Peter and Easter
Luke 24:12
Though the women told and retold the story of their experience at the empty tomb, the Eleven and the other disciples didn't believe them. It was just too incredible.
Yet, Peter seems to have decided something must have happened at the tomb and determined to find out what. So he headed for the tomb. (We know from John’s Gospel that another apostle went with him; this was most likely John.)
At the tomb, Peter discovers it to be just as the women had said. It was empty. Well, empty except for the grave-clothes. That left him puzzled.
You see, even if Jesus hadn’t died—and Peter knew he had—but had merely seemed to die, in his weakened condition he could not have struggled out of those “strips of cloths” that had bound the body. And no grave-robbers would have taken the time to remove them.
So, Peter was baffled. John saw the clothes and realized what they meant. So he believed. Peter’s Easter faith would come just a little later.
This morning I want to take the sparse information we have and insights from the stories of other great Christians, mix in a bit of what I hope is sanctified imagination to try to surmise how "Peter's Easter" may have taken place.
For historical reasons we are often reluctant to say anything that might distinguish Peter from the other disciples. We don't want to imply he was treated with favoritism in any way. Yet, is it suggesting favoritism to affirm that Jesus deals with each of us according to our own need? Would it be so unusual to suggest Jesus did just that with Peter? As we look at the hints regarding Peter and Easter, I think we'll find that what happened.
On that great day, that first Easter, what did Peter need most? His need was multifaceted--it involved the need for repentance, reconciliation, and restoration.
The shock and horror of the crucifixion was amplified by Peter's bitter memory of failure. You recall the story. A few hours before his death Jesus had predicted his closest disciples would all run away, some even deny him. The ever impetuous Peter immediately protested: "No, Lord, I won't deny you."
Jesus responded, "Peter, before this night is over you will deny you know me three times."
"Nope, Lord," Peter insisted, "even if all these others deny you, I won't. I'll follow you even in death."
Of course, the other disciples chimed in their agreement. They wouldn't run away or deny Jesus. But Peter was the first and loudest to tell the Lord he was wrong. Jesus simply left it to time to prove he was right.
And, of course, he was.
Luke tells the story.
Luke 22:54 [The soldiers seized Jesus and] led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, "This man was with him."
57 But he denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, "You also are one of them." "Man, I am not!" Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, "Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean."
60 Peter replied, "Man, I don't know what you're talking about!" Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him:"Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times." 62 And Peter went outside and wept bitterly.
So, Peter had done what only hours before had been unthinkable. He had committed an offense against Christ by denying he knew him. Jesus had done him only good. Jesus had healed his mother-in-law. Jesus had allowed him to hear and witness some of the most remarkable words and deeds in history. Jesus had inspired him to believe he could be more than he ever thought he could be. Yet, when the test came, he had failed Jesus.
If you can't relate to Peter you are a most remarkable person. Haven't we all blown it on our pilgrimage? Haven't we all found ourselves to be spectacular failures? Haven't we all done that which we once thought to be unthinkable?
If so, you can appreciate the shame and self-condemnation Peter felt.
You can understand why he may have felt he would never escape the memory of those words of denial, words he underscored with curses. It would never again be the same.
Such thinking might have led him to despair. He might have given up. We know such people--former church members--who experienced some moral of spiritual failure and have given up. They feel they can't be forgiven, can never come back.
Peter might have been like them except for something else Jesus said when he predicted Peter's failure. Jesus had told him, "I have prayed for you that your faith won't fail. And that when you come back, you'll help the others."
I like to think those words gave Peter a glimmer of hope. "When you come back"--could that possibly mean this terrible sense of isolation and failure wouldn't last? We don't know if he had such thoughts, but we do know that his puzzlement over the empty tomb didn't last long.
Sometime, not long after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter. The New Testament mentions this without giving any details.
The oldest accounts of the Risen Christ's appearances, found in I Corinthians 15:4-8, includes the report, "He appeared to Cephas (Peter.)" Later in Luke 24, the disciples say that Peter had seen the Lord. This shouldn't be too surprising since Mark tells us the angels made a special point of saying Peter was to be told the word of Christ's resurrection. "Tell the disciples--and Peter," they said. It's as if they were saying, Peter isn't going to miss out on this, no matter what he may be thinking.
