Do you have hope in or for this world?
Reviewing Tim Keller’s Hope in Times of Fear Part 1/2
Is Hope Lost?
Are you excited about the prospects of your future? The upcoming election and political climate? Your career progression? The housing market? Children? Marriage? Friendships? The state of our country? The state of comedy? Your mental health? Social institutions?
There is a lot to be disappointed with or even disgruntled about such that we lose hope – polarization in society, sickness, wars, poverty, dishonesty, the church, and so on. When facing these problems – the complexities of solutions, bureaucracy, or the disunity of people – where are people going for hope?
What’s in this post:
Why you should read Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter.1
An overview for the evidence of the resurrection and its meaning.
Understand the power we have access to because of the resurrection.
Learn to decrease the external and internal pressures that negatively affect one’s personal journey, peace, and joy.
One year after Tim Keller’s death (May 19, 2023), I am revisiting the practices of Easter which lead me to his book on the Resurrection. I think we can do better celebrating and commemorating Holy Week, particularly within less liturgical denominations. Reading Keller’s work not only encouraged my convictions regarding Easter but also helped affirm other theological insights regarding the things I am passionate about. In a practical manner, Keller addresses our hope in the face of injustice in addition to providing wise intuition into the experiential aspect of the faith which his perspicacity2 balances so well.
Keller, writes Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter during COVID while he also wrestles with pancreatic cancer. While wrestling with the effects of COVID and the internal realities of cancer, it seems to be an appropriate topic for the pastor of 30+ years to tackle. Unbeknownst to him, Hope in Times of Fear (2021), will be one of his last major publications before he passes away.
Admittedly, I’ve read more of Tim Keller’s sermons than I have his books. As a preacher, his giftedness goes beyond what the rest of us mere mortals can hope to attain. His ability to remain faithful to the text, drawing out the necessity of Christ, while understanding the macro scope of humanity’s problem and relating it on the micro level to the core of your humanity is a brilliance not too many can achieve in 35-45 minutes. His impact, particularly in one of the most secularized cities in the world, will extend beyond several of our lifetimes.
If you’ve followed Keller, even from afar as I have, you know that he was extremely well-read and thoughtful. His insights on the faith should not be easily dismissed in respect to his character, ministry, faithfulness, and attentiveness to the Word and culture.
Why Read This Book
If you want answers, hope, and a way of living with the power to overcome and produce hopefulness in this world, then Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter is for you. Keller writes this work during the global pandemic while facing a second diagnosis of cancer.3 Hope in Times of Fear helps us to intimately connect with a Resurrection-Hope that is certain, personal, practical, and eternal. Doesn’t that get at the core of much of what we long for? Certainty, intimacy, practical help, authenticity, and an assurance that it will all work out in the end. As a Christian, the Resurrection is foundational to our faith; thus, it will always be a good time to revisit, understand, and worship Jesus’ actions, which by-the-way is our entire reason for hope in this world.
Resurrection Hope
The only person capable of carrying our burdens is Jesus Christ who bore them all on the cross. Our hope in the resurrected living God, who instructs us is, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt 11:28–30) Jesus’ resurrection was, is, and will be sustenance for Christians to face the most trying, horrific, and disheartening trials and tribulations. It is the confidence we have in the King family to be free from the burdens of societal, parental, cultural, religious, communal, and/or racial pressures and so on.
We stay unapologetically in the lane we have been assigned from Jesus. That is the only lane we are meant to travel in. When we get outside of our lane, we also incur self-induced or societal pressure, expectations, and burdens that we were never meant to shoulder. Christian hope in the resurrection means that we stop betting our life and happiness on human agency and rest in him (210).
Jesus’ resurrection is the foundation of our faith. We do not move on and graduate from resurrection theology. Like a diamond, we only discover different facets of it as we grow, explore, and become more like Him. If hopelessness starts to prevail it is because we are not remembering or recognizing the power of the resurrection (Phil 3:10). This is a hope we must know personally and experientially (xxi). Our inability to connect with Resurrection Power may be a natural byproduct of modern Christianity’s hyper-focused attention on the cross (which is well-intended but often left incomplete).4
The cross means nothing without the Resurrection (1 Cor 15:12-19).
Is the Resurrection true?
“That’s the first and foremost question to ask. Have we looked at the evidence for the resurrection thoroughly? All our objections actually hang on this issue. If he did not rise from the dead, who cares what the Bible says about sex or about the history of the church? But if he did rise from the dead, then Christianity and its gospel is true, and while we don’t yet have solutions to all those other objections, we can move forward knowing that answers to those questions exist.” (111)
Resurrection Historicity
If someone doubts or wants to disprove the reality, validity, and/or truthfulness of Christianity, send them straight to the resurrection, as Keller says, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is intellectually credible and existentially satisfying” (20). As Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith” (1 Co 15:14).
