Yes — the saints were resurrected after Christ so that He would remain the first ever resurrected from the dead, and so that together they could form the plural firstfruits sheaf.
Les Feldick teaches that Christ had to be the first human being ever truly resurrected; earlier raisings like Lazarus were only restorations to mortal life. The Jewish believers in Matthew 27 therefore came out of their graves only after His resurrection, not before. Together with Christ they fulfilled the Old Testament firstfruits picture — a sampling sheaf of grain that guarantees the greater resurrection harvest to come.
Matthew 27:52-53 — The only Gospel passage recording the saints coming out of their graves after Christ's resurrection, showing the timing that preserved His first place.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 — Paul names Christ as the firstfruits of those who slept and sets the divine order of resurrection with Christ first.
Matthew 27:50-53 records that when Jesus died, the veil of the temple was rent, the earth quaked, and the rocks rent; the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. Verse 53 expressly states they 'came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.' The Bible therefore places the saints' emergence after — not before — Christ's own resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23, the Apostle Paul declares that Christ 'is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept,' and that 'as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' Paul then sets the order: 'every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.' Scripture thus presents resurrection as an ordered harvest, with Christ Himself as the firstfruits.
Les Feldick teaches that the timing of the saints' resurrection matters because Christ had to be the first human being ever truly resurrected. While Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus Himself raised people from the dead, those people died again — they were not true resurrections but restorations of mortal life. Christ's resurrection was the first of its kind, so the Jewish believers buried around Jerusalem could not come out of their graves until after He rose. Les also explains that Israel's firstfruits offering was not a single stalk of grain but a gathered sampling — a sheaf of early-ripening stems. One stem could not make a sheaf. Therefore, to fulfill the plural firstfruits picture, Christ was joined by these resurrected Jewish believers. Together they formed the firstfruits sheaf, the guarantee and sampling of the full resurrection harvest to come. Les further concludes that since these saints were truly resurrected and immortal — not raised only to die again — they ascended into heaven with Christ, even though Scripture is silent on that detail. This ordering establishes the divine sequence: Christ the firstfruits, then church-age believers at His coming, and finally the gleanings of Old Testament and Tribulation saints after the Kingdom is set up.
Les Feldick stresses that Christ had to be the first to ever be resurrected from the dead — it had never happened before. Even the people raised by Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus Himself (like Lazarus) died again, so those were not resurrections in the fullest sense. For this reason, the saints in Matthew 27 did not come out of the graves while Christ was on the cross; they came out after He had been resurrected Himself, so that Christ would remain first.
In Israel's harvest, the firstfruits offering was a sampling of early-ripening grain gathered together into a sheaf and brought to the priest — not a single stalk. Les makes the point that 'you couldn't have a bundle of first fruits with one stem of grain; there had to be many.' Christ alone was the first resurrected, but Christ together with the resurrected Jewish believers of Matthew 27 comprised the plural firstfruits: a small sample and assurance of the full harvest of mankind yet to come.
Les describes them as Jewish believers who had died and been buried in the cemeteries around Jerusalem. After being raised, they came into the city and appeared to their friends and relatives. Scripture is silent about the details, but Les notes these were believers connected to the Old Testament economy and Christ's earthly ministry.
Les teaches that these saints were not like Lazarus — they were not restored just to die again. They were resurrected believers who had been given immortality, and since Christ in His resurrected body ascended into heaven, Les concludes these saints ascended as well, though Scripture does not explicitly record it. Their resurrection was the beginning of the first resurrection.
Paul's order in 1 Corinthians 15:23 is 'every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.' Les connects this to the harvest picture: the firstfruits company (Christ plus the Matthew 27 saints) was the sampling of the Jewish harvest; the next main harvest is the Rapture of the church; and the final gleanings are the Old Testament saints and Tribulation believers, raised 75 days after the Second Coming to complete the resurrection of the just of all the ages.
Resurrection Order and the Harvest
Paul presents resurrection as an orderly harvest in which each group comes out in its own company — the same picture as Israel's grain harvest, where the firstfruits are a sampling of the field.
Christ Had to Be First
Les explains that the saints in Matthew 27 came out of their graves only after Christ's resurrection because Christ had to be the first ever resurrected; the sheaf analogy required further examples of resurrection.
True Resurrection Began With Christ
Raisings before Christ — even Lazarus — were not true resurrections because those people died again; Christ's resurrection introduced resurrection in its fullest meaning, and many saints were needed to form the firstfruits bundle.
Fulfilling the Firstfruits After Resurrection
Immediately after His resurrection, saints came out of the graves around Jerusalem and appeared in the holy city, fulfilling the Old Testament firstfruits practice; because they were truly resurrected, they had to ascend to glory.
Composing the Firstfruits
Les identifies the firstfruits as Christ plus the Jewish believers who came out of the graves in Matthew 27, followed at the next stage by church-age believers at His coming.
The Plural Firstfruits Sheaf
These resurrected saints were given immortality and form the plural sheaf of firstfruits — the beginning of the first resurrection, like the sampling of ripened stems taken from an Israeli field.
Resurrection Is Necessary
Since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead; if God keeps His promises, resurrection must follow death, just as Christ rose as the firstfruits of them that slept.
Firstfruits Then the Gleanings
Les places the Matthew 27 saints as the firstfruits sampling of the Jewish harvest, followed by the Rapture of the church and finally the Old Testament and Tribulation saints raised after the Kingdom is set up.
Matthew 27:52-53: And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
The only Gospel record of the saints coming out of their graves after Christ's resurrection, showing His resurrection preceded theirs.
1 Corinthians 15:20: But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Paul's foundational statement that Christ is the firstfruits of those who have died.
1 Corinthians 15:21: For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
Explains the necessity of resurrection because death entered through man.
1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
All who die in Adam are made alive in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:23: But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
Sets the divine order of resurrection with Christ first.
Because Christ had to be the first ever resurrected from the dead. Les Feldick explains that the saints in Matthew 27 did not come out while He was on the cross — they came out only after He had been resurrected, so that His unique place as firstfruits was preserved.
No. Les distinguishes between being raised to mortal life, as with Lazarus, and true resurrection. These saints were resurrected believers given immortality, and Les concludes they ascended into heaven with Christ.
Because Israel's firstfruits offering was a sheaf — a bundle of gathered stems of grain. Christ alone would be a single firstfruit, but Christ together with the resurrected Jewish believers of Matthew 27 formed the plural sheaf, the sampling of the greater resurrection harvest.
Watch the Teaching: The Three Stages of Resurrection — 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 Explained