“The One and Great Hope of Easter

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Scripture: Daniel 6:4-5,13, 15-16, 19-22; Luke 24:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Today is the day when our hope for eternity became a reality! Friday was the day when Jesus’ sacrifice broke the hold that sin had on our lives, and this is the day when his love for each and every one of us was made complete. Life has overcome death, forgiveness has overcome sin, love has triumphed over hatred, joy has overwhelmed sorrow, and heaven has been opened for all who will accept Christ’s invitation to follow him there by the way he has prepared.

How could any day get any better than that?

The powers of earth, even as limited as they are, did their worst to destroy the hope of that way and the thrill of this day. Their vile goal has always been one that will keep us imprisoned in sin and death, but the grace and mercy of our Almighty God is far greater than anything the world can ever conceive. Satan, the power behind the earth’s loathing of Godly ways, has known this for eons, but he has never stopped trying. Scripture is full of his story of opposition and disruption and sowing of doubt, and in every instance, he fails.

Remember the story of Satan’s attempt to destroy Daniel in the den of lions?

Read Daniel 6:4-5

Daniel was in exile in Babylon, but as was the custom, if the king discovered that he could use one of his conquered subjects, he would. Daniel had been chosen to serve in a very high position, but what wasn’t typical, is that he had become a favorite of King Darius, and the other administrators didn’t like it. He would be one of three “presidents”, or regional governors if you will, to oversee 120 lesser administrators. This was a very high honor, and he distinguished himself in his management of the king’s affairs - so much so, that the king was about to appoint Daniel to be his second in command over his entire kingdom. And so the plotting began.

The others convinced the king to have a statute built in his likeness, and to order the entire nation to worship him.

Read Daniel 6:13, 15-16

Daniel, in his obedience to his Jehovah God, refused, and continued to pray and fast as he always had. And this is the basis for the trap that would be set for this faithful man. And the “snitches” ran to the king, reminding him that the law required death if anyone refused to follow the edict he had signed. Death in the lion’s den would be the means of his punishment.

Read Daniel 6:19-22

And Satan’s henchmen failed again, and not only is their attempt to remove God’s man Daniel - this irritation - from their lives, but they, and their entire families, would lose their own lives in the same den of lions. And Daniel? He would be honored, and the king would declare that Daniel’s God, the God who was more powerful than any they had ever known, would now be the God of Babylon.

The faith that Daniel lived, regardless of his position in this foreign land, had been challenged by Satan’s purpose, and not only did the attempt fail, the great and only Jehovah had prevailed in a powerful way, and would be worshiped by the very people Satan had once controlled. Daniel’s life would come under attack, but he would not only live, he would be blessed.

Sound familiar? Satan opposed the prophets. He opposed the disciples. He has opposed the apostles and the Church in many different ways, throughout these thousands of years. And all because of faithful service in the name of the Father and the Son. And the contrived conflict has always ended in abject failure, and the glory of God has always risen above the fray.

Read Luke 24:1-12

While the Lord has spared many from the specter of death, and has been with others who must endure this physical struggle, he revealed even greater glory in his Son, by raising him from death and into a life that will never end. But the followers of Jesus Christ didn’t understand this yet. The women came to the tomb that Resurrection morning in sorrow, expecting to be greeted by death and finality. But death was nowhere to be seen!
Then confusion entered their hearts – what could possibly have happened to the body or our Master? Who in their right mind would have broken Pilate’s seal? Was he stolen? Had the tomb been looted? Where were the guards?
Then fear became their greatest concern – would they be blamed for this outrage?
And then the heavenly reminder of hope was delivered, and the emotions of earth vanished from their lives.

But isn’t this the reaction of nearly everyone when they first feel the call of Christ on their life? First, the concern that this is a man who is dead – why would I want to follow him?
But as they began to learn more and more about him, confusion enters the picture – how could this be possible? People just don’t live after they are dead! It’s impossible, unless he was never actually dead to begin with.
Then, as they grow in understanding, fear begins to settle in – what will their friends think, if they know that Christian faith is becoming important to their life. Will they laugh at me? Will they ridicule me? Will they stop inviting me to their parties and get-togethers? Will they “unfriend” me?
But just as with the women, as the reality of Christ’s truth begins to settle into our hearts, the world’s sense of reality will slowly be replaced with Godly reason, and Godly hope, and the world’s perverted version of “sense” will no longer matter.

That’s where Mary, Johanna, and the others were that morning. And hope? Hope didn’t suddenly appear for them – “Hope” had been theirs right along, and it had grown stronger every time they listened to Jesus teach them about God’s love for them, and how it would be revealed in powerful ways.
The truth is that the Hope of Christ had been obscured by the pain of loss that they were feeling. Remember that Sunday School song “This Little Light of Mine”? In one of the verses, we sing “Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m going to let it shine.” The bushel of darkness had settled over their faith, but on that morning, it was slowly being lifted by the Spirit of the Living God, and fear and doubt and confusion and loss was being lifted right along with it.

Read 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Jesus never promised his followers that the going would be easy, or that in their faithfulness, they would be honored with authority, power, wealth, possessions. The world had other plans for those who gave themselves to “The Way”. They would definitely receive something, though – like hatred, animosity, beatings, stoning, torture, crucifixion and other unspeakable atrocities. But there was one more thing that they had that no one else could ever receive – and that is the promise of eternal life.

The hope that Jesus offers is unique, and is totally based in his life, death and resurrection to eternal life. No other faith believes that God left his eternity, to come to earth as one of us, to teach, to heal, to be blatantly opposed, to be falsely tried by a religious court, to be sentenced to beating and execution, and yet, to still come back to life as a promised example to all who would simply trust in him and his word.

Our true and deserved fate for all that we have done, those things that stand in direct conflict with God’s commands is, appropriately, death, We were born to sin, we stand convicted by the very life we all live. And yet, if we simply believe in Jesus and accept all that he taught, if we accept the sacrifice that he made on our behalf at Calvary, if we let him change our life from one of condemnation to one of righteousness, we can know and live in his life for all time. In him, death is defeated, but we have to be standing with him in this life – there is no way to love the world’s way now, and still know the salvation of Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment.

Easter is the evidence of his promise, and the hope he offers has now become a certainty. He gave his life to guarantee that certainty for us – but are we willing to give our life to him, that we might receive his promise?

It’s the only way, you know.