(CNN) -- As Easter comes into view, the thoughts of billions of Christians turn to Jerusalem, to a sacred weekend that includes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Of course, people regard these events with various degrees of literalness. But Easter retains its power. 

It is, in fact, the essential Christian celebration, as the Gospels focus hugely on this part of the Jesus story. They describe in slow motion his entry into Jerusalem and the final week leading up to the crucifixion on Good Friday, the uncertain stillness of Holy Saturday, when the world seems to have slipped into total darkness, then the joy of the Resurrection itself, with a sense that boundaries have been broken -- most aggressively, the membrane between life and death. 

Questions arise, of course. Did Jesus really rise from the dead? What would that look like? Many Christians imagine some literal wakening from the dead and refuse to accept the slightest hint that the Resurrection might be regarded as symbolic without denigrating it. 

Indeed, if you read the Gospel narratives closely, it's not easy to say what actually happened. All four of them skip the actual Resurrection. That is, we never see Jesus waken. The first inkling of change comes when a few women close to him visit the tomb. Accounts differ on who turned up at the tomb that morning: Mary Magdalene, a close friend of Jesus, alone or with Mary, his mother, and with Salome (who is either Mary's sister or the mother of apostles James and John). 
How many Gospels are there?
What is excluded from them?
Of whom?
Do we know who visited the location of his body?
How many Mary's may have been there?
What line may have been crossed?
What holiday keeps its appeal?
And which religion observes it?
What part of the bible is it centered around?
How long was the journey?
How was he executed?
What religious holiday is observed on that day?
And which one follows?
What occured that day?
Does the bible ever state that he woke from the dead?
But do many believe that it actually occured?
Are they willing to entertain any other possibilities?
Is it difficult to know the truth about what happened?
When is the first hint that something isn't right?
Is his mother believed to be one of them?
Four
 All four of them skip
the Resurrection
All four of them skip the actual Resurrection
Jesus
Resurrection. That is, we never see Jesus
Accounts differ
 Accounts differ on who turned up at the tomb that morning:
Two
Mary Magdalene, a close friend of Jesus, alone or with Mary, his mother, and with Salome (who is either Mary's sister or the mother of apostles James and John). 
between life and death
 the membrane between life and death
Easter
Easter retains its power
Christians
billions of Christians 
the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
ncludes the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
a weekend
to a sacred weekend 
crucifixion
ncludes the crucifixion
Good Friday
 crucifixion on Good Friday
Holy Saturday
stillness of Holy Saturday
Resurrection
joy of the Resurrection
no
Did Jesus really rise from the dead? 
yes
dead and refuse to accept the slightest hint that the Resurrection might be regarded as symbolic without denigrating it. 
no
hristians imagine some literal wakening from the dead and refuse to accept the slightest hint
yes
 it's not easy to say what actually happened.
a few women visit the tomb
The first inkling of change comes when a few women close to him visit the tomb
yes
alone or with Mary, his mother,