The Pursuing Passion of Our Risen LordSample

God Pursuing Us In Our Guilt

We saw how Jesus was pursuing His disciples in their fears. He pursued them to forgive. He pursued them also in their doubts. And today we are going to look at how He pursued them in their guilt so that they could return back to Him.

Among all the disciples, if there was one person who was guilty about the way He responded to Jesus, it would definitely be Peter. Now we know that Peter was the man who was almost like the spokesperson among all the disciples. At one time, he even said to Jesus that he would not allow His Lord to die. Afterwards, Jesus also very clearly predicted that Peter would be denying him, but Peter responds by saying, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”. But we know Peter denied Him exactly as Jesus predicted. And not just once, but he denied Him thrice.

Now this person, who was at maximum guilty for what he did, was the first one to go and see the tomb when the women said that they had seen Jesus. He ran ahead of everyone else because he was carrying this guilt in him. Interestingly, the Lord knew that. We read in Mark 16: 6-7, “When the women went there, they saw an angel. And the angel said, don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who was crucified. He has risen, He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go tell His disciples and Peter, He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him just as He told you.”

Notice what the angel said to the women, “go tell the disciples and Peter”. This is a very special mention of Peter by the Lord - almost like saying, “Peter, I don't hold this against you. I know you are carrying this guilt, but I don't hold this against you.” Isn't this a wonderful God that we serve who pursues us? He doesn't condemn us for what we have done.

We feel like condemning ourselves many times, don't we? We find it difficult to forgive ourselves, but here is a God who says, “I don't hold that guilt against you.” Yes, this man who proclaimed so many things went ahead and denied Jesus, not once but thrice. But Jesus was willing to forgive him, pursue him and say that he wants to use him. That's the God we have, my dear friends. So, if we are carrying guilt for some of our past sins, I want to encourage you to not be so heavily laden with your sins and your guilt. Jesus said, “come unto me, all who are heavy laden and labor, I will give you rest”. If there's anybody who is carrying some old guilt and unable to forgive themselves, remember you have a God who pursues you irrespective of how big that guilt is. He is willing to forgive you and give you a new life because He's a God who pursues those who feel guilty, like He did with Peter. May God help you, and may God bless you.

Prayer

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for pursuing me in and through the dark world of my guilt and shame. Remind me that when I confess my sins to you, you do not see me for my guilt anymore but have buried my sins and shame far away in the deepest oceans and set me free. I thank you, Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.