Hope Restored – Week of April 20, 2026
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 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: 30-31, 33-34
Hope Restored
The bucket of Perler beads toppled to the floor before anyone could stop it. And then chaos ensued. There were gasps, “Oh no! What are we going to do?” There were shouts, “Now the colors are mixed up!” We froze in horror as we watched beads bouncing around the room, under tables and bookshelves. What a mess! It was going to take some time to clean up and sort out.
After Jesus came back to life, his disciples were still trying to sort out the last few days; they were trying to put all the pieces together. They watched their Lord suffer and die. They felt hopeless and scared. They wondered if Jesus’ enemies would come for them, too. Everything seemed uncertain.
But now they were hearing that maybe—just maybe—Jesus was alive! It must have been a very confusing time. From the women’s account at the tomb to Jesus appearing in the locked room, the stories seemed unbelievable. What a puzzle it was! What a mess to sort out!
But that’s what Jesus does. Because of his powerful love for us, he sorts out our messes, even our biggest ones. He lived in this world, saw all kinds of sin, and underwent all kinds of temptations. He saw his best friends betray him, deny him, and abandon him. In our day, he watches us fall into trouble after trouble, mess after mess, and sin after sin.
What a mess we are! Sometimes we try to clean up our own mess. We resolve to “be better”. We seek ways to help others and to love others more than ourselves. We try to resist evil. And although these are all things that we should do out of love for our Savior, none of them will earn us a place in heaven. Nothing we do will clean up our mess of sin—especially since we can never do them to the standard of God’s perfection.
And yet, Jesus is the hope in a hopeless world. He cleaned up our mess when he died on the cross and came back to life. By his grace (that is, his undeserved love) we are forgiven and given a new life filled with hope. He restored our hope on that first Easter Sunday, and every day we are reminded of this undeserved love.
Our hope has been restored! We can be assured that even though our earthly future seems uncertain, we can be confident that Jesus will be with us every step of the way. He promises to be with us always, to hold our hand on this earth and to lead us on to heaven.
Prayer:
Dear Restorer of Hope,
Thank you for cleaning up my mess of sin. Help me to learn more about you every day, so that I may share this hope with others that I meet. May I cling to this hope that I have all the days of my life until I see you in heaven. Amen.
