What
I’m about to write strike so close to the heart that I can hardly
begin. Go tell Peter. “Let him know that I want him to be there.”
You
know where that’s from? Mark 16:7.
The
disciples had all deserted Jesus. Peter’s knee jerk reaction to
fight the Romans had been rebuked by Jesus and then, well, then, in
the face of a crucifixion, confused Peter denied even knowing Jesus
at all. And they scattered. Who knows to where? Hiding here. Skirting
down darkened allies there. Somehow, all but Thomas had gathered
again in the last place they’d been together with Jesus, the upper
room. Was it prearranged? Who knows? It must have been terribly
difficult. Losers and failures to a man. Each in his own way a
coward. And Peter. He had only done what most every one of us would
have done yet, betrayal is betrayal.
The worst kind of betrayal -
that of a friend.
And
what does Jesus do? He makes extra sure that the message gets to
Peter, “You’re not excluded. I want YOU to be part of My group. I
don’t care that you turned tail and ran. I want YOU back.”
O
God! How much love can You pour out on us? How much forgiveness can
You grant us?
What
kind of a person would turn away from that great a love?
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