The excerpt was then extracted with permission from Wilson Porte Jr’s book Depression and Grace, Faithful Editor.
It is practically impossible to define certain virtues present in Christianity. How to define love?How to graphically define forgiveness?And, among many other benefits that the Holy Ghost brings to the hearts of those who love God, hope is perhaps the most difficult to define.
- Brazilians often say that “hope is the last to die.
- “Hope is the word that many people use in politics to collect votes.
- Hope is the most widely used word by religions.
- Today.
- However.
- Many people suffer from depression due to frustrated hope.
Hope is always tied to the future. And because the future of everything and everyone is uncertain, hope will always be tied to the indescribable. We all need it. We all, to some extent, face hope or lack there, so we all need to understand what the scriptures say about our security for the future.
Hope is the act of waiting, and waiting is not easy!Even more so when you wait so long for something that, after a long time, happens in a completely different way than what we dream or imagine. At that moment, are we frustrated?” Hope is the last to die, ” but, for some, he is apparently already dead.
I have always been reminded of a Bible story about frustrated hope: it tells us about two young men who had great hope in The Life and Ministry of Jesus, but who, on the day of the crucifixion, everything finally fell apart. that Jesus Christ would free the Jews from the yoke of the Roman Empire, they hoped that the Messiah would be a great national liberator, they followed him, they trusted him, and sincerely hoped that his life would not end like this: to receive the worst and most terrible death penalty of the time: the crucifixion. Read this story carefully and watch the Lord open their eyes to understand the true hope God wants us all to have.
That same day, two of them were heading to a town called Emmaus, 60 stadia from Jerusalem. And they talked about everything that happened. It turns out that while they were talking and arguing, Jesus himself came and went with them. However, her eyes seemed unable to recognize him. Then Jesus asked them: What are you worried about and what are you dealing with as you walk? And they stopped saddened. But one, named Cleopas, responded by saying: Are you the only one who, having been in Jerusalem, does not know the events of these last days? He asked them: Which ones? They explained: What happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a male prophet, powerful in deed and word, before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our authorities handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified. Now, we hoped that it was he who would redeem Israel; but, after all this, it is already the third day that such things have happened. It is also true that some of the women who were with us surprised us, having gone to the tomb at dawn; and, not finding the body of Jesus, they returned saying that they had a vision of the angels, who affirm that he lives. In fact, some of our people went to the grave and verified the accuracy of what the women said; but they didn’t see it. Then Jesus said to them: Oh, you fools and last-hearted for believing all that the prophets have said! Was it not appropriate for Christ to suffer and come to his glory? And beginning with Moses, speaking to all the prophets, he explained what was in him in all the Scriptures.
As he approached the village where they were going, he made a move to pass, but they embarrassed him by saying, Stay with us, it’s late and the day is already deteriorating, and he came in to be with them. And it came to turn that when they were at the table, taking the bread, he blessed it, and, breaking it, gave it to him; Then his eyes opened and they recognized him; but he disappeared from his presence. And they said to themselves, “Didn’t our hearts burn when he spoke to us on the way, when he exposed the scriptures to us?”And immediately, rising, they returned to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven and others gathered with them, who said, The Lord rose, and appeared unto Simon!Then the two told them what had happened to them along the way and how they had recognized it by spliting the bread.
They were still talking about these things when Jesus appeared among them and said to them, Peace be with you, but they, surprised and frightened, thought they saw a spirit, but he said to them, Why are you angry and why do you doubt?come to your heart? Look at my hands and my feet, which is me; Touch me and notice, for a mind has no flesh or bones, as you see I have; In saying this, he showed them his hands and feet; and because they did not yet believe, because of joy and wonder, Jesus said unto them, Do they have anything to eat here?Then they presented him with a piece of roasted fish [and a ray of honey] and he ate in their presence.
Then Jesus said unto them, These are the words which I said unto you when I was still with you: it mattered that all that is written of me was fulfilled in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the psalms. understanding to understand the scriptures; And he said unto them, Thus it is written that Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance was preached in his name for the remission of sins to all nations from Jerusalem. Things. Behold, I send you the promise of my Father; therefore, stay in the city until you are seen with the power above.
