Moving Past Your Past
Easter 2024
Mark 16:1-8
Rev. Brian Bill
March 30-31, 2024
How many of you have received “the look” from a parent? I remember getting a lot of them growing up, especially when I was messing around in church, or tormenting my four sisters.
While my dad could give “the look,” my mom was an expert at it, probably because she had a lot of practice with five kids. When I received “the look,” which was fairly often, I usually crumbled.
When I was a teenager, I remember when I lost my driver’s license because of a speeding ticket and neglected to tell my parents about it. Unfortunately, in our small town, these infractions were published in the local newspaper and my parents read all about it a couple days later. After seeing her son’s sins in the paper, my mom met me at the door with a look that melted me. Later, when she told my dad, he gave me a look with an accompanying smirk. I think he was impressed I was able to get our old Ford truck to go 55 in a 25 mile-per-hour zone.
The worst “look” I ever received happened when I was 18 years old after my friend Tim drowned in the Rock River. I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t think I’ve shared what happened after his body was recovered. I’ll never forget being in the back of a police car so I could show the officer where Tim’s parents lived. I watched as the officer knocked on the door and told his mom the news. Before she crumpled to the ground, she looked directly into my eyes, with a penetrating look I can still see today. I already felt guilty for not doing more to save him, so this gutted me.
Here’s the main point I want us to get today: To move past your past, seek the presence of Jesus in the present.
We’re going to spend some time focusing on Peter today. He was a fisherman before following Jesus and was known to be impetuous and assertive. He was brash and a bit of a braggart. At the same time, he was courageous as seen when he stepped out of the boat and walked on the water. In John 6:68, after many had turned back and no longer were following Jesus, it was Peter who said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” He was also bold when he proclaimed in Matthew 16:16: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
In Matthew 26:33-35, after Jesus told the disciples they would all depart from Him, Peter was quick to say, “‘Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.’ Peter said to him, ‘Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!’” Peter was filled with pride, thinking he was better than the other disciples and he was confident he would never deny Christ. To prove his point, when Jesus was arrested, Peter whacked off the ear of the high priest’s servant. But Peter was about to fail and bail on Christ in a really big way.
If you’ve never failed, messed up, broken a promise, or sinned in a big way, this message is not for you. But if you fall short like I do, and you want to move past your past, you’re in the right place.
Let’s consider the path Peter took:
• Renounced faith.
• Repentant heart.
• Resurrected hope.
• Restored purpose.
1. Renounced faith. While Peter was warming himself around a fire in the courtyard, Mark 14:65 says Jesus was being slapped around and spit upon: “And the guards received Him with blows.”
Here’s a composite picture of Peter’s slide into sin from the four gospels.
• He dodged. When accused by a young servant girl of being with Jesus, Peter practiced evasion, “Woman, I do not know Him.” Notice, he formerly confessed Christ as the Son of God and now he won’t even use His name.
• He distanced. Then Peter moved away from everyone. When he’s accused of being a disciple, he denied it by swearing with an oath, “Man, I am not one of His disciples.”
• He denied. About an hour later, one final accusation was made, and Peter invoked a curse on himself and swore that he was innocent, “I do not know the man of whom you speak.” While he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
Have you ever noticed how sin gets easier to do the more you do it? In addition, a series of bad choices can happen in a matter of minutes and put us in a really bad place.
Listen to what happened next according to Luke 22:61-62: “And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.’ And he went out and wept bitterly.”
Peter got “a look” from the Lord. With His face bruised, His nose bloodied, His eyes black and blue, and warm saliva streaming down his face, Jesus “turned and looked at Peter.” This is a graphic picture which means Jesus “turned about and looked toward him.” The word “looked” means, “to fix the eyes intently and directly, to gaze upon.” The clear implication is that their eyes met.
Interestingly, this is the same word used when Jesus called Peter to follow Him in John 1:42 some three years earlier: “Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas’ (which means Peter).” Peter, the rock, had just crumbled under pressure.
I wonder what this “look” was like for Peter. Was it a look of judgment? Disbelief? Disappointment? Disgust? Was it accompanied with a shake of His head as if to indicate Peter was a loser? Actually, I think it was a penetrating look of love! I say that because in Mark 10:21 when Jesus urged the rich young ruler to leave his idols behind, we read these words: “And Jesus, looking at Him, loved him and said to him, ‘You lack one thing…’”
The Lord knows everything about you and loves you anyway. There really is nothing you can do that would make Him love you more…and there is nothing you can do to make Him love you any less.
