For the last week or so, we have been celebrating the life of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, or to be more specific, the death, and subsequent resurrection of Jesus.
Well, for those who believe in the Bible and Jesus, we have been celebrating.
‘He has risen, He has risen, He has risen, Jesus is alive’ (Gerald Coates, Noel Richards, & Tricia Richards – 1993).
The words state categorically, what most Christians believe, although I did hear a disturbing statement on the radio last week that said, over 20% of Christians believe that the resurrection was and is a myth!
Christmas though, seems to get all the attention, loads of adverts, lots of colour, celebrities advertising stuff etc. Yes, it is great to celebrate the birth of our Saviour and friend, but that is not all there is to it, but with no Easter celebration, there would be nothing for us at all.
If Jesus had not died, then all the prophecies in the Old Testament, would have gone un-fulfilled, and then what?
If Jesus had not risen, then where would the Gospel be, and then the church would not have started, and then what would there be?
After Peter’s denial of Christ, that would have ended it all (Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, and John 18:15-18, & 25-27).
All the disciples fled and left Jesus when he was arrested, and Jesus was left alone (Mark 14:50 NIV). Without the resurrection, that would have been it, end of story!
Jesus would have lived, spoken to many people, helped many more people, been a little outrageous in his behaviour for the day, been betrayed by an alleged friend, been left by everyone he knew, been denied by his mate, and then, end of story!
But!
That was not the end, and Paul tells us about it, and it is this story no, it is not a story, it is a I think, a ‘historical account’ that puts it all into focus.
‘After that he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.’ (1 Corinthians 15:6 NIV).
So, after Jesus had appeared to his disciples a few times, he appeared to over 500 people. So many hundreds of people saw Jesus after he had been crucified and resurrected, and that would be in today’s world, a verifiable fact, Paul is basically saying, ‘If you do not believe me, then there are about 500 other guys that you can go and check this information with’.
Peter though, always seems to be a bit of a hot head when I read through the Gospels, this is only my opinion though; especially when he told Jesus that he would not let him die when he predicted his death (Matthew 16:21-23), or that he would die rather than deny him (Mark 14:29 NIV), then he cut off an ear from one of the guys that came to arrest Jesus (John 18:10).
But ultimately Peter also went away from his friend that he has spent almost 3 years with, not physically though, but he did deny him, just as predicted (Matthew 26:69-75).
And yet, when everything had happened, Jesus was still willing to accept him as he was, faults and all.
‘For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23 NIV).
All of us have a past, and some of us may still live there from time to time, because we forget, or even sometimes feel comfortable in our sin, but we ALL have something that we wish we had not done or said, or even ‘not done’!
Jesus does not care about that stuff. Well he cares, but he would never bring anything up about it; it is the past, it belongs to and in the past, and does not, should not, and if you want it, it will not define your future.
Sometimes even knowing that, it is still hard.
But Jesus, takes this to the nth degree.
Pete, the one who says lots of stuff, seemingly without thought at times. A man just like most of us are at different times of our lives. Yet even he who denied ever knowing Jesus, still had a future with Jesus!
‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ (John 21:15 NIV).
You can put your own name there, and these could be your material possessions, your big fancy car, your large house, your salary, or any other number of things that we sometimes put before Jesus in our lives.
Not one, but three times, he asks him if he loves Jesus, and three times he answers in the affirmative. ‘Yes, I love you, even though I walked away from you, even though I am scared, even though…. And the list could go on and on.
With us, we are less likely to suffer crucifixion, or abuse for knowing and loving Jesus and telling people about it, but it is still scary sometimes.
Some of Jesus’ last words to Peter are, ‘Follow me’ (John 21:19 NIV).
What are we prepared to do to follow Jesus?
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
I Surrender All – Justin Wheeler Van De Venter – 1896
He arose from the grave,
my life he did save.
All I have I owe to Him,
Even before I knew & loved Him,
He loved me and wanted me for his own.
Jesus thank you for saving me
Thank you for loving me
Help me to be the person that you know I can be.