Peter Series: The Disciples Journey to Easter John 20:1-10; Luke 24:34 April 21, 2019

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1 Peter Series: The Disciples Journey to Easter John 20:1-10; Luke 24:34 April 21, 2019 There was this 9-year-old boy who was not exactly happy about going to church on Easter Sunday morning. His new shoes were to tight, his new shirt was scratchy, and the weather outside was just too beautiful to be cooped up inside. So, as he sulked in his seat in the sanctuary, his parents heard him mutter to no one in particular. I don t know why we have to go to church on Easter, anyway. They keep telling the same old story and it always comes out the same in the end. Perhaps you have similar sentiments this Sunday morning. Not so much about the need to be in church on this most Holy of days. I think most of us know that this is the place we should be. But perhaps like that boy, you wonder about the Easter message. It s the same old story. Year after year. Two thousand years ago, Jesus rose from the grave, the disciples saw Him, and the church began. Alleluia. Amen. I wonder if we are having ham again this year? I m going to guess that the disciples of Jesus 2,000 years ago thought the same thing on Thursday night. They were celebrating the Passover meal, a tradition equally as old. They had experienced the Passover meal and the retelling of the story every year of their lives. But that Thursday night would be different for those disciples, as would the next few days. Their Rabbi, Master, Teacher, the One they believed was the Messiah, the Promised One, had been arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to crucifixion. He died on Friday, and they were devastated. These disciples, who had followed Jesus, had no idea what would be next. Since the 2 nd Sunday of March, we have been studying the disciples on their journey with Jesus to Easter. We learned that they were fishermen. There was a former government worker (a tax collector no less) and a terrorist who wanted the overthrow of the government. There were brothers. There was a thief, who would eventually betray the Master. Today, I want to talk about the lead disciple who could have fallen into oblivion for his cowardness, but because of Jesus, was restored in a unique way. I invite you to turn to page 5 in your bulletin as we look at Simon Peter. When Jesus entered Simon s life, he was just a fisherman. He and his brother Andrew were friends with brothers James and John, who were also fisherman. Peter was married and lived in Capernaum. He was a simple man with a simple goal: provide for his family. But he also was looking for something else, someone else. So, one day, when his brother Andrew came to him, excited saying, We have found the Messiah, Peter went to see for himself. When he met Jesus, Jesus looked at him and said, Your name is Simon, son of John but you will be called Cephas (which means Peter ). 1 Peter means the Rock. Nobody had suggested he was anything more than a smelly fisherman before. Then Jesus said, Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people! 2 And Peter dropped his nets and followed Jesus. 1 John 1:42 (NLT2) 2 Mark 1:17 (NLT2) 1

2 They went to the local synagogue, and Peter listened to Jesus preach. Peter invited Jesus to his home where his mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Jesus healed her, and she got up and fixed supper for everyone. After supper, people from all around showed up at Peter s door asking for healing. This would become a regular thing, for tradition states that Peter s home became Jesus home and center for His ministry in Galilee. At the end of October, Myra and I and others will be traveling to the Holy Land and we will see the place believed to be Peter s home in Capernaum. (Of course, you are invited to join us as well.) I could go on and on about Peter. He was the clear leader of the disciples, but the last few days had not been his best. On Thursday night, Jesus predicted that the disciples would desert him. But Peter replied: Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you. Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, Peter this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me. No! Peter insisted. Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you! And all the other disciples vowed the same. 3 Of course, we know that Peter did just that. When confronted in the courtyard of the high priest, even by a young girl no less 4, Peter denied he knew Jesus three times. Then listen what happened: Just as he was [denying Jesus the third time], the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times. And he went outside and wept bitterly. 5 Peter, like the other disciples, went into hiding. They all were afraid that if Jesus could be killed, what was stopping the authorities from killing them as well. But Peter, he spent the next three days in his own depths of sorrow and regret, blaming himself, I m sure, for not standing up for Jesus, not defending Him. He was so ashamed. He was supposed to be the Rock, but he was a coward. A coward! Here s where we are on page 5 in the bulletin. Let me read from John s Easter morning account: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 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! So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 6 3 Matthew 26:33b-35 (NLT2) 4 See John 18: Luke 22:60-62 (NIV) 6 John 20:1-9 (NIV) 2

3 Now, the other disciple in this story was John. He had seen where Jesus was buried; he watched Jesus crucified from the foot of the cross. 7 So he knew where to go. I can picture Mary surprising the disciples Sunday morning with this incredible news. Peter and John burst out of the house, leaving Mary in their dust. Let s see what we can learn from Peter: First, Peter is still Peter. By all accounts, Peter was naturally impulsive. Let me give you some examples. One time, the disciples were in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee, when a storm came up. A violent storm, and the guys were struggling. Even the veteran fisherman maybe half the group were in fear for their lives. Then all of a sudden Jesus, who had stayed on shore, came walking on the water in the midst of the waves and the storm. And they thought He was a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once. Don t be afraid, he said. Take courage. I am here! Then Peter called to him, Lord, if it s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water. Yes, come, Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 8 Would you get out of the boat in the midst of the storm and walk on the water? Not me. But that was Peter. Another time: When Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone. As the men watched, Jesus appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them. Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, Rabbi, it s wonderful for us to be here! Let s make three shelters as memorials one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He said this because he didn t really know what else to say, for they were all terrified. 9 Peter, in the midst of this incredible display, blurts out something about a building project. Would you do that? Not me. But that was Peter. So here on Easter Sunday, Peter ran to the tomb with John. But John was younger, so he got there first. But did you notice what John did? He stopped at the entrance of the Tomb and just looked in. He wasn t about to go in there. That s a creepy place, the inside of a tomb, where there s supposed to be a dead and decaying body. Would you go in that tomb? Not me. But not Peter. Peter busted right past John and immediately entered the tomb. He saw the burial linen, as well as cloth that would have been put over Jesus head. 10 That s Peter, busting in without much thought. It s Peter being Peter. Peter did not become a perfect person with Jesus, and he never stopped being Simon Peter. We may wonder what Jesus saw in impulsive Peter who wasn t much of a role model. But when Jesus chose his followers, He wasn t looking for models; He was looking for real people. He chose people who could be changed by His love, and then He sent them out to communicate that His acceptance was available to anyone even to those who often fail. 7 See John 19: Matthew 14:27-29 (NLT2) 9 Mark 9:2-6 (NLT2) 10 See John 20:6-7 3

