Jesus Gives us Hope

Dear Friends,

Mark 16:1-8 — one of the reasons why we believe that the Gospel accounts are accurate and faithful is that they are eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Furthermore, these eyewitness accounts have a ring of authenticity because they show the weakness of the followers of Jesus. These followers of Jesus are not airbrushed to make them look more impressive than they are. It was the women who went to the tomb on Easter morning to anoint Jesus’ body. They were not expecting a Saviour who had risen from the dead.

The first piece of evidence is that the tomb of Jesus is empty. There is no body and the second piece of evidence is that they met an angel. They are understandably frightened but he assures them that Jesus is risen. The honesty of the account comes to the fore and describes the women as trembling and afraid even though they are assured that they will see Jesus as they go.

The crucified and risen Jesus gives us hope. Australia and our world has seen flood, fire, pestilence, famine and war and many people feel doubt and are more uncertain than ever about the future. People are looking for certainty and hope. Jesus Himself offers us hope in the midst of a broken world. He came to deal with our greatest problem which is sin and give us new life through the power of His resurrection, so that we can be assured of life beyond death.

God’s Blessing David O’Mara

From the 10am Pastor’s Bulletin, 17 April 2022