Mark 14: 29 But Peter said to Him, Even if all will be stumbled, yet I will not! 30 And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you that today in this night, before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times. 31 But he went on speaking more intensely, Even if I must die with You, I will by no means deny You! And they all said similarly. 66 And while Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, 67 And seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus. 68 But he denied it, saying, I neither know nor understand what you are talking about. And he went outside into the forecourt, and a rooster crowed. 69 And the servant girl, seeing him, began again to say to those standing by, This man is one of them! 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while, those standing by again said to Peter, Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean as well. 71 But he began to curse and to swear, I do not know this man of whom you speak! 72 And immediately a rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered the word, how Jesus had said to him, Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times. And thinking upon it, he wept. Mark 16:7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, even as He told you.
[Part 1 of 3] The Gospel of Mark records that the angel asked the women to tell the Lord's disciples and Peter. Oh, the words "and Peter" cause tears to fall. Why? What made Peter different from the others? Three days before the resurrection, Peter committed a great sin, a sin that would cause the Lord not to confess him before the Father's angels [Matt 10:33] . Peter not only denied the Lord before men, he even denied the Lord before a maid who was despised by others at that time. But the Lord wanted the women to tell the disciples and Peter about His resurrection. The words "and Peter" have a very deep meaning! If any brother or sister had Peter's experience, they might think: "Oh! I have fallen. The sin which I have committed is not a common sin. I am afraid that I cannot draw close to the Lord anymore. The Lord might have already forsaken me. I told the Lord that I would die for Him, and the Lord said that before the cock crowed twice, I would deny Him three times. I thought that the Lord misunderstood me. When He was taken, I even cut off a man's ear with a sword, thinking that I could love Him courageously. Yet I fell. I did not fall before the high priest or before the powerful Pilate, but before the questioning of a maid. I denied the Lord once, twice, and finally I even swore in my denial of the Lord. At one time I confessed that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. But eventually, I fell just as the Lord was about to be crucified. I committed the great sin of denying Him. Although I cried with regret, I do not know how the Lord is going to treat me. It would have been better if He had not known that I denied Him. But when I denied Him, He turned His back and looked at me [Luke 22:60-61] . He knew what I had done. What should I do? I dare not come close to Him anymore. Although He loves me, I dare not approach Him because there is a sin which separates me from Him. Perhaps from now on, I cannot be close to Him. Yet, after the Lord resurrected, several women brought back word that they were to specifically tell me about it. Oh, the Lord has not forsaken me, even though I denied Him three times. He does not hate me, nor is He angry with me. His heart was thinking of me. He did not mention anyone but me specifically. It is as though He was only thinking about me. ‘And Peter!' ‘And Peter!' These words are truly the most beautiful music in the world, the most wonderful tidings! If the Lord had only told the women to tell the disciples, I would have thought that I was no longer worthy of being His disciple and that I was no longer one of His disciples. I would not dare to go see Him. But since the Lord said, ‘and Peter,' I know that He still wants me. Although I do not have the strength to go see Him, ‘and Peter' encourages me to go. The message brought back by the women is true. The Lord told the angel to mention my name specifically. The Lord did not forsake me. I can still draw near to Him. Let me rise up and go see Him!" [Continued tomorrow] (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Watchman Nee, "And Peter", Chapter 1, Section 1. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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