‘And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming forth out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.'
The third ‘rending' was in respect of the tearing open of the tombs of God's chosen ones who had been buried in Jerusalem, preparatory to their resurrection. Nothing could have appalled people more, and no Jew would want to approach these tombs lest they themselves be defiled during the Feast. They might well have seen in it the anger of God, or alternately that it was symbolic of the last day.
The description ‘saints' (holy ones), a regular Old Testament description of God's believing people, would indicate those who were pleasing to God. It was the ‘saints of the Most High' who formed a part of the corporate son of man in Daniel 7. It is right therefore that they should join with the Son of Man in His triumph.
While the rending open of the tombs might have occurred at the same time as the earthquake and the rending of the veil, we are specifically informed that this raising of the holy ones did not, for it occurred after the resurrection and was a resurrection of the body. Here then was more than just the coming forth of Elijah (Matthew 27:47-49). What Jesus had accomplished caused many to come forth. Many rose to bear testimony to Him, and all connected with their own holy city. But until Jesus was raised, resurrection for others was not possible, thus it could not have happened prior to His resurrection. These then are the firstfruits of His resurrection. The language may have in mind Ezekiel 37:12-13, ‘behold I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people --- and you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people', stressing that it is an activity intended to convince men and women that He is YHWH, and it is noteworthy that in Ezekiel this leads on to the establishing of the Kingly Rule of the coming shepherd king David (Ezekiel 37:24). The description reminds us also of John 5:28-29, ‘the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth ---.' Thus we are probably intended to see this as a genuine and permanent resurrection rather than simply a display for witness purposes. We know nothing of what happened to these resurrected saints subsequently, unless Paul is referring to them in 1 Corinthians 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:23. The assumption was probably that like Him they rose to the Father.
The unusual use of ‘the holy city' may suggest that Matthew is citing this description from some source, although if so we have no record of it. But it is noteworthy that his use of it is in fact parallel to a similar use in Matthew 4:5 (so it is not so unusual). It may thus rather be a deliberate attempt to contrast what happened here with what the Devil had tempted Jesus to do in Matthew 4:5. There Jesus had refused to give the holy city a spectacular sign which had no purpose to it, by diving from the pinnacle of the Temple. Here, however, God has given the holy city an even more spectacular sign, although not just as a display but as a genuine firstfruit of the resurrection. So it was not just a spectacular sign. Here, as always when miracles took place, many actually benefited from His display of power. This was in a sense the part fulfilment of the sign that Jesus had promised to the Pharisees (Matthew 12:39). It was the sign of the prophet Jonah. Here were the equivalent of a number of ‘Jonahs' coming out of the mouths of their tombs and appearing to selected households. The holy city has been given its visitation and its sign, for they ‘appeared to many'. ‘Many' is often a reference to believers (see Matthew 20:28), so that the sign may have been limited to believers. No doubt unbelieving Jerusalem, which rejected the testimony of Jesus' resurrection and had no experience of the appearances, laughed them to scorn. This would explain why no attention was drawn to these facts by others.
For the other evangelists it was the resurrection of Jesus Himself that took central place, and must not be overshadowed. But Matthew may well have been one who was visited, and had never forgotten it. And he would consider that such an event had special significance for Jews. He may well have seen it as indicating what was to happen to Jerusalem, for in Isaiah 26:19-20 the resurrection of bodies from the dust was to be followed by great tribulation for God's people as God visited the world in wrath. Here then was a firstfruit of that day, a resurrection that was an indication that God would soon visit Jerusalem in wrath.