I picture Peter's Easter having two dimensions.
THE FIRST DIMENSION
The first involved this encounter with the Risen Christ which the New Testament mentions but does not reveal exactly when it happened or what happened during the encounter.
Though we don't know what happened when Peter first met the now risen Christ, I think we can safely suppose it was a time of repentance and reconciliation.
It fits what we know of the experiences of so many other Christians who have honestly faced their failures and admitted them. If that is what happened, a gracious God has chosen to keep the details of Peter's moment with Jesus a secret. We might want to know more but we're not going to.
I've read the confessions of saints like Augustine, Bunyan, and Newton. They contain enough information to make the story realistic but even these classics don't indulge in the kind of self-disclosure you can find on Facebook. Before Facebook I always assumed my friends brushed their teeth in the morning, occasionally had bad service at a restaurant, and sometimes were caught in traffic jams. Now, I can read about it. Somethings are meant to be kept private.
While we know Peter was there, he nowhere tells us what happened. Perhaps more significantly, Jesus doesn't tell us. Nowhere does he appear to the disciples to say, "I want you all to know that I've dealt with Peter. We had the very first 'come to Jesus meeting.' After I had my say he started thinking those sermons by John the Baptists were like Hallmark cards. He'll think twice about messing up again."
No, that's not how Jesus treated Peter and it's not how he treats us when we fail. When we really mess up he invites to come to him, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. The old gospel song pictures it: "Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling...."
Peter's fellow apostle John would write of how God was prepared to hear our confession and offer forgiveness. "If we confess our sins," John writes, "he is faithful and reliable to forgive our sins." When he forgives, he cleanses us so thoroughly it's as if we hadn't sinned.
The wonderful story of the Prodigal Son gives us a clue. Jesus doesn't want to humiliate us when we repent and return to him. He wants to throw us a party.
But there seems to have been one aspect of Peter's experience of Easter that did demand a public expression. This is the second dimension I mentioned.
THE SECOND DIMENSION
John tells us that story. (John 21)
I'll give the highlights. Jesus meets with the apostles early one morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples had been fishing, apparently not expecting to encounter Jesus. But he does show up and he's prepared them breakfast.
Now, Peter was there and those private encounters had apparently already taken place. He had been with the others during previous appearances. Yet, something remained to be dealt with.
After they had eaten, Jesus turns to Peter and pointedly asks, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?"
It was an important question because Peter had boldly claimed a deeper devotion than his fellow disciples had. He had failed but so had they. Now the disciples needed to know if he still felt better than them.
I won't repeat the details of their dialogue but, in the end, Peter tells Jesus so the others might hear, "Lord, you know I am devoted to you." There was no pretense of being a super-saint, no claim to a higher degree of spirituality, no suggestion he considered himself their role-model. Peter was exercising a principle Paul would eventually present in Romans 12: Peter was refusing to think more highly of himself than he ought to think.
If Peter were to ever work alongside these apostles again, he had to let them know he did not consider himself better than they were, more committed to Christ. That encounter on the lakeshore allowed him to make that clear.
Many times you and I can deal with our failures in a private encounter with the Lord. Sometimes we can't.
When our failure involves failing someone else, injuring someone else, or causing someone else to question the value of the gospel, we may have to go to that person to confess and seek reconciliation. An old rule suggests that sometimes our confession must be as public as the sin. That's certainly been abused in the past but the fundamental notion behind it is sound. Our sins often have an impact beyond our personal actions. The proponents of the various Twelve Step programs understand this. The program always includes a step that says those following the steps must list all persons they have harmed by their behavior and become willing to make amends. For Christians this involves some form of confession and an effort to heal the past.
Don't be surprised that Peter's Easter involved such a moment. Among other things, Easter tells us things can be different.
Conclusion
Peter was one of the great figures on the New Testament. Yet, he failed. Just like us he failed. The Risen Christ led him to a place of reconciliation and restoration. He will do the same for us.
If you've failed in some way, done what was once unthinkable, you don't have to live with the weight of shame and guilt. You don't have to think that your failure defines you. Let the Risen Christ deal with your failure with love and compassion.
If your failure has hurt another, allow the Risen Christ to lead you in finding a way to go to that person to humbly seek a new relationship.
How wonderful to come to the Lord's Table with that weight lifted.
