Hope Still

Vol. 7, No. 51 – December 25, 2022 – Hope Still, Advent 2022

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with Him. and when they came to the place that is called the Skull, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on His left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide His garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One! The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up and offering Him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” there was also an inscription over Him, “This is the King of the Jews.” One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And He said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” –Luke 23:32-43

Where are the details of His suffering? We read about it elsewhere. Why not here? It is not in the context of Luke’s message. Luke does not focus on the physical, does not focus on the emotions of the mother, does not focus on the emotional, and somewhat strangely does not focus on the spiritual as we would expect.

Luke’s focus is on the sacrifice of Jesus and what it means. It means peace for the believer. Jesus has the victory over death. Thus, He can say to the criminal that today (continuous present active), you will be with Me in paradise. There is nothing more required of the criminal. Nothing.

When he gets to heaven and is asked why he is there, he can simply say, The man on the middle cross said I could come. True. What is the message in that? It is that although Jesus was born to die, hope remains. There is Hope Still.

The message is not about sympathy for Jesus; however, it is due. The message is where people need to put their faith. It needs to be vested in the One who defeated death forever. It needs to vest itself in the promise of the Savior. A Savior that is not connected among those who reject him, they die. For them hope is lost. Is that what happened with the other criminal? It certainly appears so

If you open your Bible and read on, you will discover the hearts of those gathered around the cross. It is not a pretty picture. But it needs to be seen. When you open the Scriptures, you have in front of you the very Word of God. When you read it, you are actually seeing (and hearing) God speak. Do not miss the opportunities to listen to God. He has a vested interest in you. After all, He sent His Son to die in your place.

We are coming quickly upon another year of life on earth. We do not have any idea what the world will bring upon us. What we do know is that God brings some things to us. Hope. Love. Joy. Peace. Hope Still.

Enter 2023 with a great commitment to spend time connecting with people that lack God’s hope, love, joy, and peace. Make it your reasonable service to meet them at their point of need. They will always respond. The kind of response they make allows you discernment in how to pray for them. How to minister to them.

If it is a person that needs hope still. Stop and spend time with them.

Life is full of difficulty. Then it gets hard. Like Simeon, we need to leave this earthly life with peace. It is only available through the shed blood of Jesus. If you have not received Jesus, His love grace, and mercy is chasing you. He desires you to spend eternity with Him.

How will you respond to where Advent 2022 has taken you?

This little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine

Oh, this little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine

This little light of mine

I’m going to let it shine

Let it shine, all the time, let it shine

All around the neighborhood