Living Hope

The Second Sunday of Easter

April 16, 2023

1 Peter 1:3-9

 “Living Hope”

On this Second Sunday of Easter, it’s important to bear in mind that Scripture does not record that there were any eyewitnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. Yes, we are told that an angel of the Lord “descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone” from the tomb (Matthew 28:2). Yes, we are told that the soldiers from the guard who were stationed at the tomb were there (Matthew 28:4), but we are only told that “for fear of him they became like dead men.” But even these did not actually witness Jesus’ resurrection. What we have are accounts of those who met the risen Christ after he rose from the dead. That is what we heard in the Gospel on Easter Sunday when Jesus met the two Marys at the tomb (Matthew 28:9-10), and that is what we hear today as Jesus comes to meet the disciples who are gathered behind closed and locked doors. But how did they know that it was really Jesus? All of the accounts from the Gospels have this in common: those to whom the risen Lord Jesus appeared knew Jesus by his scars: his hands and feet and side. Even in his resurrected and glorified body, Jesus still bore the signs of his suffering and death upon the cross. That is how the disciples knew that it really was Jesus. Through the redeeming work of the crucified and risen Christ, the disciples – and we – have been born again to a living hope. That becomes the theme for the message this day. May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

What is hope exactly? We often use that word as a verb: “I hope that the Nats have a winning season,” or “I hope that we get some rain soon,” or “I hope that everything works out for the best.” But more often than not, Scripture uses hope not as a verb, but as a noun. This is how it comes to us in the opening verse of today’s Epistle lesson: “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” (1 Peter 1:3). Not just any hope, but a living hope. This hope is a living, vibrant thing that causes us to rejoice and give thanks, even when we pass through various trials, as Peter tells us. This living hope sustains us as we go along day by day, and it does so because it is rooted and grounded in the living Lord Jesus Christ. More than just a great figure from history, what distinguishes Jesus from everything else and everyone else is that he is alive. He is risen from the dead, and he is with us always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). This is what lifts us up and gives us the strength to carry on, even when it would be easy to do otherwise. Our hope is in the risen Savior Jesus Christ who loves us and gave his life for us on the cross.

One of the things that we may struggle with is that this hope is based on things that we ourselves have not seen with our own eyes. We can identify with Thomas in today’s Gospel lesson (John 20:19-31), who just could not, or would not, believe that Jesus had really risen from the dead. Despite what his friends, the other disciples, told him about what they had experienced in seeing Jesus with their own eyes, Thomas dug in his heels and emphatically said: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” (John 20:25). Hard stop! But how did the disciples know that it really was Jesus? “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:20). And that’s the rock-solid proof that Thomas wanted. Maybe that’s what we want. Maybe that’s what we ourselves long for; that confirmation, that verification, that it really is Jesus. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for because you might just get it. A little over a week later, Jesus met the disciples where they were, and Thomas was with them. Closed and locked doors are no obstacle for Jesus to enter in, then or now. Jesus invited Thomas to touch and feel, to see and know, that it really was Jesus. Scripture does not record whether or not Thomas actually did touch and feel Jesus’ wounds. We often think he did, but the account here in John’s Gospel does not say that. It moves directly from Jesus’ invitation to Thomas to Thomas’ declaration of faith: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Was just seeing Jesus and talking to him face-to-face enough for Thomas? Did he place his fingers and hand into the nail and spear wounds of Jesus? Whatever it was, the outcome for Thomas was living hope in the living Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not praise Thomas for his refusal to believe. Rather, Jesus pronounced a blessing on those who do believe in him, sight unseen: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). That’s you and me! Jesus calls us “blessed.” We are blessed because we do believe and we do hold fast to this living hope in a living Savior who is risen from the dead, who has brought life and immortality to light. And that is faith, as the Word of God tells us: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). That living Savior comes to us today to strengthen us in this living hope. Through his Word and holy Supper, he comes just as surely as he did to those first disciples who were huddled and fearful behind closed and locked doors. Whatever fears we may be facing in life, whatever doors we may have closed and locked to keep Jesus out, he is more than able to enter in. As with those first disciples, so with his disciples today, the word he speaks to us is the same: “Peace be with you” (John 20:19, 26). This is the gift that our risen Lord Jesus Christ brings to our lives: peace which the world cannot bring (John 14:27); peace which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7). That is living hope and hope for living.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.