Resurrection Sunday 2007

Peter at the Resurrection of Christ

Let’s continue with our look at Peter, one of the most interesting of the Twelve Disciples. We looked at him in the Garden and at the courtyard of the High Priest.  We have seen him draw his sword to defend Jesus and then use his tongue to deny knowing Him. 

And we talked about the look that Jesus gave him after the rooster crowed as he denied even knowing Jesus. I think we agreed on Friday that the look was a look of love and compassion, not one of disgust or even disappointment.

Now, let’s move ahead a few days.  Three days.  Jesus is dead and buried. The disciples are in mourning.  Mary comes and tells Peter and John that Jesus is not in the tomb.  They fear someone has stolen His body.  Peter and John run to the tomb.  John arrives first but does not enter the tomb.  Impetuous Peter arrives and goes right in.  Jesus is not there.  Where is he?  Is he alive or has someone stolen His body?

Later all the disciples are behind locked doors when Jesus appears to them.  They are overjoyed to see Him but still don’t really get it.  And Thomas is not there for this first appearance of Jesus to His disciples.  A week later they are together again and Thomas is with them.   It is here that “doubting Thomas” sees and touches the wounds in Jesus hands. 

Jesus said to them….

John 20:29-31 (NIV) Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

One more time that Jesus appeared to them was when they had been fishing all night and caught nothing.  Peter is present at this one too.  Early in the morning they see a man on the shore who tells them to drop their nets on the right side of the boat and they fill their nets to overflowing with 153 fish. Peter recognizes Jesus and jumps in the water so he can swim to shore.  Impetuous Peter. 

Have you ever let someone down and felt that you disappointed them deeply?  You don’t feel like rushing to see them when you feel that way.  You are hesitant, uncertain.  Not Peter. He is confident of Jesus love for him.  He swims to shore.  And He has an encounter with this loving Jesus.

John 21:15-17 (NIV)  When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (agape) me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love (fileo) you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (agape) me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (fileo) you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love (fileo) me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love (fileo) me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love (fileo) you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

Three times Peter denied Jesus and three times he gets to affirm his love for Him.  What an incredible thing to be told that you, the one who let Him down at His greatest point ot need, you are going to be the one to feed and take care of the lambs and sheep.  The babies in Christ and the leaders too.

Here is an interesting point in this story.  There are two words used for love in the Peter passage. 

Agape = unconditional love

Fileo = affectionate love

Jesus asks Peter twice if he loves Him using the word agape.  Peter always responds with the word fileo.  Only later, after Pentecost, after receiving what the risen Christ ascended to Heaven to send to His disciples, did Peter have the capacity and power to love with agape love.

Listen to Peter’s opening remarks in his first letter to the scattered believers in the early church….

1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love (agape) him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Listen to this passage in The Message paraphrase…

1 Peter 1:3-9 (The Message) What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

This morning we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus with laughter and singing.  We are rejoicing.  Because we have life eternal and abundant. On Good Friday we had a testimony time.  What a rich two hours we spent together here on Friday morning.  Our youngest brothers and sisters testified first.  We rejoiced as we listened to their testimonies.  Why?  Because their lives before Christ were filled with sin and pain and loss. Then they encountered the living Jesus. They welcomed His presence and grace and power into their lives.  Now they are on a journey of growing and discovering more and more about His love and blessing to them.  They are being saved and we are being saved.

What does this mean?  This being saved.

First of all we have been saved from death.

John 5:24-25 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

It means that our lives are getting better and better as we learn more and more about “loving” our Lord and each other.  Hallelujah!

I invite you to consider Jesus invitation to welcome Him into your life.  Consider the wonderful benefits of having your sins forgiven and of receiving abundant and eternal life.

Let’s go back to John’s Gospel for a minute….

John 1:12-14 (NIV) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.