Peter: What Can We Learn From Peter's Life?Näide

"Tell Peter."

After Peter’s denial of Jesus, he is not specifically mentioned again until the resurrection. The closest evidence of his presence at the crucifixion is found in Luke 23:49 which states that all those who knew Jesus, His acquaintances and friends, watched from a distance. This could have included Peter. Wherever he was at the moment of Jesus’s death, we can imagine that he was heavily weighed down with guilt and shame.

Not only that, Peter and the disciples still had no understanding that Jesus’s death was temporary. To them, it was final. His life was over. Life as they had known it during the course of Jesus’s ministry was finished. They probably felt intense grief, uncertainty, and fear. Alongside that, their expectations of the Messiah were unfulfilled. In their minds, Jesus had not accomplished what He should have accomplished: punishing the Roman empire who was oppressing them and ushering in an eternal kingdom of peace for the Jewish people.

However, against this backdrop of emotions and unmet expectations, Jesus was doing something greater than they had ever dreamed. He was also about to do something very personal for Peter again.

When the angel at the tomb gave instructions to the women who found it empty, he specifically said, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter…” The news these women were to deliver was the most earthshattering, life-changing news the disciples and the rest of the world would ever hear. God wanted the disciples to know it, but He also very specifically wanted Peter to hear the news. Peter, who had said he didn’t know Jesus. Peter, who was likely at that moment drowning in his failure.

I want Peter to know.

Jesus wanted Peter to know he was forgiven. Jesus had never and would never give up on him. There was still a major place for Peter in the work of Jesus on the earth, if he wanted it. Jesus knew what was in Peter’s heart and wanted to reassure him right from the beginning of His resurrection story that he was still loved.

Reflection:

Does your perception of Jesus line up with His character in this story? What might need to change?