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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His love for you is so deep that in his mercy, while you were yet a sinner, God sent his only begotten Son to die for you.
“So loved,” then isn’t about how much but instead simply how.
Love is pointing to Jesus who said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
As the writer to the Hebrews affirms, what makes the Christian gospel so much better is that we are no longer dealing with “types and shadows."
God resolves his wrath through the unexpected giving of his Son.
Toy Story is indeed a Christmas story.
That great truth of creedal Christianity – that God is man in Christ – is not set forth for our speculative enjoyment.
The good news of the Gospel is Jesus has come, and Jesus will come again.
It makes perfect sense that the day honoring Jesus' birth would be observed in a decidedly less than refined manner.
When we pray to Jesus, we pray to the King's right hand. We know one who has the Father's ear, respect and trust. And the one who intercedes for us is still one of us, with nail-pierced hands.
The whole Old Testament leans with this unanswered and open-ended question at the end: Is he here yet?
Why is it important for us to confess and remember the virgin birth? It is important because of its place within the total story of redemption.