The women at the tomb were surprised by Easter. Amazed and filled with wonder at Jesus' Easter eucatastrophe. And so are we.
This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 in Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life (1517 Publishing, 2025). Sinner Saint is available today from 1517 Publishing.
On its journey from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul, this special place helps us understand the broader arc of Christian history, which goes on until Christ's return.

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Every time the Scriptures are opened, we are repeating this scene. Every time the gospel is preached, we are replicating a moment wherein the faithless ones are greeted by their faithful Lord.
Nor can we see how God’s hand will guide us through every challenge of this life, we have to believe it. Afterwards, we see how it happened, but in the midst of challenges and trials, we walk by faith and not by sight.
If you want to stay out of jail, look to the law. If you want into heaven, look to the promise. If you want to earn a paycheck from your boss, work. If you want to receive salvation from your God, believe.
Faith is a gift from God. It’s not flashy or boast-worthy. It’s total dependency on the God who saves utter fools.
We live in the strength of our baptism again and again and again, returning to it every day according to God's promise. 
The following is an excerpt from “A Year of Grace: Collected Sermons of Advent through Pentecost” written by Bo Giertz and translated by Bror Erickson (1517 Publishing, 2019).
What then does this sequence of stories teach us? It teaches us a pertinent lesson about the Christian life.
Should we really be surprised that it would happen this way, that the servant would suffer for our salvation and die for our forgiveness?
At Christmas, we hear the story of our salvation, but it’s not pretty.
God does not combat the impending armies of Satan with might and power, but with the weakness of a babe.
I can only disbelieve you or believe you. If I disbelieve you, I go on being a miserable bore.
We are still so much closer to Peter in our flaws than his virtues, and Christ is still our rescue.