Click here to read Mark 16 on BibleGateway.com
Have you ever said something you didn’t really mean? Like “I’m never going to eat a whole cheesecake by myself again,” “I’ve learned my lesson, Officer, I’ll never speed again,” or “I can’t believe I wasted my money on that; I’m never going to store without a shopping list again.” It seems we are very quick on the draw with our mouths, but a little less contemplative with our meaning. Take heart, my fellow blabber mouths, we are not alone. No less a person than the great Peter blazed a wide trail for us.
Everybody knows the story about how Peter denied Jesus 3 times, possibly because he was terrified of a 9 year-old serving girl. The ye ole rooster crows, and Peter goes out and cries himself to sleep. Later on, Peter is all over the book of Acts, including the big Pentecost speech in Acts 2. But the time inbetween there is a little fuzzy; what happened to Peter between cowering before Hannah Montana and standing up to the Jewish leadership?
…AND PETER
Mark 16 gives us one small incident from this time, and I think it reveals more of Jesus’ nature than it might appear at first glance. When the Mary’s show up at Jesus’ tomb, the angel tells them “He is not here; He is risen…go tell his disciples and Peter.” And Peter. Notice that Peter is not included in the disciples anymore. Just because Jesus rose from the dead, Peter doesn’t get to just ignore what happened.
Often times, when we screw up, we just want to forget about it. Remember what I said when I was mad, jesus? I didn’t mean it. Remember when I told that joke? I was just trying to fit in, but that’ not really who I am. Remember when I watched that? That was just an accident, let’s just forget it. Unfortunately, the nature of sin is such that we can’t just “ignore” it. It must be addressed, and Jesus does not just forget about our failures because he loves us.
FEED MY SHEEP
Don’t worry, though, there’s good news. In John 21, there’s a story of how Jesus officially reinstates Peter as a disciple, bringing him back into the disciple fold in a fairly moving scene (go read it, people.) Jesus had not forgotten what Peter had done, but his love was greater than his memory. Peter became a disciple again, and his whole life from that point on was dedicated to serving Jesus. As far as we know, he never wavered again, taking his dedication to his own cross.
That’s good news for us. We all screw up; if you haven’t yet this week, I’ll go out on a limb and guarantee you will before this time next week. But take heart, Jesus is ready to welcome us back. Not because he forgets, but because he loves us more than he remembers our failures.
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
I don’t know what to say this time Kevin; you baffle me o_0. People don’t understand Peter because they don’t understand prophesy; Peter did. And because of this he is given a bad rap, called names, gaged and stuffed into a little sack with various names. Perhaps I’ll email you about it later but man.
Ok. I’m curious. What did peter understand about prophecy that others didn’t?
Here you go Kevin. Hope you enjoy it. Tried to keep it short.
http://littletzar.com/docs/kevinPeterProphesy.pdf