4 We may wonder what Jesus sees in us when He calls us to follow Him. But we know Jesus accepted Peter, and, in spite of his failures, Peter went on to do great things for God. Are you willing to keep following Jesus, even when you fail? 11 The second thing we learn is this: Peter is still confused. A Sunday School teacher asked her class on the Sunday before Easter if they knew what happened on Easter and why it was so important. One little girl spoke up saying: Easter is when the whole family gets together, and you eat turkey and sing about the pilgrims and all that. No, that s not it, said the teacher. I know what Easter is, a second student responded. Easter is when you get a tree and decorate it and give gifts to everybody and sing lots of songs. Nope, that s not it either, replied the teacher. Finally, a third student spoke up, Easter is when Jesus was killed, and put in a tomb and left for three days. Ah, thank goodness somebody knows the teacher thought to herself. But then the student went on: Then everybody gathers at the tomb and waits to see if Jesus comes out, and if he sees his shadow he has to go back inside and we have six more weeks of winter. Some of us have some weird ideas about Easter, bunnies and candy and eggs and such. We can be confused about it all. Same with Peter. Once when Jesus was teaching, Peter asked Jesus to explain what He was talking about. Apparently, it shouldn t have been that hard to figure out, for Jesus asked, Don t you understand yet? 12 Another time, Jesus was predicting His death, but Peter didn t like. The Bible says: Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. 13 Can you imagine that? Telling Jesus, Don t do that. Peter was confused a lot with Jesus, and here on Easter Sunday, he s still confused. Look at verse 8-9: Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 14 Peter and John believed, not that Jesus was risen from the dead, but that Mary was right: Jesus body wasn t in the tomb. They didn t understand, after all that Jesus had said, and all that the Scriptures taught, that Jesus had to rise from the dead. Peter was still confused on Easter, so he went home. How about you? Are you confused this Easter? We talk about the promises of Christ. We teach about the need to turn one s life over to Him. We explain the power of God to even raise the dead. But you re still not sure. You re not sure about this faith stuff. You re not sure that God cares, that God can change your life, change your diagnosis, change your outlook and future. You re not sure, and you have come today, you see the tomb is empty, but it still doesn t make sense. Now, you can be like Peter, be confused and go home, or you can stay, like Mary did, and actually see Jesus 11 Life Application Study Bible, Peter 12 See Matthew 15: Mark 8:32 (NLT2) 14 John 20:8-9 (NIV) 4

5 resurrected. Peter and John, they left too early. They missed Jesus. Don t do that today. Stay and watch for Jesus. We re running out of time, so let me quickly cover the rest. The third thing we learn from Peter is this: Jesus is deliberate. In Luke s Gospel, we have a story about two men on the road to Emmaus who met Jesus. When they realized Who they had been walking and talking with, they immediately traveled back to Jerusalem to share the news. They found the disciples, who said, It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. 15 We have no record of this individual meeting with Peter, except for this short note. But Jesus clearly was deliberate in meeting especially with Peter, alone. He met with some woman who had come to the tomb. 16 He met with Mary beside the tomb. 17 He met with the men on the road to Emmaus. 18 And He met with Peter. Why? That leads us to the fourth thing we learn from Peter: Jesus is full of love and grace. It is an amazing thing that one of the first appearances of the Risen Lord was to the disciple who had denied Him. Here is all the wonder of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Others might have hated Peter forever, but the one desire of Jesus was to set this erratic disciple of His on his feet again. Peter had wronged Jesus, and then had wept his heart out; and the one desire of this amazing Jesus was to comfort him in the pain of his disloyalty. Love can go no further than to think more of the heartbreak of the person who wronged it than of the hurt that it itself has received. 19 Judas had wronged Jesus as well, but what was his response? To give up and hang himself. But not Peter, and he receives love and grace. How can this be? I mean, come on. Most, if not all of us, have been betrayed by someone in our lives. They hurt us badly, and we can t forget it or forgive it. We stew about it for years and years. Every time that person is named or we are reminded of the circumstances, our blood pressure goes up and the hurt and anger return, just as if it all had happened a hour ago. How can Peter receive love and grace after what he did? How. Number five in your bulletin: Nobody but Jesus. CLOSING VIDEO NOBODY BUT JESUS 15 Luke 24:33-34 (NIV) 16 See Matthew 28: See John 20: See Luke 24: Barclay s Daily Study Bible (NT). 5