Our Sure And Ultimate Hope

"Today's Devotion" For March 2, 2005

Read: Matthew 20:17-19
Acts 2:22-36

OUR SURE AND ULTIMATE HOPE

"'On the third day He will be raised to life.'"(Mt. 20:20b)

In all my years of being a pastor and the occasions that I've had to provide ministry at the deathbed of a brother or sister in Christ, I still find myself searching for the "right" things to say to the bereaved. If you've ever been at the bedside of a dying loved one, you know the sense of helplessness and hopelessness that seems to permeate the room. While it's a difficult time, there's great joy in sharing the promise of God's forgiveness and hope of eternal life in Jesus with the dying person. Yet, often, finding words of comfort for the bereaved is a different issue. Everyone wants to do something even though nothing can be done to change the situation. Not even the doctors are able to do anything to help. Death is imminent and unstoppable. Whether we like it or not, facing death is both frightening and final. No human hand can stay the course of death. From a human perspective there is no hope or victory in death, only despair.

As we observe the forty days of "purpose" in Lent again this year, we're once more brought fact to face with the inevitability of our Lord's suffering and death for the sins of the world and His call to us to follow Him. It's not too hard, therefore, to imagine what the twelve disciples felt when Jesus, for the second time in a short period, pulls them aside and confides in them that He is going to Jerusalem to be betrayed and condemned to death. While Matthew doesn't tell us how the Twelve responded, it's not too much of a stretch to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine their emotions. Matthew notes that Jesus also told them that after His death He would rise again on the third day, yet I suspect that their minds were more focused on Jesus' betrayal, suffering, and death. Unlike an earlier time when Jesus told them the same thing, this time there are no responses like Peter's (Mt.16:22-23) decrying Jesus' words. Instead we perceive their silence; it seems as if they're starting to believe the inevitability of Jesus' death. Were they numb from this pronouncement, as any of us would be when the doctors would pronounce the situation hopeless for a loved one? Or were they again stunned by the realization that Jesus' mission wasn't going to go away. That they didn't accept the inevitability of His mission is reflected in subsequent events, particularly on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.

We can't get away from the reality and finality of death. No matter how hard we might try to come to grips with it or ignore it, it's very much a part of life for all of us. Whether we are young or old, rich or poor, a genius or just an ordinary "Joe" or "Jill," death touches all of us whether it's a loved one, an acquaintance, a neighbor, or ourselves. Everyone is going to die. We can either live our lives despairing of death and afraid to acknowledge its inevitability, or we can live lives that are filled with hope, knowing that in Christ death is defeated and we have the hope and promise of eternal life with Him. It's that hope that is confirmed for us each day as we live as Baptized children of God, crucified with Christ to Sin, and raised with Him to our Father in heaven. Each day we are confronted and comforted by His assurance that in Jesus our sins are forgiven and we are held in the very palm of His hand. Each day we receive the power and presence of God's Word and Spirit working hope and peace in our hearts and lives. Each time we participate in the Lord's death as we partake of the Lord's Supper, we are strengthened and emboldened to live life to the full as witness of Christ suffering, death and resurrection. The grave couldn't hold Jesus. It will also not hold us, because we are His. That is "Our Sure and Ultimate Hope."

Prayer: Father, I don't like to talk, or even think about death. I spend most of my life planning for the future, preoccupied with the present, and ignoring the reality that the next moment I could draw my last breath. This denial on my part is not good, I know, so please help me to come to grips with the reality of death, its inevitability in this life, and the hope that You give me in Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection. Enable me to live each day as if it were my last day on earth so that I may be a bold witness to others of the sure and ultimate hope the whole world has in Jesus, my Savior and my Lord. In His most precious name I pray. Amen.
*********************************************

--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.