Today’s reading: John 20
On Saturdays, I get an email called Grapevine: colorful stories and diversions from WSJ. My approach to this email is the same even though it comes on the weekend – scan the page and see if there is anything that intrigues me enough to read more. At the end of beginning of May, Grapevine published a story about Patricio Galvez, a Swedish citizen whose daughter had converted to Islam and moved her family to Syria a few years ago. This one caught my interest. I clicked the link, read the entire article, and was left wanting more.
Three weeks later on May 20, the WSJ published an update to the story. Swedish officials had claimed the children and they had been reunited with their grandfather in northern Syria. A few weeks later, after some fundraising assistance, they all boarded a plane back to Sweden. It was anything but an easy trip (they almost missed the shuttle because one child had barfed, another had come down with measles, and the grandfather and his two helpers had forgotten diapers for the baby). The article ended when the family arrived back in Sweden and Swedish social services had gotten involved to help figure out a long-term plan to care for the children.
It is going to be a long, rocky road to integrate these 7 children into Swedish society and fully raise them to adulthood. But…in their home country with a grandfather that loves them, they have something they didn’t have alone in Syria. They have hope.
Do you ever feel hopeless? If so, our scripture for today is just what you need. This is the greatest hope story of all time. It is better than a grandfather traveling all over Syria to rescue his grandchildren. John 20 tells of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only by dying and rising again could Jesus ultimately conquer sin and death. He is our only hope of abundant life eternally. What would make you put your faith in anyone or anything else?