I don’t know what time it happened. The apostle John tells us that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark. The other three Gospel writers say that sunrise was at hand. Either way, it must have been dark outside when the eyes of the Savior first opened. It must have been very damp when he took his first breath. He may have sat up, neatly folded his burial cloth and linen wraps, then walked out of the tomb with authority and purpose.
The Mark Series, Part 5: Ready to Suffer
“This is the course that I have adopted in the case of those brought before me as Christians. I ask them if they are Christians. If they admit it, I repeat the question a second and a third time, threatening capital punishment; if they persist, I sentence them to death. For I do not doubt that, whatever kind of crime it may be to which they have confessed, their pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy should certainly be punished…[those] who denied that they were or had been Christians I considered should be discharged…especially because they cursed Christ, a thing which, it is said, genuine Christians cannot be induced to do.” – Pliny the Younger, appointed governor of Bithynia c. 110 AD, in a letter to the Roman emperor Trajan
Our Hope
Christians are commanded to rejoice in trials. This is easy to say, but very difficult to live out. When the rubber meets the road, what makes us different from those who don’t share our faith? What force is strong enough to help us remain joyful in hardship?
What is the Gospel?
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple – simple enough to be outlined in a few pages. It is a message from the Bible about God and his Son, Jesus. It is about life and death, and the choice that we all face.