Tuesday, April 22, 2025
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’”
We all know how hard life can be sometimes. There are physical trials, spiritual trials, financial problems, marital problems, career issues, relationship issues, and so much more. When things start piling up it is easy to feel defeated and lose hope. Sunday Pastor Jim said that we find hope in the objects we place our trust in. We lose hope quickly when we put our trust in people, banks, jobs, things, etc. Things start to unravel, and we desperately begin to try to make it stop. We put band aid on top of band aid to stop the bleeding. But this does not give us hope. Where do we find hope that lasts? Where is the hope that overcomes this world and all the problems it brings? Where is the hope that doesn’t blink at the diagnosis we don’t want or the divorce papers that say there really is no longer hope for this circumstance? Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only thing that can bring hope into every circumstance of our lives.
What does Jesus’ resurrection mean and how does it change everything?
Pastor Jim asked the question, “What do you do when you lose all hope?” The Disciples thought all hope was lost when they witnessed Jesus die on the cross. Imagine how dark that time was for them between when he died and rose again. The world was looking for them and the one person they trusted and who gave them hope was dead. They didn’t believe he was going to rise again and without the resurrection there is no hope in death - it is final. When Jesus rose from the grave three days later and visited them in the upper room, they remembered what He had said, and their hope was restored! Jesus was raised from the dead to bring us new life and because He did that, we can live in hope. He walked out of that grave so that we can stop living in our own graves. The light of Christ comes shining in like the light of day into our musty tomb and everything changes.
Jesus dying on the cross provided payment for my debt, and yours too. Through the resurrection we can have hope of eternal life. His payment for sin satisfies the Justice of our Holy God in full. The sacrifice of Jesus is enough to cover every sin ever committed by every person who ever lived throughout history and every person who ever will live. All sins past present and future, paid in full! We can have hope for eternity because he defeated sin and death through his resurrection. We can have hope for today because he has defeated and overcome every trial we might endure. In the power of the resurrection – the power that raised Jesus from the dead – we can endure and overcome.
Have you lost all hope? Have you given up because some days it is just too painful to believe that hope is real and it is for you? Or do you believe that hope is for everyone else because you don't deserve to hope? One thing after the other - after the other can take our breath away and steal our hope if it is not in the right place. The only true hope comes from Jesus Christ. He loved us so that he laid down his life for us so we could have hope in the face of trials and suffering. We want hope that everything will be perfect today but the true hope is that no matter what today brings, we are forgiven, redeemed and have eternity to spend with him. Put your hope in him and rest in his promises.
