Hope for the Hopeless

Think back to a day of great pain – a day of hopelessness, of despair. A day when you lost a loved one – or a loved one betrayed you. A day it seemed as if God didn’t care for you – or He didn’t even exist.

That’s the situation for the followers of Jesus after the crucifixion. They had left everything to follow Him – fathers, mothers, homes, employment. For they thought He was the long-promised Messiah, the descendant of David who would restore Israel and reign forever. They had seen His power; they had heard His words – no one had ever spoken like that! When the religious authorities tried to trap Him, time and again He turned the tables on them. So those authorities didn’t even dare to ask him anything else publicly.

Jesus had called His followers out of their simple, normal lives. He had raised their hopes in the inevitable advance of the Kingdom of God. And He told them they would judge the twelve tribes of Israel! Simple fishermen, a tax collector!

But now, they have seen this almighty King stripped, scourged, and scorned. They have heard the soldiers mock Him as King of the Jews. They saw Him hanging on the cross. They saw Him die. They saw His lifeless corpse.

This dashes all their hopes. All their dreams. Now they just look like fools for leaving everything and following an itinerant preacher – indeed, a madman.

So they despair – as you may well have despaired on your day of greatest pain.

That’s the women’s state of mind as they come to Jesus’ tomb early Sunday morning. In the midst of their despair, they intend to do what they can – to honor Jesus’ lifeless body.

But they find the tomb open! And Jesus’ body is not there!

Luke tells us two men – presumably angels – then speak:

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you … that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (From Luke 24:5-7)

The women return to the apostles, reporting what they’ve seen. But Luke tells us, “These words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11).

Peter goes to the tomb and finds it empty – but does not see Jesus.

Later that day two followers are walking away from Jerusalem. The risen Jesus overtakes them, but they do not recognize Him. Still very much in despair, they describe to Him what has happened and then summarize their present state of mind: “We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21). The implication: They no longer have that hope. The empty tomb has not raised them out of despair.

They go on to say that others went to the tomb and verified the women’s report, but conclude, “Him they did not see.”

What does Jesus then say?

He says what He says to us on our hardest days, when we lose all hope: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:25)

Foolish! Why?

We all are foolish for at least three reasons when we despair:

  • First, because we have the prophets. Over many centuries the prophets tell us that God has advanced His great plan, overcoming human sin and human opposition, culminating in the descendant of David who lives a righteous life, suffers and dies for the people, rises from the dead, and promises to return to usher in His eternal Kingdom when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). Nothing can keep Him from fulfilling that plan.
  • Second, because we have Jesus. The two followers are in despair because those who went to the tomb did not see Jesus. And they are looking at Jesus when they say that! They see Jesus! Yet they are completely ignorant of His presence.
  • Third, because of what Jesus Himself said. The angels tell the women, “Remember how He told you.” He had said that a disciple would betray Him. He had said He would mocked, beaten, and killed. And He had said that He would rise from the dead. He told them all this ahead of time.

So, friends: In our times of great pain, we must hold on to these same three truths.

We too have the Scriptures and the evidence from biblical history that nothing derails God’s plan. Furthermore, we today have the privilege of seeing more clearly than those disciples how God is working out His great plan through church history and through missions.

We too have the presence of Jesus via His Holy Spirit. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, … he dwells with you and will be in you” (From John 14:16-17). So when we feel abandoned – He is right there with us. We too must recognize Him, like those disciples in Luke 24.

Finally, we too have the words, the promises of Jesus.

Think about this: Suppose I promise to give you a million dollars on Monday, and then a thousand dollars Tuesday.  You would have reason to be skeptical about that promise! But suppose somehow I fulfill the first half of the promise – I give you a million dollars Monday!

What then do you expect to happen on Tuesday? If I fulfill the promise to give you a million dollars on Monday, surely I’ll give you the thousand dollars on Tuesday – you will have no doubt! I’ve kept the hard promise – surely I’ll keep the easy one!

