Thomas Boswell, the sports columnist for the Washington Post, once wrote a famous essay about the start of the baseball season entitled, “Why Time Begins on Opening Day.” Any true fan of the game understands what Boswell meant. The opening day of baseball season has a historic and emotional meaning that is without parallel in other sports. It is the affirmation of spring, of renewal, of the continuation of a national pastime with nearly one and one-half centuries of tradition and memories. (Would it surprise you to learn that baseball is my favorite sport? I didn’t think so.)

For the Christian there is another “opening day” of far greater significance: that first day of the week in about 30 A.D. when a tomb near Jerusalem opened, the stone that sealed it having been rolled away, and the Son of God emerged from the grave resurrected to eternal life. In a very real sense, that day is the day on which “time begins” for us, because it was that day when the promise of life after death was confirmed by means of the most powerful evidence possible. It was the day when not just that one tomb opened, but when the tombs of all who would obey God's will were opened, in the spiritual sense. It was the day when a stake was driven through the fear of death, and when the adversary of God saw once and for all that he was fighting a battle with the Almighty that he can never hope to win.

As Christians, we open every week of our lives in memory of that great “opening day.” We assemble together as disciples have done since the first century, to honor the sacrifice accomplished on the cross at Golgotha and completed in victory the third day after. We break bread as Jesus did with His disciples before His death, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). We drink from a cup containing the fruit of the vine (Luke 22:17-18), which Jesus called “the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). We acknowledge, as the Scriptures teach, that as often as we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The day Christ’s tomb was opened is significant enough that every time the first day of a new week falls, we assemble together to be reminded of it. This seems an odd practice to some. Most of the religious world sets aside a single day annually to remember that “opening day”; the Sunday following the start of the Jewish Passover. The remainder of the year, that day is a distant recollection, hazy in the rear-view mirror of passing time. Perhaps some will pause periodically through the year to again participate in the memorial — once every six months, once every season, perhaps the first Sunday of every month. To them, it’s enough.

The New Testament, however, records the practice of Christians in the apostolic age as a weekly observance: “on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). The apostle Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave other instructions to be followed on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1-2), knowing that the saints would already be coming together on that day to eat the Lord's supper (1 Corinthians 11:20). It was unnecessary for Paul to specify further, “Make sure you do this every week,” for they understood that what they did “on the first day of the week” happened every week, just as the Hebrews had understood for twelve centuries that “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” meant “the Sabbath of every week.”

The open tomb on that first day of the week nearly two millennia ago represents the opening of hope, the opening of the gates of heaven to those previously shut out by sin, the opening of the arms of a heavenly Father to His children who, once dead, are now alive, and who once lost, are now found (Luke 15:24). What more joy-inspiring words were ever uttered than those spoken by angels to Mary Magdalene and the other women with her, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:5-6)? Because He is risen, we too will one day rise (Romans 6:4-5): “for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth — those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28-29).

As the story is told, a Christian and a Muslim were debating the tangible evidences of their respective faiths. The Muslim said, “In Islam, we have the great cities of Mecca and Jerusalem as the holy places of our religion. You Christians have nothing to show for your faith except an empty grave.” To which the Christian responded: “Exactly.” By knowing Christ, and the power of His resurrection, we likewise hope to attain to the resurrection from the dead on that final “opening day” (Philippians 3:10-11).