Easter 2022

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, certain other women with him came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb... "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." (Luke 24:1–6)

Follow the outspoken failure named Peter, and discover why the angel made sure to say "and Peter."

He Is Risen

It is good to know that our Lord is alive and well and on the throne. That is what this Sunday — Resurrection Sunday, commonly called Easter — declares. Christ was crucified, died for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and was seen by witnesses, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15. He is alive.

It is so good to know that we worship a living God, a God who is over all the things that trouble us, a God we can turn to at any time, coming to His throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. How many of you have had a time of need this week?

Three weeks ago I got a call from a man who said our mutual friend Victor Marks had given him my number. They were doing a documentary on spiritual warfare and wanted to interview me. So this last Monday we sat in the back of the sanctuary for about four hours recording. Even while recording, I was thinking — this is never good. One thing pastors understand is that when you teach on a topic, it's as if the enemy says, "Let's see if that's really true." Sure enough, late last night I discovered someone had hacked and completely destroyed our website — fourteen years of audio servers, backups, everything gone. From ten o'clock until two in the morning I was rebuilding a server so we'd have a website for those watching online. But God is still good and on the throne. He is alive and well, and we are blessed to worship Him.

The Standout of the Gospels

If you have never read through the Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — I really hope you will. And if you have, you will no doubt be drawn to one of the standout characters. Some of you already know whom I mean: Peter.

Peter was one of Jesus's first followers. His brother Andrew came to him saying, "We've found the Messiah." Peter came and met Jesus, and after seeing God do a miraculous work through Christ, he bowed down, said he was not worthy to be in His presence, and called Him his Lord and his God.

Peter was likely the oldest of the disciples — the Scriptures mention his mother-in-law, so he was married, perhaps the only married apostle. And Peter is the one who can always be counted on to speak up. He always had something to add. Maybe you know somebody like that — maybe you are that person. I find I can identify with Peter. He often put words to what was on everyone else's mind, which also meant he was the one most often putting his foot in his mouth.

Always the First to Speak

When Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" it was Peter who answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said, "Simon bar Jonah, flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven." You can imagine Peter standing a little taller — God the Father just spoke through me.

When Jesus gave a hard teaching in John 6 about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, many left. Jesus turned to the twelve and asked, "Will you also leave?" Peter spoke up: "Lord, where else will we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of God." At least a double on that one.

It was Peter who walked on the water. Out on the Sea of Galilee — a place he knew from childhood as a fisherman — a great windstorm came up while they fought it all night. When they saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought it was a ghost, and there was a fable that you'd see a ghost just before you die. Jesus said, "It's me." Peter said, "Lord, if it's you, call me out to you." And he walked — until he sank. No doubt for years afterward Peter used that as his trump card: "Yeah, but I did walk on the water."

It was also Peter who had the tenacity to rebuke Jesus to His face. Right after Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon," He began to prepare His disciples for His suffering and death. Peter rebuked Him: "Not so, Lord; this will not happen to you." To which Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan. You're an offense to me, because you're not mindful of the things of God, but of the things of man." Amazing — he went from "You are the Christ" to "Get behind me, Satan" in about four seconds.

Kept Close to Jesus

Peter belonged not only to the twelve but to a smaller select group of three — Peter, James, and John. James and John were called the "sons of thunder," wanting to call down fire on a village that wouldn't receive Jesus. I think Jesus kept them close because He was keeping His eye on them — like the kids in junior high ministry you keep right next to you.

So Peter was with Jesus at moments few others witnessed. On the mountaintop of the Transfiguration, they saw Jesus in His glory with Moses and Elijah. Peter, overcome, blurted out, "Lord, it's good that we're here. Let us build three tabernacles." Mid-sentence a cloud overshadowed them and a voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear him." That "hear him" was effectively, "Peter, not now. This is a holy moment." Peter and James and John were also there when Jesus raised a twelve-year-old girl from the dead.

The Failures of the Passion Week

You would expect Peter to be the standout during the Passion Week — the week that begins with Palm Sunday and concludes on Resurrection Sunday. And he is, but not in the way you'd hope.

In the upper room before the Passover, there sat near the door a basin, a pitcher, and a towel. Everyone knew what that was for — the washing of feet, the task of the lowest servant. Yet they finished the meal and no one had washed anyone's feet. None of the twelve, who always argued about who was the greatest, was willing to humble himself. They were all looking at the water thinking, "I ain't touching that."

Then Jesus rose from supper, laid aside His outer garment, girded Himself with the towel, and began to wash His disciples' feet. This was a major break from protocol — He was the Master, the Rabbi, the reason they were all there. And it seems He came to Peter last. With disbelief Peter said, "Lord, are you washing my feet?" Jesus answered, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will after this." Peter said, "You shall never wash my feet" — as if passing a test the others had failed. Jesus replied, "If I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me." Again you see Peter's nature come through.

At that same gathering Jesus said, "All of you will be made to stumble because of me this night... strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter." Peter answered, "Even if all are made to stumble, I will never stumble." Jesus said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times." Peter said, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you." Bold words from the standout.

In the Garden

They left the upper room, crossed the old city, descended into the Kidron Valley, and came to an olive grove called the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was troubled, and asked His disciples to watch and pray with Him. He took Peter, James, and John a little further and said, "I am exceedingly sorrowful. Will you watch and pray with me?"

He went to pray and came back to find them asleep. "Peter, couldn't you pray with me one hour?" "Yes, sorry, Lord." A second time — asleep. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." A third time — still asleep. As He roused them, Judas arrived leading soldiers and servants of the high priest. Judas greeted Jesus with a kiss, the appointed sign, and they laid hands on Him.

