The Restoration of the Resurrection
The grave could not hold Jesus. The stone could not contain him. Darkness did not win. These are the pillars of our faith. Mark ends his gospel with the hope of more to come. He doesn’t tell us what happened when Jesus met up with his disciples. He does not speak of the Great Commission. He decided to end with the women looking forward to the next chapter. There is something very hopeful about how he decided to end his book. It reminds us the story is not over. The grave was not the end. Jesus is still alive. He remains risen.
Though Mark does not provide us with any details of Jesus’ encounter with Peter after his resurrection, he does hint that there is something special in store for this fallen hero. Each of the disciples had failed Jesus. They all ran away when he was arrested. Though we know that John stood by the cross until the very end (John 19:26-27), even he ran from the garden in the presence of the angry mob. Still, Mark leaves us with the hope of their restoration, but he gives special attention to Peter. Verse 6 tells us that the angel told the women, “But go, tell the disciples; and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee.” People have often debated whether this statement proves that Peter was hiding somewhere other than with the disciples. I love the response David Guzik had to this opinion. He said, “Some say He distinguished Peter because he was separate from the rest of the disciples in the sense that he was no longer among them. This was probably not the case. Instead, Jesus distinguished Peter because He had special hope, special forgiveness, special restoration for the one who denied Him the worst.” Charles Spurgeon also commented on this special attention given to Peter and used it to give us special hope. He preached, “If any of you have behaved worse to your Master than others, you are peculiarly called to come to him now. You have grieved him, and you have been grieving because you have grieved him. You have been brought to repentance after having slidden away from him, and now he seals your pardon by inviting you to himself.” Just as the grave was not the end of Jesus’ story, our mistakes are not the end of ours either. The gospels are messages of hope. The resurrection is a message of restoration – for all.
(Written by Keegan Harkins.)
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