HEBREWS 6:19-20a
We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
REFLECTION
If we look up the word hope in the dictionary, we notice that there has been a change over time in the meaning of the word. In New Testament times, when the Letter to the Hebrews was written, the word was understood as something you could count on. Today, the word captures more of a sense of wishful thinking. In Jesus’ times, hope meant a certainty. In our times, hope symbolizes a wish for certainty.
Sometimes people will say that hope has disappointed them. They were hoping for a certain outcome, and it didn’t happen.
I think we have to ask ourselves about what our hope is built on.
If we place our hope in circumstances, in people, in elections, in money… we will always be disappointed because there is not enough strength in these things, and perhaps even more importantly, there is not enough love.
Our Scripture reading describes “this hope” — the hope we have in Christ — as certain. Our hope is “a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.” Our world can seek to blow us off course, but we can be anchored in something bigger than the world.
WRITTEN BY
Rev. Mary Bowman