Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
Acts 23:6 ESV
What is our hope as believers? You might answer that it is to go to heaven when we die. Or to spend eternity with the Lord. And there is some truth to those. But that is not the hope we see most often expressed in Scripture.
When Paul was on trial before the Sanhedrin, he announced to them that he was on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead. This was, in part, a way to divide the Sanhedrin since the Sadducees among them did not believe in resurrection while the Pharisees did.
But it was more than that. The resurrection was at the heart of the Christian faith. One of Paul’s most extensive teachings, in 1 Corinthians 15, concerned the resurrection. Without the resurrection, living as believers is futile because our hope is for the future, not the present.
The Pharisees believed there would be a general resurrection of at least the righteous at the end of the age. Paul believed that as well. But he also believed that Jesus had already been raised from the dead and was the first of the many who would follow.
Our Great Hope
What is my hope as a believer? It is that this life is not all there is. I look forward to a time when the dead in Christ will be raised to life and reclothed with resurrection bodies. When we will dwell forever on a new earth in communion with our Lord.
There is much I do not know about what will happen when I depart this life. But what I do know is that I will be with the Lord. And I will be resurrected on that day Jesus returns in glory. And that is my hope as a believer. It is what I look forward to as I serve my Lord now.
