Friends
Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Praise God! Jesus is alive!
+++
“So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!””
John 20:2 – NIV
Peter stared at Mary in sheer bewilderment. He couldn’t take in her words. All he had managed to muster was “What? How can that be?”
Moments before, Mary Magdalene had rushed into the room, tears streaming down her face, her voice barely a whisper. “He’s gone! It’s empty!”She was sobbing so hard that it was hard to understand what she was saying.
Peter had moved closer to Mary, bending low to look into her tear-streaked face. “Mary, what are you talking about? What’s wrong?”
That’s when he heard the words he couldn’t quite absorb. Mary’s hands were trembling, her bottom lip quivering as she met his eyes, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Peter stood there dumbfounded, his mind swirling, body frozen in place. John crossed the room to stand beside him and began to query Mary further. That’s when her words finally hit home. The thought struck him like a lightning bolt. Jesus was gone!
In a flash, his feet hit the floor, his body headed for the door. John was right behind him as they crossed the threshold and broke into a run. Peter’s thoughts were pounding the walls of his mind, even as his feet pounded the road beneath him. “Where could he be? Who would have taken him? Where would they have taken him? How can this be?”
He could hear John’s footsteps beside him, but Peter kept running, not even pausing to speak a word. He had to reach the tomb. He had to know. “Could Jesus really be gone?”
Reaching the garden, Peter began to slow his pace, but John sprinted ahead, reaching the tomb first. When Peter rounded the corner and saw the large stone rolled away, he froze, paralyzed with fear and dread. Peter watched as John peered into the opening of the tomb, but his legs wouldn’t move. He could barely breathe.
Still, he had to know. He had to see for himself. Willing his body to move, he stepped forward and peered into the darkened doorway. Stepping around John, he entered the tomb. The body was gone. In its place, lay the strips of linen that had covered Jesus’ body. They were folded neatly, as if someone had set them aside for him to find. In the spot where Jesus’ head had laid, the linen head cloth lay pristine and un disturbed.
“What did it mean? Where was Jesus? How is this possible?” His thoughts were a jumble. He remembered bits and pieces of what Jesus had said about his death, but he couldn’t quite make sense of it. “Could Jesus have gone to his Father as he said he would? Could someone have stolen the body?”
That’s when the guilt that had plagued him for days went into overdrive. He had failed Jesus. In his final hours, Peter had failed to protect his Lord. He had gone with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane, but instead of standing with Jesus, he and his friends had fallen asleep. Even still, he had vowed to never let harm come to Jesus, but that’s when His teacher uttered a prophecy that had cut Peter to the core. “Peter, before the rooster crows, you will dis own me three times.” Peter had been crushed. No way would he fail Jesus like that.
Yet, in the very moment Jesus needed his help, Peter had failed him. He had drwan his sword when the crowd came to arrest Jesus, even cutting off the ear of the chief priest’s slave, but Jesus had rebuked him, and Peter had put away his sword. Peter had watched in horror as the Jewish leaders led Jesus out of the garden, and then like cowards, he and his friends fled the scene. He had gone with John to the courtyard of the high priest, but his courage had ended there. When the young girl had asked if he was one of Jesus’ followers, he had said no. Two more times he had been asked that same question, and each time, he had denied it. Shame shuttered through his body as he remembered how the rooster had crowed. “How could I have done that? How could the man Jesus had called ‘His Rock’ become such a coward? How could I have failed Jesus so completely? I couldn’t even manage to keep his body safe. Some ‘Rock’ I turned out to be!”
Peter’s head hung low as he shuffled back to the house where the disciples had gathered. For three days, he and his friends had dwelled in a state of shock, the uncertainty of their situation hanging over them like a foreboding dark cloud. Their fear was palpable, their grief all-consuming. They were so confused. They were so afraid.
Now Peter had seen the empty tomb, and he had no idea what to make of that scene. He couldn’t understand what was happening. Guilt and shame clouded his mind, and though he tried to fight it, fear still rippled through his body.
Suddenly, the door burst open, and Mary Magdalene rushed into the room, her face radiant with joy. “I have seen the Lord!”
Once again, Peter stood frozen in place, his mind reeling, struggling to comprehend her words. As he listened to her story, he felt the knot in his stomach unravel just a tiny bit, the taut grip on his shoulders loosen ever so slightly. “Could this be real? Could Jesus really be alive?” Peter wasn’t sure, but as he gazed at the bright smile on Mary’s joy-filled face, He knew Mary believed it, and maybe, he could believe it too. For the first time in days, Peter’s heart stirred with what felt like a tiny flicker of hope.
+++
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!””
John 20:19 – NIV
PRAYER
O Dearest Lord Jesus, we thank You for the cross. You laid down Your life to set us free from our sins. That is a gift beyond compare, but then You took it further and offered us an empty tomb. You rose from the dead, and because You rose, we too will one day rise. What a gift beyond measure! What a joy divine! Lord Jesus, You are alive! You are with us always, and we are forever yours!
In the Risen Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Easter Blessings,
Anita
*This story is adapted from the content of John 20 and Matthew 26.
-APS 4/21/2025
Faith Beyond Sight 