Brave 11.16.20

Brave Devotional Series - Week 6 – Not So Grim Reaper - Monday – Pastor Chris
The Hope of Resurrection
Scripture Reading — John 16:16-20 (NASB)
“A little while, and you no longer are going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” So some of His disciples said to one another, “What is this that He is telling us, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to question Him, and He said to them, “Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you are not going to see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy!

If you watch sports, there will always be a game where an unexpected comeback will occur. Inevitably there will be a moment where an individual or team faces imminent defeat, and then all of a sudden, a spark ignites, and a dramatic comeback happens. Unfortunately, those comebacks literally from the jaws of defeat are rare and often never materialize. We often hope for that type of comeback when we see a loved one passing from this world to the next, as the confusion and sadness of the reality of impending death become ever so real.

I can only imagine this in some way was how Christ's followers felt watching Him on the cross. The man who seemed unstoppable now laid bare, crucified at the hands of mere men. I am sure they must have been asking themselves, "What happened," while hoping for a "last-second comeback."

And just like all sports games, the clock continued to tick, and there was no miracle comeback. The journey was now over. The Messiah who had come to deliver them hung on the cross, dead. I can only imagine their thoughts as they walked back, wondering what was next?
In some ways, we all end up on this train of thought when we experience death. When a loved one we dearly care for suddenly departs from us, we ask ourselves, "what happened?" Like the disciples, we feel lost and without hope.

But death was not the end of the story! Instead, Christ rose from the grave, and what seemed to be a disastrous end turned into the miracle of resurrection. We all can experience the miracle of resurrection when we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. We have the hope and certainty of eternity when we believe in Jesus.

And because we have that hope, we have the tremendous responsibility of sharing that with everyone we love and know because all of us will experience death, but not all of us experience salvation in Jesus. Jesus will always make sure we who believe in him have an eternal comeback.