If the resurrection did not happen, then Christianity is worthless and a waste of time.
Many people have been converted to Christianity upon researching the resurrection (see works such as More Than a Carpenter, Case for Christ). The resurrection highlights the uniqueness of Christianity in comparison with all religions. It is historical and verifiable. Either Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, a made-up legend, or He was who He said He was – Lord and savior. There is not another option; what we do and think will reflect our beliefs. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it, nor whether you understand; if the resurrection is true then Jesus is Lord. Therefore, do you submit to His Kingdom or not, do you agree and pledge allegiance or not?
Keller gives an overview of the apologetics for the resurrection, surveying 1 Co 15:3-10; Acts 26:24-26; Luke 24:36-43; and John 20:27. He argues that the resurrection is historical, reasonable, and gracious faith (1). In summary, the most plausible answer: 1) for the empty tomb where Jesus was buried and kept under guard, 2) the multiple post-resurrection sightings of the scarred-from-crucifixion Jesus, 3) the disciples’ drastic change of behavior which lead to a proclamation of the Judeo-Christian religion, is that Jesus rose from the dead. Suggestions that his body was stolen, he had a twin brother, he didn’t really die, or that multiple people hallucinated the same vision at the same time, lack credibility when confronted with the evidence.
Keller gives special attention to note that God’s grace through the resurrection is also deeply personal which not only confronts your ‘reason and head but also your self-image and the commitments of your heart’ (21). In other words, understanding history alone will not be enough. Quoting John Owen, Keller says we must not merely believe the doctrines of Christ but 'get a sense in the heart of their beauty, greatness, and wonder' (122). You can be sure you are sensing Jesus and not some imaginative idol you've created when you are centered on the revelation of Scripture (123).
The objective truth of the resurrection alone does not bring the power of salvation. It must go from reason and rationality to personal submission and surrender.
There are several miraculous resurrections recorded in the Bible, what’s so special about Jesus’?5
Resurrection Meaning
It means God incarnated! He lived amongst us. It means freedom from shame and guilt. It means the freedom of a new identity in Christ and fellowship with gospel-transformed community. It means the divine power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! It means He is God. The veil is torn. The Spirit is given. His holy presence is in us!
It means reconciliation and redemption. It means truth. It means a future resurrection. Triumph and victory. It means life-everlasting. Keller says, “The resurrections means not merely that Christians have a hope for the future but that they have hope that comes from the future. The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present.” (24) Keller emphasizes that there will be a ‘healing to the entire world and all the dimensions of human life’ (27).5 And this power we have access to is informed by who Jesus is, what He’s done, and what He will bring (77).
Are we ready to tap into that Resurrection Power?!
In what ways are you not fully living out your belief in the resurrection?
In what whats can the truth and power of the resurrection help you overcome your current circumstances?
What’s in store for Part 2’s review of Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter?
In Part 2/2 discover why we have hope when it comes to race, class, broken relationships, our embodiment, and sexual ethic. Keller says, "If your race and culture, or your moral performance, or your politics, or anything but the love of God is the foundational source of your self-worth, when people threaten that positive self-image, you will not be able to listen to them or learn from them. You will strike them." (102) The resurrection will give us perspective to live life abundantly. The resurrection has a material effect on our present-day circumstances as well as eternal implications. I will then explore two major areas of importance in which Christians are self-limiting their power and how the resurrection helps overcome this stronghold. As such, we will discuss why the resurrection is a resource for confidence and hope in the face of fear. Additionally, we will discuss how the resurrection is hope for us personally, for our relationships, for justice in the world, in the face of suffering and our hope for the future.
Keller, Timothy. Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter. New York, New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021. $27
Learned a new word and I’m trying it out. How did I do?! Perspicacity (noun) the quality of having a ready insight into things.
Keller had thyroid cancer in 2002 and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020. Keller, Timothy. Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter. New York, New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2021. xi
Ibid, Hope, 23. “It has been common fro Christians to believe that the cross alone saves us from our sin. Then the resurrection is viewed as a wonderful miracle that proved Jesus was the Son of God, but nothing more than that.”
Ibid, Hope, 23. 1 Kings 17:17-24:2; 2 King 4:32-37, 13:20-21; Mt 27:52-53; Mk 5:35-43; Lk 7:11-17; John 11:39-44; Acts 9:40, 20:9-10