Peter on the First Lord’s Day (Mark 16:1-8; John 20:1-10; Luke 24:28-43; John 20:19-23)

Mark, in chapter 16 of his Gospel, tells us that an angel at the empty tomb told the women to go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus had risen from the dead. It looks as if the women had to split up to perform this request, which suggests that the disciples were not all in the same place in Jerusalem. This would not be surprising, given the situation they feared from the authorities. Yet they obviously knew where the disciples were and Mary Magdalene went to tell Peter and John. She may not have had far to travel.

It is safe to say that the angel did not decide by himself to add the reference to Peter. The angel mentioned it because he would have been instructed by Jesus to do so. When this instruction was given, Jesus knew that he would see Peter later that day. He did not see Peter first, but he did ensure that Peter received the message about the resurrection. It is also intriguing that he sent exalted messengers (the angels) to inform the women, but he used the women to inform the disciples. Maybe this was one way by which the faithfulness of the women at the time of his death was rewarded.

The Gospel writers record that the response of the disciples to the message of the women was one of unbelief. One reason for this is seen in John’s comment that the disciples did not understand from the Bible that Jesus would rise from the dead. The implication is that they should have done. Of course, the Bible that they used was the Old Testament and this failure of the disciples leads us to ask where in the Old Testament is it predicted that Jesus would rise from the dead. Here are some suggestions.

In Psalm 2, David describes how the Son of God would reach the throne of God. The psalmist makes it clear that the path to the throne included going through the darkness of death. Yet the Son is full of confidence regarding what will happen to him at that time. He will not be left in the place of death, but will reach the destination marked out by the path of life.

Another reference to the resurrection of Jesus is found in the incredible description of the humiliation and the exaltation of the Messiah in Isaiah 53. There, it was predicted that the Messiah would die and be buried in a rich man’s tomb. Nevertheless, he would yet have universal dominion, which indicates very clearly that the Messiah would have to rise from the dead. After all, he could not be described as having universal dominion if he remained under the power of death.

Those two references indicate that it should have been possible for the disciples, including Peter, to know from the Old Testament that the Saviour would rise from the dead. Imagine what those days between the death and resurrection of Jesus would have been like for the disciples, including Peter, if they had thought about what the Bible says about it. Yet we cannot throw stones at them because we too often do not notice what the Bible says.

The state of Peter’s mind

We are not told anything about what Peter felt or thought about during the hours between his denial of Jesus and the time when Mary Magdalene came to see him and John. Since he was with John, it would mean that he was also with Mary, the mother of Jesus, because John tells us that he took Mary to his home at the request of Jesus. So we can see that Peter would have spent the hours with two choice saints, yet because they did not yet understand the reality of the resurrection they would not have been able to help him in his distress. We need the truth about Jesus as well as the company of devout believers.

We can safely assume that Peter would have been very ashamed of the way that he had denied Jesus. He may also have recalled the various wrong words that he had spoken and actions he had done. His mind might have recalled his proud boasts of remaining true to Jesus and also the pointless ambitions about him having a prominent place in the kingdom he had imagined Jesus would set up. No doubt, Peter would have wished he could speak to Jesus about those things and say that he was sorry for them. But what would be the point if Jesus was not risen from the dead? The fact is, we need to know the truth before we can repent adequately and intelligently.

It is striking that John seemed to grasp from what he saw in the empty tomb that Jesus must be alive. If someone had stolen the body, everything would not be so orderly in the tomb. The arrangement of the face cloth indicates that Jesus had taken care to fold it before leaving the tomb. Luke 24:12 says that Peter observed the neat arrangement and it made him wonder about it. But he did not have the same realisation that John did. It is the case that sometimes one believer can be helped more in a situation than another believer who is with him. Peter needed something else and he received it.

Peter meets with Jesus

At some stage later that day, Jesus appeared to Simon Peter when he was alone. We are not told anything about the meeting, which is a reminder that there may be meetings with Jesus the details of which we can keep to ourselves while saying that the meeting happened. Of course, we can try and imagine what took place. Peter would have worshipped Jesus and confessed his sins to him; Jesus would have comforted Peter by reminding him that he was forgiven and that he would be of use in serving in the future. If Jesus had withheld that comfort it is hard to imagine that Peter would want to be in the upper room later that evening.

