Hope is difficult; perhaps no one felt that as deeply as the disciples during Holy Week.
They had left everything to follow a man they believed was the Messiah, only for him to talk about dying, walk right into danger, get brutally arrested, and unjustly killed. The events of Holy Week contradicted everything they understood about the Messiah and the God who promised to save them.
Sometimes life seems to contradict every bit of our theology. Try as we may to be hopeful, some moments leave us unsure in what we can even hope. However, just as Jesus led his disciples to a new understanding of hope, the Spirit is able to do the same for us today.
Rejecting Hope No Longer is a 31 day devotional exploring how hope is available to us today, and why we have a tendency to reject it. It is my personal, transparent exploration of hope amidst hardship, made public because I know I’m not alone in struggling with hope.
The days leading up to the crucifixion left many feeling hopeless, even those resolved to follow Jesus to the end, yet Jesus knew there was hope. In the Garden, as he wept so hard blood mixed with this tears, Jesus knew with his entire being that an eternal hope not only existed, it was worth giving his life, as it was about to utterly change everything.
I believe he wants us to know that hope as well.
The timing of its release with Holy Week was unintentional, yet feels deeply relevant, and if it’s relevant to your life, you can find it in three forms:
