What happened to the saints who were resurrected around Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection?
After Christ was resurrected, some Jewish believers were raised from cemeteries around Jerusalem, entered the city, and likely appeared to friends and relatives. Scripture is silent, but since they had been given immortality and did not come back to die again like Lazarus, they were evidently taken up into heaven, forming the firstfruits of the first resurrection.
Les explains that the saints did not emerge from their graves while Christ was on the cross; they came out after His own resurrection, because Christ had to be the first to be resurrected. To complete the sheaf analogy, other examples of resurrection had to occur. Some Jewish believers were evidently resurrected from cemeteries around Jerusalem, came into the city, and probably appeared to their friends and relatives. Scripture is silent, so Les assumes that, just as Christ in His resurrected body ascended into heaven, these saints did as well. They did not come forth like Lazarus merely to die again; they were resurrected believers given immortality and were no doubt taken up into heaven. This, he says, makes the sheaf of the firstfruits, the beginning of the first resurrection.