The Lord is looking at you with love right now. He knows what you’ve done, He remembers your broken promises, and He sees into your very soul. In fact, Jesus knows what you’re going to do before you do it and He’s already at work to make it redemptive in your restoration process. According to Luke 22:32, Jesus predicted Peter would bail on Him, but He also put these words in Peter’s mind before he did so: “And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
To move past your past, seek the presence of Jesus in the present.
2. Repentant heart. This penetrating look of love from the Lord pulverized Peter with guilt and shame: “And he went out and wept bitterly.” The phrase, “went out” means he ran away from everyone. The fact he “wept bitterly” refers to “bursting into tears, lamenting and wailing.” The word “bitterly” was used of the fruit of wild vines which were excessively bitter and poisonous. It also referred to brackish and dirty water like the scum on a stagnant pond.
Mark 14:72 says Peter “broke down and wept.” I picture this manly guy fleeing until he found a solitary place. The tears started flowing like a fountain, and his big shoulders began heaving as he fell to his knees in brokenness.
Ezekiel 7:16 is descriptive of people weeping over their sins: “…all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity.” Psalm 51:17 tells us God will not despise a “broken and contrite heart.” 2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.”
Peter heard the rooster, he received the Lord’s loving look, he remembered what Jesus had said would happen, and then he repented with tears. There’s nothing that so brings godly sorrow as a glimpse of Christ’s kindness. I’m reminded of Romans 2:4: “Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?”
We don’t really know where Peter went for the next several days, but my guess is he chose to isolate in some desolate place. As he thought things over, he thought it was over. In his mind, his deliberate denial meant he had been DQ’d as a disciple. Peter was now a broken man, and that was a good thing because brokenness is the key to usefulness. It was Charles Spurgeon who said, “Whenever God means to make a man great, He always breaks him in pieces first.”
Does that describe anyone here today?
To move past your past, seek the presence of Jesus in the present.
3. Resurrected hope. Let’s fast forward a few days. When the women entered the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, Mark 16:5 says, “…they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.”
After sharing the news that Jesus had risen from the dead, the angel gave the women a commission in verse 7: “But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.” The word “go” means, “to depart and go quickly to deliver an urgent message.”
Notice how Peter received a special shout out: “tell His disciples and Peter.” This might suggest that Peter no longer thought of himself as a disciple and had stopped associating with them. As far as Peter was concerned, he had blown it so much, there was no longer any hope for him. Have you ever felt like that?
God wanted Peter to know it wasn’t over. He wanted him to know the resurrection brings hope and healing to the hurting. Because Jesus died and was raised from the dead, He offers forgiveness and freedom to those who have fallen. Peter denied Jesus but he was not disowned by Jesus.
The phrase, “and Peter” contains the gospel in two words. Peter the denier needed the personal assurance of the resurrection gospel. I wonder what the tone was like when the angel told the women the good news. Maybe it was something like this: “Please tell the disciples the good news and seek Peter out because the Lord especially wants him to know that He is alive! Don’t forget Peter because Jesus hasn’t forgotten him.”
This a message for all who have blown it, messed up, compromised, and reneged on promises. The empty tomb is a promise of resurrected hope. You too can have a fresh start, a new beginning, a brand-new life.
I wonder what it was like when the women told Peter they had a special message for him. I imagine Peter sitting in the corner, hiding in the shadows, hoping no one would notice him. When the told him he was called out by name, I wonder if he felt some shame. But, as he realized he was named because he was loved and cared for, it allowed him to come out of hiding. He’s not been forgotten or forsaken! In that very moment, more than anything else in the world, Peter needed to be called by name. He was still the rock.
I came across a quote this week that I can’t get out of my mind: “I’ve given God a million reasons not to love me. None of them changed His mind.”
To move past your past, seek the presence of Jesus in the present.
4. Restored purpose. 1 Corinthians 15:5 says Jesus went out of His way to retrieve Peter and restore him personally and privately: “…He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Cephas is another name for Peter. We don’t know where this encounter took place, but Jesus tracked Peter down and met with him before meeting with the other disciples.
