A Living Hope

Since Mill House Ministries started six years ago, we have always done posts regarding Easter, or more appropriatley Resurection Sunday. I know I have personally discussed topics such as why Christ needed to die and how He laid down His life because He had the authority to do so, not because someone took His life from Him. However, it has come to my attention that many of our current readers belong to the underground church. So today, I want to focus not on the events that led to Jesus being on the cross, but on the events that took place after.

First, I want to look at Matthew 28. While many pastors focus on the great commission that Jesus gives at the end of this chapter, I instead want to look at four types of hope that are found in this chapter. Starting with Matthew 28:5-9, “But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” 8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!”So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.” At this point in time, the disciples and followers of Christ are dejected; they believe that the Messiah had been killed and were possibly even questioning if Jesus was the Messiah since He did not fulfill all the promises that God made. Now imagine being told that some of the women who followed Him had seen Him alive and well, especially in a time when a woman’s word didn’t hold much weight. Yet they had the hope that what they were told was true, and were blessed with seeing Jesus before them.

We see a different type of hope in Matthew 28:11-15, “11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day”. Here we see a hope in a lie, and it is this lie that those who deny Jesus Christ still cling to. If they can deny that He rose again, then they can argue that He was simply just a man and not the Son of God. This is the hope that is still around today in atheists and agnostic individuals. They have the hope that Jesus Christ was not who He said He was so that they will not be faced with their sin of denying Him.

The last two types of hope found in Matthew 28 are actually the great commission. “16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” This passage starts off with the disciples going to Galilee, as they were told at the beginning of the chapter, with the hope that they would see Jesus again. Again, we are also confronted with the idea that there was doubt amongst them, could the Man that they walked with really be the one who would bring salvation to the world? Jesus doesn’t address their doubt; instead, He presents them with a new hope. A hope for the future. The great commissioning is nothing more than the fulfillment of the disciples’ hope that Jesus Christ is who He said He is, with the added hope that He will be with them and future generations of believers.

This is the hope that we have now. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies that left without a doubt that He is the Messiah, the payment for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world. Because He is alive, it is a living hope. We do not know when this age will end, and we, as the body of Christ, will be raptured and united with God, but we do know that He promises us that He will be with us always. So, as we look to the Resurrection Sunday and study the events leading to Jesus being nailed to the cross, remember that was not the end. Jesus took up His life because He had the authority to do so, and in doing so, He provided us with a living hope for the future.

“14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

John 10:14-18

Seek the truth and encourage one another,

Alex