Paul Barker
3 February 2025
A wide range of people in various ministry contexts will post their reflections on Christian hope here each week, from now until Pentecost when the Hope25 initiative comes to its conclusion. This series aims to encourage us to have a sure and certain hope in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We encourage you to look out for these weekly online reflections and share them in your parishes.
I hope that Richmond wins the premiership this year, but I suspect that is a vain hope, indeed a hopeless hope. I hope that there is lasting peace and freedom in Myanmar, but I fear that may also be a vain hope. So often, “hope” is a weak word.
Yet Christian hope is “sure and certain” in the Book of Common Prayer, because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Christian hope is robust, confident and unfailing, because God is both powerful and faithful, keeping all his promises and anchoring them in Jesus’ resurrection. I sense we need to recapture confidence in this sure and certain hope.
My favourite Bible verse is 1 Peter 1:3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” As a teenager I still recall our minister preaching on this passage and my eyes being opened and heart being stirred by this glorious and certain hope.
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It is a living hope, not a vain or uncertain hope, because Jesus truly rose. Death conquered, life triumphant, and the living Jesus is the first fruit for many to follow. So those who trust in him are born again to a new life, through a new birth, to this living and certain hope.
In Hebrews 6:19, the writer uses the striking image of an anchor for Christian hope, that through Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus has anchored us in heaven. The robustness and security of Christian hope is clear.
There have been times in my life when I have doubted Christian faith and been tempted to abandon it. Can this really be true? Why bother being Christian? And each time I have come back to the bedrock of the resurrection of Jesus, and found myself happily anchored in this sure hope.
If Hope25 is to be successful in our parishes, and be a catalyst for regular mission and evangelism, then our confidence in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection must be strong. I hope (with confidence) that Hope25 will recapture confidence in Jesus and thus embolden us in proclaiming him and his resurrection.
Bishop Paul Barker is Chair of the Melbourne Diocese Hope25 Committee.
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