And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.” Mark 16:7
Peter has fled from the Lord. The last thing he saw was the Lord
looking at Him. The Lord was on trial, a trial Peter had boasted that He would be willing to go through with Him. Now the Lord stands trial alone as Peter disappears knowing a truth about himself that he would never have believed. He verbally denied allegiance to the Lord. So while the Lord goes through His trail, His beatings and His public crucifixion, Simon Peter and the other disciples hide themselves. We can only imagine the thoughts that must have gone through their minds. Peter especially must have been a roller coaster of crying out to God in repentance. sorrow and grief over his sin, sorrow and grief of not standing as a public testimony for the Lord and sorrow and grief over his loss of position as a disciple of the Lord. Satan, who made it so easy for him to sin would be attacking his thoughts with the awfulness of what he had done. “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Now John tells us that Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb where she encounters an angel at the entrance to the tomb. There he makes an amazing statement. “And he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not
here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.’” Did you see it? Peter, who was always mentioned first in the list of disciples is now listed separately from them. He has chosen to deny the Lord and thus God
gives him the desires of his heart. Until Peter repents he is not a part of those who follow the Lord and he is no longer their leader. Is this mean of the Lord? No, He never forces anyone to follow Him. Peter comes to the tomb but the Lord is not there. Luke tells that sometime
later on Sunday the Lord meets with Peter. “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” The Lord also meets the disciples in the Upper Room on Sunday evening but Peter is not mentioned prominently. As far as we know the Lord says nothing directly to him then. There is silence from heaven where once there was fellowship, praise and joy. Dryness!
What can we learn? We often talk about how Christianity is a relationship with God. It is not a religion where we perform acts to appease God. God truly looks at the heart for He desires a loving
relationship with those He created. We don’t often think about what hinders that relationship. We are told in Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” We grieve God when we reject who He is and walk in the flesh – putting ourselves above Him. Our fellowship is strained.
our communication is hindered, our joy disappears and living the life we know we should becomes a chore. Like the prodigal son, Peter faces the silence of the Father who loves Him. He has denied the Lord and that fellowship must be restored before life with God can go on.