The Glad Hope of Fools (#wtsdevo hope)
You may or may not know, but I’m an ardent fan of The Lord of the Rings — both Tolkien’s original works and film adaptations by director, Peter Jackson. Both the trilogy of books and movies comprise of an incredible masterpiece of storytelling and art.
There’s an intriguing line, though, in part three, The Return of the King. At this juncture, the kingdom of Gondor has been invaded and the siege of Minas Tirith is about to be underway. On the eve of “the great battle of their time,” Gandalf and Pippin have the following exchange:
“Tell me,” [Pippin] said, “is there any hope?”
Gandalf put his hand on Pippin’s head. “There never was much hope,” he answered. “Just a fool’s hope . . .” [1]
This revelation of hopelessness is jarring, especially considering its source, Gandalf the White, a bona fide hero.
It’s a puzzling declaration, too, that he would call it a “fool’s hope.” The inside joke here is that Gandalf had repeatedly referred to Pippin (surnamed Peregrin Took) as a “fool of a Took!” Thus, in this case, hope would live on for this happy fool as the war broke out.
But if you’re wondering how this applies to you, well listen up, because you too have a fool’s hope! The Christian’s hope of salvation by free, unadulterated grace is the glad hope of fools!
Have you ever really considered how foolish your hope is in terms of worldly reason? It really is mind-boggling.
The apostle Paul admits as much when he says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18). The cross is “folly,” it’s foolishness to the world, to the unbelieving heart and mind.
It doesn’t follow sound reason that a God would degrade and disgrace Himself so much in love that He would lower Himself to His creation — to man’s level. But such a foolish impossibility is what Jesus has accomplished for us, for you. Emptying Himself and taking the form and likeness of man is the great depth of humility to which Christ has stooped (Phil. 2:7-8).
Only a fool would hope in such humiliation. So it goes that God calls us to be happy fools for His sake. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Cor. 1:25).
To the world, it appears foolish, silly, and nonsensical to hope in the execution and death of Another. It’s absurd to the unbeliever that admission of hopelessness is the beginning of true hope — but that’s exactly what faith in the gospel is.
By declaring you have no hope left in yourself and that you believe in Christ’s salvation, you’ve just begin in your journey of hope — hope that is confident, sure, unshaken — hope that rests not upon the whim and fancy of man’s feelings but upon the firm, solid, and finished work of Jesus Christ.
Christian, hope on in the glad hope of fools!
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1. Tolkien, J. R. R. The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of the Lord of Rings (New York: Ballantine Books, 1983), p. 83.
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Devotional Series: Hope (#wtsdevo hope)
By: Bradley \ Personal // Walk the Same
