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]

 

Remember!

Remember!

Scripture exhorts us again and again not to forgot, but to remember who God is, what He has done, what He has told us.

This Sunday we noted the command the man in dazzling apparel gives the women looking for His body:

“Remember how [Jesus] told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (Luke 24:6b-7)

We focused on Paul’s command to Timothy in his final epistle, looking in detail at what we are to remember, and when we are to remember:

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel (2 Timothy 2:8).

Consider then some of the many other times God commands us in Scripture not to forget, but to remember:

Exodus 3:15 “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.”

Numbers 15:38-40   “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner.  And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after. So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.

Deuteronomy 7:17-19  “If you say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?’ you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Deuteronomy 8:18  You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth

Deuteronomy 9:7  Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 15:15  You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you

Joshua 1:13  “Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, ‘The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’”

1 Chronicles 16:11-15  Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations.

Nehemiah 4:14  “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”

Psalm 42:6  My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you.

Psalm 45:17  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

Psalm 63:5-7  My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Psalm 77:11-12   I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.

Psalm 78:5-7  He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;

Psalm 103:2-5  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 105:5  Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.

Psalm 106:7   Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Psalm 119:16  I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119:55  I remember your name in the night, O LORD, and keep your law.

Psalm 143:5-6 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Proverbs 3:1-2  My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.

Proverbs 4:3-5   When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.  Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.

Ecclesiastes 12:1  Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.

Isaiah 17:10   You have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge.

Isaiah 46:9-10  “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Mark 8:17-21  “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?  Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”  “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

John 15:20  “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.”

John 16:4  “I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Ephesians 2:11-13  Remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands– remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

2 Peter 3:1-2  In both of [my letters] I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.

Jude 1:17  But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 3:2-3  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.

Ponder these statements. Let them serve to remind you of who God is, of what He has done, and what He has promised; of who we are, and what we deserve; of the Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice on our behalf, His resurrection, and His future return; of our right response to these great truths: To turn, to trust, and to treasure.

[All emphases are added. See also this devotion from 2013 that categorizes verses on remembering according to topic. The audio from the April 1, 2018 sermon will be available at this link soon.]