Tell My Disciples.... and Peter

Hello everyone! I hope that y'all had a blessed Easter. Our family went to visit my grandparents at their church this Easter Sunday. My Grandma sings in the choir and they did a lovely cantata. The singing was lovely, but the sermon was beautiful.

I will admit that I sometimes have a hard time coming away from a sermon with 'nuggets' that I can chew on later to think about, or just coming away feeling like I really needed to hear that particular story or what-have-you. This past Sunday, though, I was not disappointed.

Saturday night mom pulled up a bunch of songs on YouTube  Good Easter songs like, 'He's Alive' and 'Watch the Lamb' and the 'Amen song' from Carmen. My favorite is probably 'He's Alive'. It talks about the Jesus' Resurrection  but from Peter's perspective. It talks about how he denied Christ three times and how guilty he felt. Its a very beautiful and touching song. I've always felt for Peter. Can you imagine what it must have been like to DENY Christ? The One that you had known, had eaten with, had given up your livelihood to follow? Only to deny that you knew Him in the end. Out of all the disciples, I think Peter is my favorite. Why? Because I can relate to him. He failed again and again, but Jesus never sent him away. He was the one that cut off the servant's ear when the soldiers arrested Jesus. He was the one that told Christ that He would never deny Him.. yet he did. Each time, Jesus rebuked him harshly, in front of the other disciples. So imagine what they must have been feeling whenever Jesus chastised Peter. I imagine some of them were thinking that Peter was, perhaps, the black sheep of the family. Just couldn't get it right. Always stepping in at the wrong time and always doing the wrong thing. I wonder if they ever wondered whether or not Jesus would finally just send him away. I also wonder if they were surprised when Peter denied Christ. Perhaps slightly, but I also think that perhaps they weren't too shocked. After all, they had seen all the other things that Peter had done.

In the Gospel of Mark, did you know that there is a phrase that is not found in the other gospels? It is found in chapter 16, verse 7; "But go tell His disciples and Peter..."  I've never really noticed that before when reading in Mark, but the sermon that was taught this last Sunday was just about that verse. Its like Jesus was letting Peter know that, even after all he had done, Christ still died for him and forgave him. It was also a message to the other disciples, I think, to let them know also that after all Peter had done, Christ had forgiven him.

Isn't that beautiful? Christ knew exactly how He needed to deal with each person that He met. Peter was the kind of guy that needed reassurance. Christ gave him that when he needed it.

This was such a wonderful Easter Sunday. We make a big deal out of Christmas, and, although it is important that Christ came, its even more important that He died for us and rose again. If He had just been born but hadn't rose from the grave, then we would have no hope in Him. It is because of the empty grave that we have our hope and faith in Christ.

Here are just a few songs that I think you all will enjoy.