Can Somebody Please Tell Peter

Introduction

In the moments when we experience don’t believe at times, Jesus helps us understand. He shows us our weakness in contrast to His power. He opens our eyes and shows us that he died, was buried, and rose again. That is what Mark 16 is talking about.

Text Context

At this point, Jesus is risen! He has finished His three years of ministry and training for His disciples. He has faced the cross and taken the sins of the world. Now He has risen, just as He said He would.

After the crucifixion, Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus. They wash his body, wrapped it in linen, and placed him in a grave. Mary Magdalene and another Mary followed to see where the tomb was, then went home to prepare more spices and ointment and to observe the Sabbath. The Sanhedrin, which was the Supreme council of Jewish elders, were afraid that Jesus' disciples would steal his body and claim He has risen from the dead, and asked Pilate to seal the tomb.

Now that the Sabbath is over, several women come to Jesus' grave to complete the preparations Joseph and Nicodemus had provided. When the women arrive on Sunday morning, they discover the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty except for a young man in a white robe. He tells them that Jesus is risen and tells the women to tell the disciples, particularly Peter, to meet Jesus in Galilee. The women leave, telling no one on their way.

The book of Mark is the story of Jesus trying to teach the disciples who He is and what He has come to do. Ironically, the most reliable manuscript finishes without this mission being completed. Jesus' disciples are in hiding. His tomb is empty. His female followers are confused and scared. But this is, perhaps, an appropriate ending considering what Mark has shown us about Jesus' relationship with His followers. What we think of Jesus has no bearing on Who He is. We may think Him to be a teacher, a future King, the source of infinite blessings, or a helpless, innocent man hanging on a cross.

What He is, is the Son of Man who will be given "dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him". The women may not understand what has happened yet and the disciples may not believe the news of His resurrection at first. But Jesus will patiently reveal Himself to them, and through their testimony the world will come to hear of who He is. The fact that Jesus returns and chooses these clueless, timid souls to build His church merely proves how much we need His grace-giving sacrifice.

As John 20:1–18 states, after the women tell the disciples, Peter and John see for themselves the tomb is empty. Mary Magdalene follows them, and after they leave she meets Jesus. Jesus sends her back to tell the disciples she has seen Him, but they do not believe her.

Luke includes a much longer version of Mark 16:12–13. Jesus speaks with these two travelers, explaining how His ministry, death, and resurrection fit into the prophecies of the Old Testament. He even eats a meal with them. They don't realize He is Jesus until right before He vanishes. The two rush back to Jerusalem to find the eleven disciples and report what happened.

After this, Jesus ascended up to Heaven to be at the right hand of the father, and then all of the disciples went out to preach about the Lord.

Message

Peter was a man who doubted Jesus. Followed him, saw him do the impossible, but still had doubts. There are some of us who still have doubts. We struggle with doubt and we have questions. But instead of focusing on our doubts, we should focus on God and His strength. Followers of Christ are not safe from hardships that shake their faith. Paul struggled with a “thorn in the flesh” that made him feel weak.

The Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Our weakness and struggle with faith point us back to our need for Jesus because our strength and faith come from Him.

Body of Message

It was no mistake that angels told the two women to tell the disciples, including Peter. Why was Peter stood out? Why was it so important that the two women tell Peter?

Peter needed to know that he was not abandoned.(Mark 14:22-27)

Jesus had prepared his disciples for what was ahead. He had already told them about his crucifixion, persecution, and resurrection.

Peter had just made a promise to Jesus in Mark 14:29. He told him that if anyone else would leave, he wouldn't. But it turned out that Peter wasn’t a man of his word. Thirty-seven verses later, Peter denies Jesus. But Peter needed to know that Jesus kept his word. He said to him in Mark 14:28 “But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

SHOUT: When you think about it, that’s really why we’re still here. We have a Savior who keeps his promises, a Savior who is a man of his word. So even when we don’t make commitment to keep our promises, he still keeps his promises. That’s why we oughta thank God today, because he keeps his promises.

Notice in Mark 14:27, Jesus says “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say, ‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” But he says the word “but” in verse 28. It’s always something about that three letter conjunction. This implied that they would desert him, but that would not be the end because Jesus knows how to keep his promises.

Peter needed to know that Jesus would keep his word. Peter needed to understand that Jesus still loved him. No matter what we have done, Jesus does love us. In fact, He promises to both forgive us of every wrong we have done and provide us eternal life if only we will believe in Him. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Sometimes it may be difficult to believe Jesus loves you because of other people who have let you down in the past. However, Jesus is unlike any other person; He is God in human form. He was involved in creating us, He sustains our every breath, and He offers us new life now and eternal life in heaven with Him.

It doesn’t matter the past failures we’ve had or the past mistakes we’ve had, because Jesus already knows your past and still offers you eternal life and forgiveness.The thing about God’s love is that it is unconditional. The word unconditional means that there is no conditions. That means that Jesus doesn’t love us to a certain extent, but he loves despite the past we’ve had, despite the mistakes we’ve made, and despite us not having a lot of commitment. I thank God because not only does Jesus know how to keep his promises, but he loves us unconditionally.

