Is all the good news gone? Most days, it sure seems like it. Tired of reading about the porn star scandal? Sick of nonstop coverage of the hyper-partisan gun debates and protests? Your best bet is to stay offline, turn off the TV and avoid the few newspaper stands that may still populate your neighborhood. 

In short, the news lately is depressing. It can leave us feeling downright hopeless.

But as this very week reminds us, that all the good news isn’t gone. And in fact, things might not be so bad.

Lowest Point?

Recently on Twitter I was reminded of a sad headline from last November. According to a tweet from The Hill, “NEW POLL: Most Americans say this is lowest point in US history.”

The article itself bears a slightly different, but still bleak headline: “Poll: Most say this is lowest point they can remember for US.” It states that “59 percent of Americans surveyed think this is the lowest point in the nation’s history that they can remember.”

Every time I read this news article, I immediately remember several other dark times in our past that over half the nation has seemingly forgotten. Slavery, mainly. The resulting Civil War. The world wars. The Great Depression. Segregation. Widespread violence. (Despite today’s hysterical gun debates, violent crime rates in the U.S. were actually higher a few decades ago than they are now!) The list could go on.

At this point in time, we certainly have our problems. Crises, even. I needn’t list them here. You know them well. But it isn’t as if everything was rosy back then, either. Sadly, many Americans lack that perspective.

Lack of Perspective Breeds Hopelessness

Lack of perspective is a problem for many reasons. But the worst is that it breeds hopelessness. When we ignore the past and focus solely on the problems before us, it is extremely easy to get overwhelmed. To think to ourselves, this is the worst things have ever been. Americans fall into this trap when they see salacious scandals and scary statistics in the news.

Christians are not immune, either. We often fall into this trap when we see the moral disarray around us.

But of all people, Christians should be the ones leading others out of this trap of hopelessness.

The Darkest Weekend in History

Why? Because this week reminds Christians that no matter how bad life looks, there is reason to hope. Let’s recall the events of Holy Week.

First, Jesus was betrayed by a disciple and then captured by soldiers. When his disciples expected him to escape, something he easily could have done, he submitted to his captors.

Later, he was questioned and convicted in an unfair trial. The man who had literally never sinned was sentenced to die as a ravenous crowd begged instead for the life of a murderer.

Jesus, the King many had come to trust, love and devote their lives to, was brutalized before their eyes.

Ultimately, he was nailed to a cross, killed, and buried.

This was the Messiah. The one who was supposed to cast off the oppression of the Roman empire. He was supposed to set up a new kingdom. How could he just die?

The Best Day in History

Thousands of years later, it can be hard to imagine how lost Jesus’ friends and followers felt. Yes, he’d worked miracles before their eyes. He had told them what would happen. But imagine seeing it — his death. So tragic. So brutal. So unjust. So final. What could be darker than that?

At Easter, we celebrate the fact that this was not the end of the story. To his disciples’ utter joy, Jesus did rise from the dead, three long days later, just as he said he would. He defeated death itself and made a way for us to enter the kingdom of Heaven and have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe.

We know the future of the story as well. We know that in the end, every knee will bow to Christ. And we will reign with God for eternity. In light of that, the frantic headlines all around us seem incredibly small, don’t they?

Hope For Right Now

OK, so we’ll all be happy when Christ returns. But what about the here and now? Things still look pretty dark.

Holy Week can give us hope right now, as well. No matter how dark things seem, the living Christ has the power to transform individual lives and entire societies. The Holy Spirit helps us bring light to those around us. Just as evils were defeated in our nation’s past, they can be defeated today.

So during Holy Week, remember this and share it with someone who needs it: there is no reason to despair, and every reason to hope — for the future, and for right now.

Read about Jesus’ death and resurrection in Mark 15-16.