What did Peter do? He pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest. He was at least smart enough not to swing at a Roman soldier — he picked the weakest-looking man. Jesus stopped it: "Put away your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me?" Peter couldn't watch and pray, so he tried to save the day with a sword, and couldn't do that either. Jesus's final words to him in the garden were a rebuke.

"I Do Not Know the Man"

Having arrested him, they led him and brought him to the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance. (Luke 22:54)

A servant girl looked intently at Peter by the fire and said, "You also are of them." He said, "I am not." A little while later another said, "You also are of them." Peter said, "Man, I am not." After about an hour another confidently affirmed, "Surely this fellow also is with them, for he is a Galilean." Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying" — another Gospel says he swore he did not know Him.

Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And get this: the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Their eyes met. Then Peter remembered the word — "before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times" — and he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter, the outspoken, strong one, failed at every point. He failed at foot washing. He failed to pray. He failed to protect the Lord rightly. He forsook the Lord — not once, not twice, but three times. He boldly proclaimed, "I am not that person," then wept bitterly with great agony, uncontrollable, ugly tears, because he had failed in every way.

Complicated Grief

Years ago I read a study on a diagnosable disorder psychologists call complicated grief. It often comes after you've done or said something cruel — an argument in the heat of passion where you say something you don't mean. The person leaves, and the next thing you hear is a phone call: "There's been an accident. I'm very sorry. They're gone."

For years a mother heard her own words ringing in her ears — she had told her seven-year-old son Aaron, "You don't need a life vest, you can swim." Those were the last words she spoke before he drowned, and the guilt was overwhelming. "I wish I'd never met you." "You'll never amount to anything." And then the door closes, and you never see that person again. That is one of the great fears people carry — complicated grief, unquenchable guilt, the thoughts going over and over: "He'd still be here if I hadn't. She'd still be here if I had." It is especially challenging after a suicide, and sadly more than a few here have been touched by that.

I want to suggest that Simon Peter was experiencing significant, complicated grief as he wept bitterly, recounting every word — "Even if every one of these denies you, I never will. I will die with you" — and then, hours later, "I do not know the man."

It's no surprise Peter was not at the cross. He was not at the tomb. After the crucifixion we barely see him. That first night was a sleepless one, and on the Sabbath he probably ate very little. Sometimes the standouts just want to disappear. How many times do you think he replayed the scene — the sword, the fire, "all He asked was that I watch and pray, and I couldn't even do that. How could I deny Him? Now I'll never see Him again. I'll never be able to make it right." The words of the psalmist fit him: "I am weary with my groaning. All night I make my bed swim, I drench my couch with my tears" (Psalm 6:6).

"Go and Tell His Disciples — and Peter"

Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, certain other women came to the tomb... "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen." (Luke 24:1–6)

Mark's Gospel records the angel's words this way:

"Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here... But go and tell his disciples — and Peter — that he is going before you into Galilee." (Mark 16:6–7)

I love that — "and Peter." Why does the angel say it? Maybe because Peter is nowhere to be found, not with the disciples. The others are gathered together, but Peter has cut himself out of the group because he failed.

When the women reported it, their words seemed like idle tales and the disciples did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, and departed, marveling at what had happened.

Jesus Forgives Failures

Those two words — "and Peter" — remind us of one of the most beautiful truths of the resurrection: forgiveness for failures. And they are beautiful words for us, because in this room we are a bunch of failures. We fall short in so many ways, and yet Jesus calls and forgives failures.

Of all the things we could say about Easter, it ultimately comes down to this personal recognition: the cross, the tomb, and the resurrection tell us that Christ Jesus forgives failures. He forgives sinners. He came to do exactly that. That is the glorious good news of the resurrection.

There is so much more it gives us. Because He is risen, He has promised to raise us to be with Him for eternity — in His presence there is fullness of joy, at His right hand pleasures forevermore. But as we sit here today, more than a few of you carry failures in your minds, ways you have fallen short, and you still beat yourself up over them. I want to encourage you: Jesus Christ forgives failures. By failures I mean sinners. He is alive and able to forgive, and He saves to the uttermost those who come to God by Him.

He has made the way open by the cross — the way of Calvary — for you and me to boldly come before His throne of grace to obtain mercy and grace in our time of need. When we feel like a failure, like a wretch, like a sinner — like what we actually are — it is there that we are reminded that Jesus stands with open arms and says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That is good news.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, I thank you for that good news. You are good, and we rejoice in your goodness. You are gracious, and we praise you for your grace and mercy, because not a single one of us here today deserves your blessing. But because of your great love with which you loved us — even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, even when we were failures, outspoken loud-mouth failures — you called to us, because you call and forgive failures.

So, God, I pray you would remind every heart here of that truth, that your words would get past all the negative thoughts that say, "Not possible, not me, I'm too bad, you don't understand how bad I really am." Bypass all of that complicated grief over who we are by this word of truth: you love and call and forgive sinful failures like us. Draw people to yourself, to trust in you and call out to you.

If you today, like Peter, carry complicated grief over your sin and past failures, know that Jesus has the power and the desire to forgive those things. He does not want you to stand under that burden any longer. "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That is what forgiveness does — it removes the burden.

If you need to receive the grace and forgiveness of Christ today, pray with me: Dear Jesus, I need your grace and forgiveness. I thank you that you died on the cross in my place, and that you are alive and on the throne. I thank you that you have the power and authority to forgive me of my sin. I confess my sin to you, and I pray that you would forgive me and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Jesus, help me to walk in newness of life and to rejoice in the abundant life that you give, and help me to follow you by faith. In Jesus's name. Amen.