And what about these dead people brought back to life?  It says they were Christians, so that means they eventually ended up in Heaven, but how long were they here?  What did they do?  Did they have a message?  Where had they been?  Were they in Heaven praising God when all of a sudden their souls get whipped back into their rotting bodies and they go for a stroll?  Did they visit their old friends?  Did they buy a taco at the Jerusalem mall?  How many people are we talking here?  Was Abraham there?  When they were done with… whatever they were doing… did they die again?  Did they leave their bodies laying around Jerusalem just in time for the Passover holiday?  Did they smell bad?

And what kind of an earth shaking are we talking about here?  Were there aftershocks?  How high did this register on the Richter scale?  Was it loud?  Did buildings crumble?  Was the cross at the epicenter?

So let’s recap: If you were in Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ death you might be going about your business when a posse brings a condemned man out to crucify him.  A few hours later it gets freakishly dark way before nighttime.  People are in the streets talking about the odd darkness, some are saying it’s the end of the world, some are hiding in their homes, some are on their roofs looking over the town, yelling down whatever they see to the people below.  The marketplace starts closing up shop early, and there is a nervous buzz around the neighborhood.  Just then a random earthquake shakes your house.  A man falls off a roof and into the street.  Some people panic. A woman screams something about seeing a ghost.   You try to maintain your composure when suddenly your dead grandma walks in the door.  You faint.

The immediate reaction of one skeptic who witnessed all of this was to exclaim that Jesus must be God’s Son, for who else could have such a death scene?  It’s all in there… Matthew 27… and it puts me in awe!