Matthew 27:51b-53

In the Word the Holy Spirit chose not to tell us anything else about these people who rose from their graves, but their resurrection did point to one important thing: Jesus rose from the dead, too. It was not until Jesus' own resurrection that they went into Jerusalem and were seen by many people.
 
This can lead us to ponder thoughts about the resurrection of the dead. First, though, we should be clear about what happens when people die. God tells us in the Bible that "the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). At death a person's body and soul are separated. The body returns to elements of the earth from which it is made. The soul is an unseen part of a person, a part that does not die. It is the living part of a person, and at death the soul is judged by God—either going to heaven or to hell, depending whether the person believed in Jesus or not. The Bible says, "Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). The souls of believers will immediately experience bliss with God in heaven while the souls of unbelievers will be separated from God in the torments of hell (Luke 16:19-24). When the bodies of all the dead are raised on the Last Day, their souls will return permanently to their bodies, and the complete person will enter into eternity, either in heaven or in hell (John 5:28).
 
At times, though, Jesus and some of the apostles and prophets raised people from the dead back to life on earth to testify to God's power over death and over life. In our lesson for today, we heard another example of that. On Good Friday when Jesus died, God raised many believers from the dead. Those resurrected people were a grand testimony to the power of God over death and the victory over Satan that Jesus won by his sacrificial death for the sin of all people.

The clear truth is that all circumstances are under God's control; even death he has overcome. Because of Jesus and the work of salvation that he accomplished, we do not need to wonder or fear what will happen after we die. Trusting in him alone, we share in Jesus' victory over death and know without a doubt that he will raise us to life with God for eternity.