in
order to signify that by His death He would destroy the darkness of
sin and its punishment. Nevertheless He is said to have risen on the
third day, taking day as a natural day which contains twenty-four
hours. And as Augustine says (De Trin. iv): "The night until the
dawn, when the Lord's Resurrection was proclaimed, belongs to the
third day. Because God, who made the light to shine forth from
darkness, in order that by the grace of the New Testament and
partaking of Christ's rising we might hear this--'once ye were
darkness, but now light in the Lord'--insinuates in a measure to us
that day draws its origin from night: for, as the first days are
computed from light to darkness on account of man's coming fall, so
these days are reckoned from darkness to light owing to man's
restoration." And so it is evident that even if He had risen at
midnight, He could be said to have risen on the third day, taking it
as a natural day. But now that He rose early, it can be affirmed that
He rose on the third day, even taking the artificial day which is
caused by the sun's presence, because the sun had already begun to
brighten the sky. Hence it is written (Mk. 16:2) that "the women come
to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen"; which is not contrary to
John's statement "when it was yet dark," as Augustine says (De Cons.
Evang. iii), "because, as the day advances the more the light rises,
the more are the remaining shadows dispelled." But when Mark says
"'the sun being now risen,' it is not to be taken as if the sun were
already apparent over the horizon, but as coming presently into those
parts."
_______________________

THIRD ARTICLE [III, Q. 53, Art. 3]

Whether Christ Was the First to Rise from the Dead?

Objection 1: It would seem that Christ was not the first to rise from
the dead, because we read in the Old Testament of some persons raised
to life by Elias and Eliseus, according to Heb. 11:35: "Women
received their dead raised to life again": also Christ before His
Passion raised three dead persons to life. Therefore Christ was not
the first to rise from the dead.

Obj. 2: Further, among the other miracles which happened during the
Passion, it is narrated (Matt. 27:52) that "the monuments were
opened, and many bodies of the saints who had slept rose again."
Therefore Christ was not the first to rise from the dead.

Obj. 3: Further, as Christ by His own rising is the cause of our
resurrection, so by His grace He is