Jesus' Resurrection: The Answer to Hopelessness

 

“Let the resurrection joy lift us from loneliness and weakness and despair to strength 
and beauty and happiness.”  Floyd W. Tomkins 

Dr. Charles Johnson wrote in “Psychology Today”: “I find the degree of cynicism that permeates our world today striking and troubling…It is rare that a young person I work with expresses real hope about what lies ahead…I’m not in fact sure whether hope is warranted. Our times confront us with an array of truly existential challenges—climate change, nuclear proliferation, the specter of pandemic, and digital technologies that could run amok.” In other words, how do we cope with hopelessness?
  If you google suggestions for coping with hopelessness, they’re little more than suggesting cough drops for cancer. Suggestions like…stay present and focus on what’s happening now instead of worrying about the future. Name your feelings. Lean into your friendships. Find hope in a new hobby. Understand what’s behind your feelings. Be gentle with yourself.
  Is it any wonder that ours is such an anxious and often overmedicated culture, whether it’s prescribed or self-medicating with alcohol and illicit drugs? Yet, the world of the first century was similar, if not worse. It was only Christ’s resurrection that brought hope and was world changing.
  Christ-followers have a hope that scientific facts can’t explain. Martha, (John 11), understood this kind of hope. After her brother, Lazarus, died (and had been dead for four days), Martha met Jesus as He was arriving in Bethany. She said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Even now? Four days after her brother was dead, she still has hope? Yes. She desires her brother to live again and fully expects Jesus to make that a reality.
  In the face of death, Martha’s hope was centered on Jesus. Her faith was in the One who is the resurrection and the life. As Christ-followers, we have that same hope. It’s a hope that goes beyond rationality but is not irrational. It requires belief, and to many seems unbelievable. It goes beyond the purview of scientific investigation, and yet is historical fact. We have the hope of the resurrection of Jesus.
  Jesus’s resurrection is the foundation of Christian hope. Because Jesus rose from the dead, we know that death, man’s worst enemy, is defeated. We have hope that we will be fully redeemed. We have hope that there is a new creation coming. We have hope that everything wrong with the world will one day be made right. Our desire to see everything made new, mixed with the expectation that it will be, is what makes life worth it now.
  Resurrection hope is life changing. It defies medical wisdom. It comes face-to-face with death and says, “you lose.” It stares into the face of insurmountable odds and demands the impossible.
  In his book, Surprised by Hope, New Testament scholar N.T. Wright puts it this way, “Hope, for the Christian, is not wishful thinking or mere blind optimism. It is a mode of knowing, a mode within which new things are possible, options are not shut down, new creation can happen.”
  Christian hope is anchored in Jesus’ resurrection. It looks beyond the brokenness of this world and into a future of renewed creation. It’s our reason to live and look forward to the future. We know the worst “hell” of this life is temporary, yet life with Christ will be perfect for all eternity.
  The resurrection moves the credibility of religion from the stage of belief onto the stage of history. It breaks us out of the circle of personal experience. Frequently, those who are not Christians respond to Jesus’ resurrection with, “That’s just your interpretation.” That objection suggests that Christian faith is subjective: I believe it because I want to. However, the resurrection is not a matter of religious faith—it’s a matter of history, open to investigation by anyone who will honestly examine the facts.
  The historical evidence shows that: the grave was empty; the grave clothes were neatly left behind; the stone enclosing the tomb was rolled away; the body of Jesus was never found; the grave had been guarded by Roman soldiers; and no one ever claimed to have stolen the body.
  The presence of the grave clothes is very significant. The spices attached too had value. Anyone removing the body for profit would have taken the wrapped body away and separated out the valuable mixture. The placement of the grave clothes, like the placement of the stone, perfectly fits with the resurrection as the cause, rather than with human agency as the cause.
  Then, there are eleven eyewitness accounts (not counting Paul) recorded of Jesus appearing to people proving that He was resurrected. These appearances were to: men and women, individuals, couples, groups, and at least one crowd of 500. The appearances were inside and outside, in different locations, and at different times of the day. Jesus was physically touched, audibly heard, visually seen, and ate food in the presence of witnesses. None of these witnesses believed that Jesus would rise from the dead before He rose from the dead. All of them knew Him before His death, so they knew He was the same Jesus who died on the cross.
  Many of the principal eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus were killed because of their claim that Jesus was resurrected. Their lives would probably have been spared if they had recanted. This is very significant. We know that people will die for a cause, but these men and women died for a set of facts. They went to their grave rather than say that the facts were untrue. They died because they said the facts of the crucifixion and the bodily resurrection of Jesus were true.
  Christ-followers have a trustworthy hope based on historical fact and faith in God’s Word. We’re blessed, forgiven, redeemed, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, guaranteeing eternal life. We can now live according to our identity as children of God. This world is not our home. We have a new Home and perfect life awaiting us because our Lord is alive! And because He lives, as He has promised, we will live with Him forever! Now that’s true hope!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.