It means that all words and actions revolve around the axis of resurrection. No event, no matter how tragic or full of grace, can be viewed through any lens other than that of resurrection. It is this Easter confession that best captures the author's understanding of Jesus' story in the fourth Gospel. As the study of these five lessons will show, Easter confession is often found on many different lips in the Gospel of John. Sometimes in John, confessions say more than the person actually intends or understands, as seen in chapter 11 with Martha's Easter confession.
Some confessions can carry both great truth and dark consequences.
The crowds confessed Jesus as King of Israel in chapter 12, and their confession became Jesus' epitaph upon a Roman cross. In chapter 20, Mary and Thomas utter some of the earliest Easter confessions on this side of the empty tomb. When we listen carefully, those ancient confessions still echo into this new millennium. The purchaser of this file has permission to print twenty copies of this Learners Study Guide. Neither the file nor the printed contents may be sold copied or transferred to another person or church.