The Answer of Hope: An Easter DevotionalChikamu

Day 2: The Living Hope of Jesus

Today’s devotion is brought to you by Jack Vasquez and translated by Fernando Sinacay. Jack is the Manager of Partnerships in Global Program working at Compassion Peru.

The Lord’s hour is getting closer, and He’s preparing to celebrate the Passover with His disciples one last time. The book of Luke reminds us that the lamb must be sacrificed for Passover. There is no Passover without sacrifice. There is no other way for men to receive forgiveness. Our Lord Jesus, during the Passover celebration, shares a very special moment with His disciples—the Last Supper. As we read in Luke 22, we see the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine among them. But more than sharing a meal, it marked a meaningful milestone of the sacrifice that was to come. More than a mere Passover celebration, Jesus establishes the Lord’s Supper, which represents to us the acknowledgment of Jesus’s perfect sacrifice for us in our condition as sinners, which He redeemed through his death and resurrection. Jesus gave precise instructions to remember Him for His sacrifice made for us at the cross of Calvary.

The Last Supper was a meaningful event, and it proclaimed a crucial moment in God’s plan for the world. Comparing Jesus’s crucifixion with the Passover, we can easily see the redemptive nature of Christ’s death and how it symbolizes the Passover’s original sacrifice in the Old Testament. Christ’s death atones for the sins of His people. His blood rescues us from death and saves us from slavery.

The Passover invites us to celebrate and to relive Jesus’s surrender to death because of His love for us and the power of His resurrection, which reminds all men that we were created to live with God for eternity. It’s also a celebration and remembrance of hope, as we partake of the body and blood of Christ.

Likewise, during the Last Supper, Jesus taught His disciples by example the principles of service and forgiveness when He washed His disciples’ feet (Luke 22:26-27; John 13:1-20).

Today we gather around the Lord’s table and examine our own hearts. What we do at this table is done in remembrance of Him. We look back to see what He did on the cross and look forward to the day of His second coming.

Easter shouldn’t only remind us of the life, passion and death of Jesus but also of the message of faith and hope. Even when all hope seemed lost, and there wasn’t possible reconciliation in sight, Jesus paid the ultimate price so we could have eternal life. It doesn’t matter how dark or desperate a situation is, whether in our lives or the world we live in; the death and resurrection of Jesus assures us that Hope is alive, and His name is Jesus.

Reflection: Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of the areas of your life that you need to keep grounded in the living hope of Jesus.

Prayer: Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for Your precious sacrifice on the cross. We are reminded today that no matter how hopeless it seems, we have a living hope in You. A hope that will never fail nor forsake us. Help us to lean on this great truth in every area of our lives. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.