Luca Signorelli, "Resurrection of the Flesh" (1499-1502)
Happy Easter, folks!
As most know, this is a day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But, while traveling about the Web this morning, I ran across something I don’t recall ever hearing before in all my years of being raised Catholic, attending catechism, or going to Catholic schools.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, others rose from the dead, too:
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
And, as far as I know (I’m not religious, nor am I a scholar), that’s the last these “awakened saints” are ever mentioned. In fact, Matthew seems to be the only place in the New Testament that they appear.
That’s kind of a significant event, don’t you think? Who were these people, and what happened to them? Did they go back to their tombs? Did they live among men? Wander off to strange lands? Do they still live among us?
My apologies to anyone devout who might be offended by this speculation, but there’s some wonderful material for fiction and roleplaying games in this. Hidden saints. Do they have a mission? Are they waiting for something? Are they behind odd events that have happened in the last 2,000 years? And why is one contacting the player-characters, now?
Marvelous food for thought.
From Greyhawk Grognard
Related: Creepy Easter Bunnies.
It’s an odd passage that’s unique to the Gospel of Matthew and its precise meaning is unclear, though many Biblical scholars, past and present have wrestled with it. From what I have read, it seems to have something to do with Jewish apocalyptic imagery current at the time — Matthew was written for a Jewish audience — but more than that I don’t really know.
That would make sense; the passage has almost a literary feel to it, as if St. Matthew were borrowing from Jewish traditions. Thanks for the information.
Interesting post.