It is important to note that Jesus had given Peter much encouragement already on this day. He had informed the women to take special notice of Peter when they passed on the news about the resurrection. This tells us that Jesus had his eye on Peter even although Peter did not know about that. The Saviour had also given to Peter the privilege of seeing the empty tomb, a privilege which does not seem to have been utilised by the other disciples apart from John. Although Peter does not seem to have benefitted from those encouragements as he should have done, his failure did not prevent Jesus from meeting with him. We should not let our failures prevent us from seeing the desire of Jesus to meet with us in special ways.

Peter with the disciples

Later that evening, the disciples, apart from Thomas, met together in the upper room. It is obvious that when Peter informed them that he had met with the Lord they were convinced that he was risen from the dead. We can see their certainty about this when they speak to the two disciples who had come from Emmaus to share the same news as Peter. The disciples already there stated with confidence, ‘The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon’ (Luke 24:34). We can learn from this situation the importance of sharing appropriate details with other believers.

It is striking that the disciple who was selected to encourage the other disciples was the one who had failed the most. There is no record that Jesus appeared to John in this way, even although John had remained with Jesus at the cross and taken his mother away when requested. Instead, it was to Peter that Jesus gave such a privilege. We should value the restoring grace that Jesus gives to erring brothers.

As far as we know, Jesus only gave this privilege of one to one to three people – Mary Magdalene, Peter and James, the brother of Jesus. He did appear to the women as a group, and to the couple from Emmaus, as well as to the disciples as a group. The variety of numbers to whom he appeared tells us that Jesus can get close to his people whatever their situation.

There was one individual that Jesus did not meet on the resurrection day and that was Thomas. Why did Jesus omit seeing him? Suggestions include that Thomas’ heart was hard and that Thomas did not want to meet with the other disciples. We can deduce from this that while Peter had sinned more than Thomas he did not retain his failure as long as Thomas did. Therefore, we should not assume that because a person’s sinful response is not as great it means that he will repent sooner because that did not happen with Thomas when he was not present to hear what Peter had to say about meeting the risen Jesus.

Jesus appears to them

Despite Peter’s report, the other disciples were still afraid as they gathered together behind locked doors. They needed to experience something that would remove their fear. And they would receive that blessing when Jesus suddenly appeared in the room in a miraculous way while they were speaking about how he had appeared to others. Of course, the fact that he appeared may not have in itself made them feel comfortable. After all, he could have come to rebuke them. How wonderful it was for them to hear from his lips the beautiful word, ‘Peace.’

His use of the word told the disciples that there was no bitterness in his heart towards them despite their disloyalty to him. We also see that Jesus wanted them to grasp that even although he had come into their presence in a remarkable way he was in some ways still the same. His use of the simple daily greeting that was common among the people reveals that he did not wish them to be confused. Of course, they may not have realised it at that time, yet he knew that his atoning death had ensured that peace with God would be a wonderful reality for them.

Peter watched what Jesus did as well as listen to what Jesus said. He saw and heard three things about Jesus: he saw the wounds of Jesus, he saw Jesus eating some food, and he heard Jesus give them instructions about how they would serve him in the future. I would suggest that Jesus did each of them on purpose.

Having given the promise of peace, the Saviour shows them the evidence that peace had been made. He revealed to them his wounds and this dealt with their fears. While we do not know what went through the minds of the disciples, we can make two applications to ourselves about his wounds.

First, thinking of his wounds reminds us of the commencement and the close of his sufferings. His wounds in his hands and feet occurred when he was nailed to the cross and the wound in his side was caused after he had died. So the wounds tell us to focus on what happened to Jesus on the cross.

Second, since Jesus had the wounds after his resurrection, it is reasonable to conclude that they are permanent. When his ascension is described in Revelation 5, he is depicted as having wounds as he makes his way to the throne of God. And we should remind ourselves that these wounds speak loudly in heaven as his intercession. Peter would remember this reality throughout the rest of his days on earth.

As we noticed, Jesus also ate some food that had been prepared (Luke 24:41-43). Whatever else this action revealed, it showed that he was still a real man, that somehow he was not less a human than before. There is no doubt that his human nature could do things that he had not done previously, such as appear in a room without opening the locked doors. His sudden appearance had frightened them and caused them to imagine that he was without his body. His eating the food would say to them that he was still the man, Christ Jesus.

Peter, with the disciples, also received another commission from Jesus when he said that he was sending them in his name to declare the gospel throughout the world with the empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit to enable them. A great deal is included in what Jesus promised them, but we can see how glad Peter would have been.

So that day, Peter had received much comfort from Jesus. It certainly was a blessed first day of the week for the disciple who had failed but had now been restored. He had experienced a remarkable spiritual recovery both within his heart and in his future service. And he speaks to and says that we can know the same grace from the risen Master.