His love reaches out to those who have failed. To fail one time does not make a lifetime of failure. Your failures are not final. Yes, you will feel the consequences of it. Yes, the enemy will whisper lies in your ear; he will remind you of your mistake, and he wants you to think you are too far gone. But great news: The enemy is not the author and perfecter of your faith. The pen is not in his hands. God truly can take your mess and turn it into a message if you allow Him to.

Its not the failure that is final, its how you respond to it. You, as a child of God, are not supposed to have a personal pity party about your one time failures. You should not be holding your head down and deep in the dumps of depression. But you should hold your head high in the fact that we serve a God whose love is so great, that it reaches to me, even after I have failed. It was that same love that reached to Jonah after he had disobeyed God. The same love that God had for Jeremiah, that sent him to the potter’s house so that God could show him that he was still working on him and his people. That same love that God was able to send his only begotten son to die on a hill called Calvary.

Despite what we’ve done, we have a savior who does not forsake us.

Peter needed to know that he had been forgiven.(Mark 14:53-72)

In Mark 14:53, they took Jesus into the high priest’s home, where everybody had gathered. But behind them was Peter, and went to warm himself by the fire.

He had followed them from way behind. He had been associating with God’s enemies. Some preachers say that Peter was warmind himself by the wrong fire. He had denied Jesus three times. Didn’t want to have anything to do with Jesus. Denied the fact the he was a follower of Jesus, but he denied Jesus, but Jesus didn’t deny him.

Imagine being in a relationship where you could be sure you wouldn't be rejected. You wouldn't wake up one morning and hear, "I'm sorry, but I've grown tired of you." You wouldn't have to fear the words, "I'm sorry, but I've grown apart from you." You would never have to worry about hearing, "I never really loved you." That is our relationship with Jesus. He never grows tired of us. With Jesus, you don't have to be concerned about being rejected. Jesus came to seek us out and bring us home. When our hearts belong to Jesus, his love and his home are ours. Our assurance is the cross, our proof is the empty tomb, and our guarantee is the Spirit we have received.

We are not rejected by God because he is faithful. Scripture reminds us that “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself”. Despite our doubts, Jesus continues to stay faithful, because even when we have a bit of unbelief, he still cares for us. Jesus died and rose again, and because of that we can be forgiven of our sins. When we say God is faithful, we mean he can be trusted to do what he says he’s going to do. If God weren’t faithful, then that would mean he either lied or changed his mind, and we know that God is unchangeable, so he will not tell you one thing and then change his mind and do another. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?” That means that God is faithful. You can trust him, so you can trust what he has says in his Word. Faithfulness is an essential attribute of God and the foundation of our faith in him. You cannot have faith in someone who is sometimes unfaithful. That would be dangerous. But God is always faithful, and that’s what makes him so safe.

Peter needed to know that God wouldn’t reject him. He needed to know that his sins could be forgiven. Let me put this this way: Jesus was rejected, so that everybody would experience acceptance. He was rejected so that we would be accepted. He came down to earth to be rejected and killed for the salvation of those who mocked Him, but the rejection only lasted for a minute. Jesus’ rejection was only for a time. On the third day, God raised his Son from the grave to live forevermore. The Son was restored to full relationship with the Father, and from Father and Son flowed forth the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love which binds us to God forever. When we put our faith in Christ God looks at us just as he looks at his own dear Son, righteous, acceptable, perfect, beloved children. We the unacceptable are accepted by God forever and ever! Nothing in all creation, neither our sin nor death itself can separate us from God’s love. Through faith in Christ we are born again to new life and eternal life. Jesus was rejected and forsaken for a time, so that we never will be rejected or forsaken. I believe Isaish put it best: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Jesus’ rejection means our acceptance. Peter needed to know that he was forgiven.

Peter needed to know he had a future with Jesus.(Mark 14:72)

Peter was a broken man. But this would not be the first time. He would be broken again. His net would break in Luke 6:6. His pride would break in Luke 6:8. His partnership would break in Luke 6:9-10. He had left everything to follow Jesus. But now he felt counted out. He felt disqualified. He felt that he was not included.

Jesus has already predicted the future, and that we ave one with him. When you don't know how everything is going to work out, you have to hold tightly to the Lord God and trust in Him. We're told to rest in the Lord. That is the message we find throughout the New Testament.

Throughout John 16, Jesus talks about the future and what is about to happen. He warns His disciples about His imminent death; the persecution to come; and the sorrow, pain, and hardship lying just ahead. But after predicting all these frightful events, He commands them to place their trust wholly in Him.

For Christ-followers, the story of "the end" is not one that has to be feared. In fact, you could actually look forward with great anticipation to the end of this world that will usher in a new day, a new Earth and a new life.

Conclusion

We are not forsaken, we are forgiven, and we have a future with Jesus Christ.