In John 21, we read how Peter decided to go fishing with a few of his buddies. He actually drifted back to his old habits and behavior. They fished all night and caught nothing. This shows that going back to your old life is ultimately unsatisfying. As day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t know it was Him. After greeting them, Jesus told the fishermen to put their net on the right side of the boat and they’d catch some fish. I’m sure these seasoned fisherman rolled their eyes because they were now near the shore and had fished all night and caught nothing. When they followed His advice, they caught so many fish, they couldn’t haul the net in.
This triggered their memories of previous miracles, and when Peter realized it was the Lord, he jumped overboard and rushed to see Jesus. When they all gathered around Jesus, He was grilling some fish over a charcoal fire for breakfast. We pick up this encounter in verses 15-17 where Jesus restored Peter publicly: “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ 16 He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ 17 He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
Just as Peter denied Jesus three times when he was around a charcoal fire, so now he was restored around a fire with three purpose statements from Jesus.
There’s a number of “looks” which show us how Peter moved past his past.
• The servant girl “looked” at Peter.
• Jesus “looked” at Peter after his third denial.
• Peter ran to the tomb and “looked” inside to see that it was empty.
• Jesus tracked Peter down and “looked” at him in private and He also “looked” into His soul when He restored him publicly.
Jesus is looking at you with love right now. Are you discouraged? Dismayed? Have you denied Him by how you’ve been living?
Sometimes we’re so ashamed of ourselves that we feel like Jesus must be too. But He’s not. He knew you’d struggle and sin. He knew you would fail and bail on Him. He still died for you and rose on your behalf. Don’t run from Him. Run to Him and follow Him the rest of your life.
You don’t have to do penance to work off your sins, nor do you have to perform to work your way to Him. Why? Because Jesus offers you a free pardon.
I’ve always liked this statement: “No matter how many steps you have taken away from God, it only takes one step to get back.” D.A. Carson says, “You are not suffering from anything that a good resurrection can’t fix.”
The charge given to Peter at the end of John 21:19 is the same one given to us: “And after saying this He said to him, ‘Follow me.’” Three years earlier, in Matthew 4:19, Jesus gave Peter an invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” After his failure, Jesus gave the same call: “Follow me.” Two verses later He repeats it and adds a personal plea: “You follow me.”
It doesn’t matter what your friends do or what your family does, make sure you follow me. This is literally translated as, “Keep on following me.” This is always the key command. Whatever you’ve done in the past, follow Jesus now, in the present. Take your next step.
Peter was restored and became a fearless preacher willing to be beaten and imprisoned. Tradition tells us he died for Jesus, asking to be crucified upside down because he was not worthy to die like Jesus did.
To move past your past, seek the presence of Jesus in the present.
Let’s watch how one couple fleshed this out.
Video Testimony
There’s hope for you today! No matter what you’ve done or how long you’ve been doing it, Jesus wants you to know He’s alive and He can bring new life to you. He knows your nature and He is calling you by name. The Lord has turned, and He is looking at you. Will you turn your face to Him, put your faith in Him, and follow Him?
On this resurrection weekend, Jesus promises forgiveness to those who have failed. Can you hear Him? He’s calling you by name right now. He’s turning around to look at you with love and He longs for you to trust Him.
If you’re ready to repent and receive the risen Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and you’re prepared to follow Him for the rest of your life, would you close your eyes and pray this prayer with me?
“Lord Jesus, I know I’m a sinner and You are the Savior who died in my place and rose again on the third day. I want to respond to You right now by surrendering my life to You. I ask you to come into my life and to forgive me for my sins. I need a new beginning so I can move past my past. I receive Your gift of grace and forgiveness right now. I confess that You are Lord and I now receive You by faith so I can be born again. Come into my life and make me into the person You want me to be and enable me to follow You faithfully for the rest of my life. Amen.”
Closing Song: Living Hope
Friends, the resurrection demands a reaction. In the face of doubt, fear, and guilt, we proclaim that Christ is risen; He is risen indeed.
It’s customary on Easter for the pastor to say: “Christ is risen!” and for the congregation to reply: “He is risen indeed!”
Let’s end that way now.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed.
