Tuesday 2 January, 2018

16 The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They were going to use them for Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to the tomb. It was just after sunrise. 3 They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The stone was very large. 5 They entered the tomb. As they did, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. They were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him. 7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.’ ” 8 The women were shaking and confused. They went out and ran away from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

“…including Peter.” v7

Two small words – what a massive back-story!

The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead but adds these two words “including Peter”. The last interaction that Peter had with Jesus was his greatest failure – his denial of Jesus (see Mark 14:72). Yet here in this passage he gets special mention. What gets me is that this clearly was discussed in heaven. This was a special instruction from God to this angel – “listen – you have GOT to let Peter know that Jesus is risen. Make sure he gets told. He is broken right now.” Such amazing love for a man who has just let Him down.

It’s so good to know that my failures and mistakes are not the end of the story. That a loving Heavenly Father is discussing and planning our restoration with such a massive loving heart.

Lord, help me see and never forgot the depth of your love – that pursues and seeks to restore me to yourself. I praise you and I’m in awe of You.   Amen

Written by Boudy VanNoppen