Hanging out with Jesus at EASTER: The Living Hope

Hanging out with Jesus at EASTER: The Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3-5

A visit to a large pop up shop that was selling easter related items in a Johannesburg mall  confirmed a clear trend to divert focus from Christ to a rabbit (bunny) or  a mere holiday.  The shop had no single item related to Christ and his death and resurrection. For some, easter has origins in the springtime celebration of an ancient fertility goddess Ostara whose earthly symbol was a rabbit. A rabbit can have forty babies in a year and because of this ability to reproduce fast is associated with fertility and procreation. The festivals include the rabbit delivering easter baskets to children. The festivals are also associated with easter eggs.  For others in secular communities easter has become a highly commercialized vacation time. 

For believers Easter is a time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. "He is not here, but is risen" (Luke 24:6). All human might as represented by the Roman power and soldiers was powerless to stop his resurrection.  No powers of darkness could also stop his resurrection. What they failed to stop they cannot take away.  The stone was rolled away - and Jesus walked out alive. For Paul  the priority message to share was:  "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scripture, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:3-6, 1 Corinthians 1, 2). The foundation of Christianity rests securely on this truth: Jesus is alive!  If he is dead then our faith is empty. If the tomb is not empty then our faith is empty.

Peter lived through the crucifixion ordeal.   Denying Jesus was something that shattered his self-confidence. He was an eyewitness. He had boasted that he would not leave him nor forsake him. He had bragged that he would stay true and fight for him even unto death. Peter meant so well, but he failed so miserably. In end, He denied that he even knew him. He disowned Jesus despite the warning “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven”? - Matthew 10:32-33. He must have felt worthless and disgraced eternally. He also had been rebuked ‘get thee behind me satan’. He more lately was rebuked for striking the high priest’s servant with a sword cutting his ear off. He had regrets. The Master had brought them to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray, but instead they fell asleep. Perhaps if they had been prayerful things could have happened differently. He loathed the fact that he failed at the last hurdle after having courageously followed at a distance as Christ was taken to Caiaphas, the chief priest’s house. He had followed all the way to the courtyard. He saw it all. He saw them falsely accuse Jesus, mock him, spit on him, and slap him. Later he may have seen the Roman Governor Pilate having him whipped and crowned with thorns. The chants from the crowd, “crucify him, crucify him,” echoed in his memory for a long time.

Apart from his denial and its failure and shame, he shared with the other disciples disappointment and loss of hope. What hope is left when your god is dead?  None is left. It had just been the worst two and a half days of their lives. They had fled and abandoned the master at his point of greatest need. They also were in shock that one of their own would betray the Master with a kiss. They had left all and pinned their hope on Christ. Peter recalled saying, ‘Where shall we go you have words of eternal life’

However, the resurrection turned Simon, a shaking reed into Peter (Greek) or Cephas (Aramaic) a rock.  Peter is the prophetic word to all people who are like shaking reeds. It is the living hope. When Jesus rose from the dead, he particularly reached out to Peter. "They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them assembled together and saying, 'It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon'" (Luke 24.33-34).  When the women who visited the tomb met an angel that announced that he was risen they were to go and tell the disciples and Peter.  The reassurance was vital to revitalize Peter’s faith after he had denied Jesus three times in the space of two cockcrows. 

He described His resurrection as the living hope.  ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ – 1 Peter 1:3. He recalled how he fell to his lowest point in his relationship with Jesus but with the great triumph of Christ over the grave he received renewed hope. This became his basis for encouraging Christians who were suffering for their faith, enduring great hardships such as being beaten, thrown in prison, and martyred for being Christians.  He directs them to the source of living hope – the resurrection.  Christ’s triumph was his and our triumph. The cross and the empty tomb symbolize God at his best and man at his worst - God at his best to bring man from his worst. Peter is a vivid illustration. People who encounter the risen Christ are never the same. 

Three things the resurrection of Jesus meant to Peter (1 Peter 1:3-5) and should mean to us:

a) New birth. The crucifixion gave forgiveness of sin. The resurrection gave brought newness of life. Christ’s death cleansed us but the resurrection empowered us and opened the way for the Holy Spirit.  It brought a new hope, a new way of looking at things and complete life transformation. Peter and the other disciples where changed after the resurrection.  Instead of being frozen with fear, guilt, sorrow, disappointment, something changed in their life. They became bold, fearless, motivated men and women with purpose. What had changed? They encountered the risen Christ. Once they encountered the risen Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit, their lives were never the same.

b) Living hope. Our hope is based on the solid evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.   The women discovered that the womb was empty. They told the disciples.  Jesus also appeared to all the disciples except Thomas in a locked room.  Their hope was restored.  Living hope is sure and cannot be killed. It is so by nature. Even when threatened or seemingly lost it resurfaces. It fulfills the promise in John 14:2-3. “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” That is our hope. Jesus has gone ahead and has come back for us so that we might be where he is. When we believe Jesus’ words no one can take that away from us. The disciples became Spirit filled emissaries for Jesus so full of hope that they died for the gospel.

c) Fresh perspective.  The resurrection instills an eternal perspective. Peter became aware of the eternal inheritance in Christ that cannot be destroyed or faint.  “And into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-- kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” - 1 Peter 1:4-5 NIV.

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa