Confident Expectation

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21 KJV)

Most people understand hope as wishful thinking, as in I hope something will happen. In the Bible, hope is used in the sense of “joyful and confident expectation.” Maybe you hope for good things to happen, or like me sometimes, you tend to rather hope that bad things won’t happen.

In times of serious trouble, we need serious hope, and that’s what we can receive through Jesus. His resurrection, which Christians commemorate this week, includes the promise of our own eternal life with Him. As King David of old said, “Because of this, my heart will be glad, my words will be joyful, and I will live in hope.” (Acts 2;26)

Jesus left indications of how He wants us to lead our lives.
He calls us to be His hands, His feet, His eyes, His lips; to bind up the brokenhearted, comfort those that mourn, raise those whose spirits have died from despair and loneliness, give new sight to the blind by giving them Jesus the light, share the gospel with the poor, undo the heavy burdens, and set the spiritually oppressed free. “Freely you have received, freely give.”

Let’s place Jesus at the heart of our Easter celebrations and share with everyone we can the wonderful news of His birth, death, and resurrection, which provide “confident expectation” of a new life for all who reach out to Him. [1]

The great gift of Easter is hope - Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake. - Basil C. Hume

[1] Activated A Christian’s Hope