While that is true, then assuming Matthew 27:52-53 actually happened at the time, that doesn't mean we are unable to deduce what likely became of them eventually.
I agree. Which is why I gave my view of what happened to them. Because of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 where he gives the order of resurrections unto bodily immortality without mentioning anyone there but Christ and those who belong to Christ at His coming, we can safely deduce that those who were resurrected in Matthew 27:52-53 were not resurrected unto bodily immorality and died again later like Lazarus and others who had previously been resurrected did.
After all, there is such a thing as using common sense.
Ah, yes. That old (supposedly) reliable common sense. You might call it human wisdom. Paul had something to say about that.
1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
It seems that Paul did not agree with thinking that we should completely trust in human common sense the way you do. There's a lot of things in scripture which unbelievers think defy common sense because "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him".
For example.
Is it reasonable that they came out of their tombs and appeared to many in the state they were in while in their tombs? No.
How do you know how long they had been dead? Did Lazarus appear to many in the state he was in while in his tomb? Yes.
Is it reasonable, that if they put on a flesh body, that they then eventually returned to the state they were in before their tombs opened? No.
Why not?
Is it reasonable that they all just crawled back into their tombs eventually? No.
LOL. What a goofy thing to say. If they died later, what does that have to do with them crawling back into their tombs? They would have either been buried in different tombs or the same tombs they were in previously.
Is it reasonable that any of them are still walking among us now? No.
Finally, you said something that is actually reasonable.
What then became of them eventually?
Apparently, they eventually ascended into heaven. But not in a disembodied state, a bodily state. That would have to be the logical conclusion.
That would be logical if you are ignorant about what the rest of scripture teaches. As you often do, you are interpreting a passage in isolation from the rest of scripture. How does what you're saying here line up with what Paul taught about resurrections unto bodily immortality?
1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
You talk about common sense. How is it common sense to contradict what Paul taught about the order of bodily resurrections unto bodily immortality? I don't see any reference here to those who were resurrected, as described in Matthew 27:52-53? Do you think Paul somehow would not have been aware of their resurrection or have not been aware of whether they were resurrected unto bodily immortality or not? I'm sure he would have been. Yet, he does not list them anywhere in the order of resurrections unto bodily immortality. Since we can trust that Paul knew what he was talking about, we can safely conclude that no one so far has ever been resurrected unto bodily immortality except for Jesus Christ and the next time anyone will be resurrected unto bodily immortality will be when the dead in Christ are resurrected unto bodily immortality at His second coming.
Or if none of the above, maybe one of the following?
1) Matthew 27:52-53 never actually happened at the time. It was something someone added to the account that was never present in the original manuscripts.
Are you saying that some claim this?
2) Matthew 27:52-53 never actually happened at the time. And that it is prophecy depicting what the resurrection event is going to look like in the future.
There is no indication of that in the text itself.
Matthew 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
This indicates that the tombs were opened when Jesus died after an earthquake occurred. Apparently, the earthquake is what caused the tombs to open. And then the bodies of the saints in those tombs were resurrected after Christ was resurrected, which obviously was three days later. There is no indication here whatsoever that it's talking about a future event.
Speaking for myself, I do not see 1) nor 2) likely being the case. Therefore, in regards to what likely happened to them eventually, the logical conclusion still appears to be to me--Apparently, they eventually ascended into heaven. But not in a disembodied state, a bodily state.
And how do you reconcile that with 1 Corinthians 15:22-23? Did you even think about what other scirptures teach while coming up with an interpretation of Matthew 27:52-53?
