Easter April 20, 2014
Yesterday I officiated at my first funeral service held between Good Friday and Easter morning. While the passing of Freddie Velez is an unbearable grief and our hearts are broken with his loss, having the service between the cross and the empty tomb anchored our hope in the storm.
Christian hope is not wide-eyed optimism or emotionalism. Christian hope is based on the certainty of Jesus' promises and character. Our hope is evidenced by peace, joy, and endurance even in the worst of circumstances. We see no better example than the life of our Savior.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus certainly had multiple reasons to lose hope. His closest friends couldn't stay awake in his greatest hour of need, one of them was betraying him, and his soul was overwhelmed to the point of death, yet he yielded his will to the Father's plan.
And why did Jesus do this? The writer of Hebrews tells us: "for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame."
When he was arrested, Jesus displayed hope's boldness. As His disciples reached for their swords, Jesus rebuked them saying, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" No one could press on like that without being anchored in hope.
We see hope again on the road to Emmaus. Jesus opened the minds of the dull disciples by going back to the Old Testament and proving to them that the Messiah had to suffer all of these things. Hope is squarely anchored on and in the Word of God.
So, this Easter, where is your hope anchored? As Christ followers we anchor not in the movable and shifting things of this world. They will all pass away. Our anchor points are in a rock that will not move. Jesus called it a capstone in Luke 20. The capstone of hope is that Jesus defeated sin and death on the cross. With His sacrifice Christ paid the price of the debt we owe to God. And just as had been foretold, on the third day Jesus did rise from the grave. He broke the chains of our captivity and set us free.
As we celebrate Easter I encourage you to strengthen and renew your hope today. Even though life can be extremely challenging, we are not like those who have no hope. Our hope is found in Good Friday and in an empty tomb on Easter morning.
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