Go Tell Peter!
Notes
Transcript
There's a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged.
The son ran away, and the father set off to find him.
He searched for months to no avail.
Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper.
The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father.
On Saturday, 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Maybe you are a Paco this morning looking for love and forgiveness from our heavenly Father.
In a sense, Jesus ran an ad for Peter. Peter had blown it, but in Mark 16:7, we see that Jesus wanted His disciples, especially Peter, to know He had risen.
After Jesus’ resurrection, we get this interesting verse in Mark 16:7.
“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
Notice the words “Go Tell Peter!”
In my opinion, Peter, maybe more than any of Jesus’ other disciples, needed to hear that Jesus was alive.
Then in the second part of the verse…
Jesus reminds them that He will meet them in Galilee, which He had already told them before His crucifixion in Matt 26:32.
“But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
Like every important event that leads to words like “Go Tell Peter” there must be a back story.
Let’s look together, at a few highlights in Peter’s life that got us to this point in Mark 16:7.
Peter
Peter was one of the first called to follow Jesus (Matt 4:19).
Peter was the first to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ (Matt 16:16-17).
Peter was the de facto spokesperson of the disciples (Matt 15:15).
Peter was one of the three disciples that were a part of Jesus inner circle (Mark 5:37).
Peter was the only one to get out of the boat and walked on water (Matt 14:28-29).
Peter rebuked Jesus for saying He would be killed (Matt 16:22).
Peter boasted that while others might forsake Jesus, he never would (Matt 26:33).
Peter would betray Jesus three times, just as Jesus had foretold (Matthew 26:70–74).
This brings us to our verse Mark 16:7
“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
The Gospel of John 21 gives us the scene of Jesus and the disciples in Galilee.
Peter and the disciples finally head to Galilee, where Jesus said He would meet them.
Right away we see Peter still being Peter, says “I am going fishing.” John 21:3
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
I personally think it is possible that Peter decided to go fishing because he may have thought his sins were too great.
Maybe he thought he was no longer fit for service as a disciple of Jesus.
Peter and the boys go fishing and are not able to catch anything.
Here comes Jesus. John 21:5–6, they get a huge haul of fish
Peter in Peter fashion realizes it’s Jesus and jumps in the water to get to shore as fast as possible.
Perhaps just like the Pacos who wanted to hear their dad tell them they were forgiven and loved, Peter wanted desperately to hear this from Jesus.
Now, whether Jesus and Peter talked about forgiveness around the fire or when Peter and Jesus met alone before this event (which we see in Luke 24:34 and 1 Cor. 15:5), it would seem that piece of the pie had been taken care of.
It is one thing to be forgiven and quite another to realize you are still of use.
Jesus still needed to restore Peter.
What is amazing is that after everything that has happened, even just in the past week, we get this beautiful exchange between Peter and Jesus in John 21:15-19.
Read passage
Many commentators assign significant weight to the various uses of love in Greek between Peter and Jesus. While there may be some value in this, I believe it might be simpler than that.
Peter had just denied Jesus three times, and here we see Jesus restoring Peter three times.
Jesus never acted without intention; it was almost as if He needed to erase those three denials for Peter’s sake.
In the first exchange Jesus tells Peter to “Tend My Lambs or Feed My lambs.”
In the second exchange Jesus tells Peter to “Shepherd My Sheep.”
Then in the third exchange Jesus tells Peter to “Tend My Sheep or Feed My Sheep.”
Jesus’ instructions were clear: both little lambs and mature sheep needed to be fed, led, and protected. Jesus wanted to ensure Peter knew this was still his mission.
We see later in 1 Peter 5:1-4, Peter took this to heart; he learned his lesson and was now passing that same mission on to other leaders.
Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,
shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
After Peter is restored, Jesus calls him back into action and says, “Follow Me!”
I want you to notice that Jesus' call on Peter’s life never changed.
Jesus first asked Peter to follow Him in Luke 5.
Jesus told Peter and the crew to put their nets out again, even though they had been fishing all night.
They obeyed, and the catch was so great that they signaled another boat to help them bring in the haul.
Then Jesus told Peter that they would become fishers of men, and Peter left everything to follow Him.
In John 21, Jesus once again tells them to cast their nets, and once again, they bring in a huge haul of fish.
Jesus ends his conversation with Peter in John 21:19 with the same message: “Follow Me!”
We might even view this as an inclusio; an inclusio in literature occurs when a text or passage is bookended with similar material.
Jesus’ ministry with Peter began in Galilee, where he soon told Peter to follow Him. Near the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth, he again finds Peter in Galilee and tells him to follow Him.
The message had not changed. Jesus still wanted Peter to follow Him, but Peter needed to experience;
Forgiveness
He needed restoration (to be brought back into fellowship)
Then Peter was able to follow once again.
How does this apply to you and me?
What can we gain from this?
Just like Peter need to know Jesus still loved him. Which is why we started with Mark 16:7
“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”
We too, need to understand Jesus loves us and is not through with us.
We can take Mark 16:7 and put our name in there…
Go Tell Ben! You are forgiven!
Go Tell Jim! You are forgiven!
Go Tell Edwina! You are forgiven!
Go Tell … insert your name… You are forgiven!
You are Forgiven!
You are Forgiven!
My guess is that there are several of you this morning who feel like you have blown it. Your mistakes are so bad that there is no way God is able to use you any longer.
Let me tell you, if you have confessed those sins, they are gone.
God’s grace and love for you are far bigger than your sin.
“For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”
As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Don’t remember and keep account of sins from your past that God has removed and no longer remembers.
Because you are forgiven, you are restored.
You Have Been Restored!
You Have Been Restored!
If we have confessed our sins… then we have been Restored!
So often, what keeps us focused on the sins of our past is our failure to remember who we are. Gal 4:7
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
We are not defined by our past, but by what Christ has done for us!
God has declared us righteous because of Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him
Yes, there are times we reap the earthly consequences of our actions, but when it comes to God…
You are Forgiven
You have been Restored
and lastly…
Jesus says, Follow Me!
Jesus says, Follow Me!
I like how Paul puts it in Phil 3:13-14.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Just as Jesus called Peter to follow Him.
Jesus has a call on your life. Paul reminds us to forget about the past and reach forward to the future, looking toward the goal of Christ's call.
Since we have been forgiven and restored, isn’t the only logical response to say, "Jesus, I want to follow You!"
Jesus wants to use you for His glory!
In closing, my prayer for you this morning is that you will realize, no matter your past, that when you leave here this morning…
You will have your Head held high
Knowing you are forgiven and free
Knowing that you have been restored and are fit for service to our King!
Let’s pray.