Then he took them to Bethany and, raising his hands, blessed them; it happened that while he blessed them, he turned away from them, being resurrected in heaven; then they, adoring him, returned to Jerusalem, defeated with great joy; and they were always in the temple praising God (Lk 24:13-53).
This event took place on the day Christ was resurrected, the first day of a new world that was resurrected with him; however, the blessings of this new world were linked to a very small group that had followed and learned from Jesus of Nazareth, and even among them, their hope in this new world faded when the great liberator and the Messiah were finally killed in the most tragic way possible in the first century of the Christian era.
This text presents the story of two young men whose hopes were thwarted that day and were sad. They had been disciples of Jesus, full of hope that he would be the one who would return Israel to an independent and sovereign kingdom, because many felt that Christ was the one who would return the kingdom to Israel. kingdom. He had performed miracles and taught things that designated him as the expected Messiah, there was a great expectation in the Nazarene, but when he was crucified, the following question remained: will he be the son of God himself to come Would he not restore the kingdom of Israel?And how, then, had he been crucified, killed and buried?
With the death of Christ many were frustrated and saddened, until the eleven apostles were filled with doubts and fear of ending up dead too, that is when Cleophas and his friend were heading to the small village of Emmaus, just over eleven kilometers from Jerusalem. As they walked, they say the scriptures, Jesus himself approached them and began to accompany the conversation by asking them, “What are these words that, as they walk, exchange with each other?”And, at that moment, Cleophas stopped and, very saddened (v. 17), and wondering about his question, replied, “Are you the only pilgrim in Jerusalem who does not know what happened in those days?”And Jesus, calling them to the conversation, asks them, “Which?”
Then we realize the sadness of Cleophas and his friend because of a frustrated hope. In verse 21, they confess what they expected of this Jesus of Nazareth: “Now we hoped that he would redeem Israel. “However, it was Already Sunday and Jesus was crucified on Friday at nine o’clock in the morning. At three o’clock in the afternoon he died and was quickly buried before six o’clock in the afternoon. It was Easter Sunday! The Risen Jesus himself was there with them, and they did not notice. Often, events that seem devastating are fundamental to God’s action and purpose in our lives.
After exposing to this unknown pilgrim what had happened in Jerusalem in the last days and why they were so sad and frustrated, Jesus said to them:
O fools, and it takes you a long time to believe all that the prophets have said!Does it matter that Christ suffered these things and entered into his glory?And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was found of him in all the scriptures. .
Thus began the most fantastic preaching in the history of mankind: Jesus himself preached to two people about himself, the Messiah, exposing the entire Old Testament for hours. How I would have liked to be there, to listen to the sweet and kind. voice of the Redeemer, and may my heart warm with words so pure, so holy, so liberating and so wise.
But for God’s purposes, today’s preaching was intended only for these two frustrated young men, so they both listened very carefully, until they reached their destination, I do not know if they already knew this story and if they had already stopped. to think about its implications. Let’s think about it a little more.
This must have been the most fantastic preaching in history. Jesus, preaching in the Old Testament, so that these two may simply listen!How wonderful it must have been for these young men to hear the message of salvation from Christ’s very mouth!And Luke tells us that when they approached Emmaus, Jesus affirmed that He would walk more, but the disciples insisted that he stay, eat, and sleep at home, and Jesus agreed. Then, at lunchtime, after Jesus gave thanks for the food, his eyes were “open” and they realized that this pilgrim was the same Jesus who had been killed. And then Jesus disappeared.
They ran the eleven kilometers back to Jerusalem to say all this to the eleven apostles and, as they counted, Jesus appeared again among them, leaving everyone a mixture of fear, joy, and wonder; there was no doubt for anyone else: Jesus. was resurrected!
Like these disciples on the way to Emmaus, we are also not free to be frustrated by the hopes and expectations in our spiritual life. God has left us many promises. And we, when we know them, cling to all, and because God’s promises are eternal, abundant, and wonderful life, sometimes we do not understand the reason for difficulties and sufferings.
Although we do not find the word modern depression in the Bible, we see its symptoms in the stories of men and women of God who have experienced anguish and suffering. In this book full of wisdom and pastoral sensitivity, Wilson Porte Jr. presents the reader with a thorough Bible study that highlights the typical cases of depression in the lives of God’s servants in the scriptures and how they were relieved of their suffering through God’s grace.
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