What do you yearn for? On what do you base your hope on?
Hope is a favorable expectation.
Today it can be difficult to look at the world with all its problems and find hope.
The followers of Jesus had put all their hope on Jesus for 3 1/2 years. He told them He was going to be delivered up to be crucified, but they refused to believe it. When they saw Jesus be betrayed and then flogged and crucified all their hopes were crushed. It was the darkest night in their life. They endured Friday night. They endured Saturday. Their future was destroyed. Their hopes were shattered.
Have you ever had your hope crushed? Maybe you can relate to the followers of Jesus, and understand how they felt.
But Sunday morning came with a completely unexpected occurrence. The women who went to the tomb came back with unanticipated news. They said Jesus had risen from the dead and had appeared to them. Peter and John ran to the empty tomb. They saw that His body wasn’t there. That evening they were together behind locked doors for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus appeared to them and said “peace be with you”! They were overjoyed. Their hope was restored. This is the great hope for all humanity. Jesus rose from the dead.
Peter would later write,
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
1 Peter 1:3
God has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
If Jesus is your hope, then God has a sure promise for you.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28
You can live with a living hope that God will make everything work together for His good purpose for your life.
It all starts and ends with Jesus.
He is our hope.