This Gives Me Hope

However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look. Stooping, he peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings; then he went home again, wondering what had happened. [Luke 24.12]

On another day I wrote There Is Hope. That post compared Judas and Peter both as betrayers: Judas for money and Peter for fear.

While Judas met an untimely death (it seems by suicide), Peter remained. One could imagine the anguish Peter must have been experiencing knowing his last moments with Jesus were in denial of knowing Him. And yet, Peter remained.

The passage above reveals the hope Peter held on to. When word reached the men that Jesus was not in the tomb, Peter ran to see. Jesus indeed was not there so Peter returned home wondering what had happened.

Wondering what had happened was probably an understatement.

We can only speculate what stirred in Peter's heart after his unbecoming, but predicted denial of Jesus. The pain of that memory and then Jesus' death must have made it hard for Peter to breathe regardless what Jesus had said about rising again... But Jesus did say He would rise again. And even more important, Jesus had said Peter would serve Him in strengthening his brothers:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” [Luke 22.31-32]

Because we know what Peter went on to do after the Resurrection, we can safely conclude that Peter did just what Jesus predicted: he repented and turned again to Jesus. The rest is history.

What a great hope Peter had! But his story carries great significance for us today too.

It is not ironic that the following conversation took place between Peter and Jesus:

Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven! [Matthew 18.21-22]

If Jesus answered that we should forgive someone, "seventy times seven," He would not have said so and not practiced that same standard Himself. I wonder if Peter recalled this conversation?

There is hope in repentance. There is always hope in repentance. Even though Judas was remorseful, he apparently did not repent - he took the selfish route and hanged himself. Peter, on the other hand, was remorseful, but he obviously did repent and "ran to the tomb..." where his only hope was last seen...

Even though Luke records that Peter was "wondering what had happened..." I can imagine there was a LOT more going on in Peter's head! "Did He actually rise from the dead?" "Will He actually forgive me?"

As humans, sometimes all we can do is "wonder" when it comes to the things of God that we struggle to understand. However, a couple things stand out as prudent while so doing: 1) Remember as much as possible what Jesus said, and 2) In an attitude of repentance, run to the tomb (He's not there).

Father, I am grateful for Peter's story. As messed up as his life must have been, the New Testament record proves his hope was not ill-placed. This gives ME hope!