The Reason For Hope

THE REASON FOR HOPE

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”

So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!

“As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?

“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.”

To defend against the accusations, Paul reframed the dispute so those present could have a better understanding. It was not just the Resurrection or Paul’s assertion of its truth that got him in trouble; it was what the Resurrection meant, both about who Jesus was and what was to come for those who believed in him. What led to Paul’s trial was his hope—or confidence—that Jesus was the one to whom the law and the prophets pointed as the Savior and Messiah and that all people—Jews and Gentiles alike—could have eternal life through him. This was a dangerous hope, though. As we see in Paul’s letters in the rest of the New Testament, the gospel undermined social-status structures, cultural norms, and boundaries that kept Jews and Gentiles separated.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• The apostle Peter said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV). How would you answer a friend who asked, “Why do you have hope in Jesus?”
• What activities and disciplines tend to fill you with hope? What activities and environments tend to discourage you or leave you filled with doubt?

Father, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that all things point to him and that my eternity is secure in him. I want my life to be a testimony to the hope I have in him. Fill me with your Spirit anew each day and remind me of your love and presence. When someone asks me about my life, my journey, or my hope, give me the words to share clearly and courageously. And when I fall into despair, please bring along a friend to encourage me and remind me of the hope I have in you. Amen.