Think, now: Isn’t the promise to rise from the dead the hardest promise to keep anyone has ever made? Jesus kept the hard promise. He lived up to His word. Shouldn’t we then believe the rest of His words, and trust Him to be speaking truthfully? He’s fulfilled the million-dollar promise – surely He’ll fulfill all the thousand dollar promises He made.

Jesus’ resurrection verifies all God’s promises.

These include:

  • “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
  • “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3).
  • “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, Joshua 1:5).
  • Via the Apostle Paul: Nothing in all creation “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (From Romans 8:39).

So this Resurrection Sunday: Commit yourself not to be foolish and slow of heart to believe:

  • Remember the story of the Bible, God’s great plan;
  • Remember that if you are in Jesus, you have the downpayment of your inheritance, the Holy Spirit within you;
  • Remember Jesus has fulfilled the most difficult promise; He will surely fulfill all the others.

We experience many sorrows and sins in this world. There are times for weeping, times for mourning. Jesus’ followers were right to weep at the crucifixion.

But Jesus is risen, just as He said! Therefore, we should never despair, for we have a certain, living Hope. Trust in His plan. Trust in His presence. And trust in His promises.

[This devotion was preached at the sunrise service of Desiring God Community Church on April 20, 2025]

 

How to Hold Fast Our Confession

How do you respond when confronted with temptation, sin, and failure in your life?

We often respond in one of three unbiblical ways:

  • “I’m forgiven! Therefore, sin doesn’t matter!”
  • “I’ll overcome this. I’ll fight it and won’t fall into it again!”
  • “Now I’ve blown it. There’s no hope for me. I might as well give up. All is lost.”

How should we respond?

  • Not with indifference.
  • Not with self-confidence and self-effort.
  • Not with despair.

Consider what the book of Hebrews tells us at the end of chapter 4. The author has just explained that a Rest awaits God’s people; as we believe in Him and in His promises, we can rest from our works, from our efforts to cleanse ourselves. Yet we do strive – we strive to enter His rest! We work hard to depend on Him.

And striving to depend on Him instead of striving to make ourselves presentable to Him only makes sense. For we can never fool Him. His Word discerns our thoughts and intentions, opening us up before Him. He knows our every weakness, our every temptation, our every failure. While we may strive to make ourselves worthy of His acceptance, He always knows how far short we fall.

In this context, the author writes:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

That is: Jesus is our great High Priest. He overcame those very temptations that you face – and, having overcome them, He now is exalted to the right hand of God the Father. So we must hold fast to the truth of the Gospel, confessing it with our mouths, believing it in our hearts, and preaching it and applying it to ourselves every day. For remember what the Gospel tells us:

  • Jesus is indeed the Son of God. He is powerful and mighty, wise and discerning.
  • Jesus experienced weakness. He was tempted in every way even as we are – and He knows the power of temptation more thoroughly than any of us, for He resisted to the end. He understands our struggle.
  • Jesus held fast the confession. He was without sin.
  • Jesus offered the perfect sacrifice, so that you, fallen sinner that you are, might be reconciled to God the Father (Hebrews 7:27).

How, then, do we fight the fight against temptation, against unbelief? How do we follow our Lord and Savior in holding fast to our confession? Hebrews 4:16 tells us:

  • Go to the Father! He sits on the throne, showing that He is the Almighty One! He is far more powerful than the Tempter.
  • Go to the Father! With Him you will find mercy! For Jesus knows your weakness (Hebrews 5:2), and He is the One who offered sacrifices – Himself! – for you.
  • Go to the Father! Do that boldly and confidently, for the Gospel of our confession teaches that Jesus is our mediator! (Hebrews 9:15)
  • Go to the Father! For He will give you both the power to resist temptation and the power to hold fast to your confession. Indeed, He will give you the power to enter His rest, granting (as we could render the last few words of Hebrews 4:16) “grace unto a well-timed help.”

So fight the good fight – by His power. Hold fast your confession – by turning to Him, depending on His grace, actively depending on Him and His promises. Don’t belittle sin. Don’t be self-confident. And don’t despair. We have a great High Priest. Depend on Him. He will never let you down.