Hope Found in the Resurrection

Sometimes when life seems dark, it’s hard to find hope in anything, especially the holidays. How do you celebrate “outside” when things inside your heart feel so broken? Today Christians celebrate the empty tomb, the victory of Christ over satan, sin and death. Through a horrific death and resurrection, Christ offers us a true hope found in the resurrection, that will not fail us even in the darkest of times.

Before the very first “Easter”, I think of how the disciples and all who loved Jesus when He walked the earth felt as they faced the reality of His death. “hopeless” is the word that comes to mind. A good illustration of this is found in Luke 24:13-35, where the story of Jesus walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus is told. They share their utter hopelessness with Him about what took place in Jerusalem just days prior.

Hope Deferred

As the two disciples talked with Jesus, whom they did not recognize, they shared their disappointment that the chief priests and rulers crucified Jesus. They knew He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed, and they hoped He was the promised Messiah come to redeem them. They expressed that they heard from others that the tomb was empty, just as Jesus said beforehand that it would be. Yet they did not understand that this very death and resurrection was the exact prophecy and fulfillment of their hope and longing.

The original eleven disciples including Peter and John remained in Jerusalem despairing, even though they witnessed first hand the empty tomb. They, too struggled to understand the meaning and comfort in the words Jesus spoke prior to His death. For them, they had yet to understand the hope found in the resurrection.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:5

Resurrection Reveal

It wasn’t until Jesus revealed Himself to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and subsequently to the eleven in Jerusalem, that they began to understand the fulfillment of the words Jesus spoke prior to his death. When they saw Jesus crucified, they thought all had ended in tragedy, forgetting the words He spoke to them about the resurrection. As a result they lost all hope and even when Jesus did appear to them they did not recognize Him, but were terrified.

He then spent time with them revealing to them again the Scriptures, which they now understood, and he gave them a commission to go and tell what they had seen and learned. Hope was restored at the presence of Christ and the full understanding of His death, burial and resurrection.

Hope Restored

Just like the disciples we can get focused on Christ’s death more than His resurrection. We know he died for our sins, but apart from the resurrection, His death would be powerless in the removal of our sins. The hope found in the resurrection transforms our lives.

• Christ’s Resurrection justifies His death, and frees us from our sin. Christ died to remove the guilt of our sins, to destroy the power of sin. Apart from the resurrection, His shed blood would be powerless. The resurrection was God’s sovereign act of triumph for all to see. No resurrection = no forgiven sin; I Corinthians 15:14-18.
• Christ’s Resurrection guarantees our resurrection. Apart from Christ rising from the dead, we have no hope of a future resurrection from the dead. Christ rose to demonstrate His victory over death and the grave.
• Christ’s Resurrection seals satan’s defeat. When Christ died at Calvary, satan’s power was broken; His people were redeemed from the power of hell. When Christ rose from the dead it demonstrated a decisive defeat over satan and his power in our lives.

Hope Secured

Christ’s death was horrific and unjust; His suffering undeserved and brutal. Everything He endured was “unfair”; He endured fear, betrayal, anguish so deep it is likened to sweating great drops of blood. Yet His great love drove Him to endure until He could say “It is finished”. The darkest day in all of history purchased the brightest eternal hope that nothing can destroy.

When you feel as though your darkness is too heavy, that your despair is overwhelming, remember the resurrection. Remember all that is offered to you through the resurrection. Today we celebrate “He is Risen” because it is the greatest victory song we could ever sing. Christ victorious over satan, sin and death, over every darkness that threatens to envelop you. Because He is Risen, we have a hope that nothing can ever destroy.

“Hope is being able to see that there is Light, despite all of the darkness.”

Desmond Tutu

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