this evolutions crap. We were once spiritually superior to what we are now. let us seek the Resurrection and new heaven and earth in which to dwell in our original state. peace

[edit on 18/8/2008 by sollie]