The Challenge of Easter {introduction}

The Apostle Paul famously said that if Jesus did not raise from the dead, our "faith is futile." (I Corinthians 15:17)



Interesting, isn't it, that Paul did not say that if Jesus had never been born or if Jesus had never lived a perfect life or if Jesus had never gone to the cross (though perhaps he could have said any of these) -- our faith is absolutely and utterly pointless. Rather, for Paul, everything hinged on the shattering moment when Mary Magdalene ran to the tomb and amid her tears ...