Easter, The Gospel Of Hope

TITLE: EASTER, THE GOSPEL OF HOPE

SCRIPTURE: ST. MARK 16:1-8

One of the great disparities between the first Easter and our Easter today is that today Easter has become that time when we as Christians at least appear to have everything together — and that’s not a bad thing - this is just part of our church culture in America. Easter Sunday is extra special, so we –

• Dress a little nicer

• We get our family photo

• We plan family dinner

• We want this morning worship service to go really well — because it’s Easter!

There is nothing at all wrong with that; but we should realize the first Easter was nothing like this at all. In fact, the first Easter was almost the exact opposite, and Mark’s Gospel, more than any other, gives us this perspective. This is how Mark describes that first Easter morning - he says –

• Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb where Jesus was buried, and they discover the tomb is empty

• Then an angel tells them Jesus is risen; that he’s not here

• Then Marks ends it like this - AND THEY WENT OUT AND FLED FROM THE TOMB, FOR TREMBLING AND ASTONISHMENT HAD SEIZED THEM, AND THEY SAID NOTHING TO ANYONE, FOR THEY WERE AFRAID

So Jesus is risen from the dead, just like he said he would, and we should celebrate — and we do! — but the first disciples, at first, were not celebratory, but confused.

• They didn’t know what to do

• They were astounded

• And this is what gets at the great question of the Resurrection

The great question of the Resurrection is not whether it really happened - it did — and the evidence is overwhelming, so that’s not the question. INSTEAD, THE GREAT QUESTION OF THE RESURRECTION IS -- NOW WHAT? Now that Jesus has risen; now that the tomb is empty — what does that mean for us? - what do we do with that? - how does this make things different? That’s the great question of the Resurrection, and rest of the New Testament is written to basically give us the answer, and if it had to be summed up in one word - it’s HOPE. The good news of Jesus, the Christian Gospel, is A Gospel of Hope.

Just in terms of how we think about the Resurrection, I want us to get the order right.

• The resurrection of Jesus is not the end of Christianity - it’s the beginning

• It’s not the great climax of the narrative - but in some ways, it’s almost like the setting; it’s the start

• It’s the new thing

• It’s kind of like a new creation, and what it gives us is Hope

• That’s what the APOSTLE PETER says in I PETER 1:3. -- “BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! ACCORDING TO HIS GREAT MERCY, HE HAS CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN TO A LIVING HOPE THROUGH THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD…”

The Apostle Paul defines Hope by telling us what it’s not -- hope can’t be seen. It is not tangible. If you hope in something you see, that’s not hope. Hope, then, has to do with the future. It means to have a confident expectation in what is to come. That’s what the original Greek word meant, and that’s how we use the word today. Hope is about the future. it’s a resolve - a feeling - a conviction we have about something we’ve not yet seen but believe that we will see. I know what you are thinking here, you might be wondering now: well, how this is any different from faith?

• Hope and Faith sound the same - but they’re different

• The difference is nuanced, but important

• Hope is the expectation of those things that Faith has believed to be true

• This is why the scripture says -- HEBREWS 11:1 “FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR….”

• For Faith to materialize it must contain the footprint of Hope

So Faith considers something true of God now, and whenever that truth crosses the line into waiting and looking for the future it becomes Hope. It’s been said that –

• Faith is the foundation of Hope

• Hope grows on Faith

• But then Hope invigorates and gives strength to Faith

The New Testament idea of Hope is different from the way we use the word hope today, like we say "I hope it doesn’t rain." We’re referring to the uncertainty of future events. You might be surprised to know that is not the same thing as the Bible meaning of Hope. When the Bible speaks of Hope it is talking about the very opposite of uncertainty. it is communicating with assurance, with confidence that these future events spoken of are surely going to take place. There is no “Hoping,” because it is a surety.