Chapter 15: "HE WAS SEEN OF PETER"
Chapter 15: "HE WAS SEEN OF PETER"
Luke xxiv. 13-35; i Cor. xv. 5
"When brooding o'er remembered sin
The heart dies down — O mightest then
Come ever true, come ever near,
And wake the slumbering love again,
Spirit of God's most holy fear."
—Kehle.
ONLY THEY WHO have suffered keen remorse, as they recall some real or fancied lapse from the ideals of human love for those who have crossed the River, will appreciate the anguish with which Peter fled from the hateful scene of his denial. That last look of tender, pitying love haunted him! Could it be the last time that he should see that beloved face, or hear that familiar voice? Would he never be able to tell out his anguish and receive the assurance of forgiveness? Was this the end? Could he ever be happy again? Even if God forgave him, could he forgive himself? How could he have been entrapped in so false a deed? Why had he not kept away from the fire, or definitely left the scene when first he was recognized?
Tradition says that whenever, in coming years, he heard a cock crow, he was accustomed to fall on his knees and weep; and that he was accustomed daily to awaken at cock-crow and spend in prayer the fateful hour in which he failed his Lord. Probably neither of these is a correct version of the subsequent expression of his repentance. It is more likely that his old strong, boastful spirit received its death-wound, that he became very pitiful and tender toward the fallen, and that he came to believe, as never before, in the love of the Saviour, the coals of which gave so vehement a heat as to melt his heart into a fountain of tears. It was a very flame of Jehovah.
I. THE SCENE OF HIS BITTER SORROW IS NOT REVEALED. — Where did he go when he left the Palace of Annas? Surely to the Garden, that he might lie full length on the very spot of his Master's agony, and wet with his tears the sward which had been bedewed by the sweat of blood. And when the sun was up, and Jerusalem began to stir, he would make his way to the house of John, where he knew that he would be secreted even from the prying eyes of the others, who were bewildered with the events that had so suddenly swept their Master from their midst, and with Him all their hopes for this world and the next.
At least they had this to be thankful for, that even if they had forsaken their Lord, yet they had not denied Him.
The morning hours passed slowly forward. He could hear that the city was moved. But probably only snatches of information floated through the open window. Now Crucify from ten thousand throats, and then the strange word Barabbas. John was too engrossed with all that was happening to return, and no other could have guessed that he was there.
Presently, about noon, there were heavy steps in the doorway, and on going to see he found John supporting, almost carrying, Mary, the Mother. In her agonized face, and in John's, he learnt that the worst had happened, and probably forbore to question them. Maybe neither of them knew at that tune that he was carrying a heavier load than they.
From his first Epistle we learn that Peter was an eyewitness of the sufferings of Christ. If, as is probable, that phrase includes the sufferings of the Cross, he may have stolen through the streets over which the midday gloom was beginning to gather, that he might, even from a distance and obscurely, see the outlines of the Cross, which bore the One whom he loved with all the passion of a strong and penitent heart. He might not tarry, however, for John probably awaited his return to care for Mary, whilst he went back to stand so near the Cross as to hear the last dying cry which announced a finished Redemption and the committal of the Redeemer's Spirit to the Father.
With these details and others he returned home; and in the weary waiting-time of the following hours Peter confided all the tragic story of his fall. Happy are they who under such circumstances have such a friend. Happy also are they who, remembering their own failures and weakness, are skilful enough to bind up broken hearts. "If a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in a spirit of meekness, looking unto thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."
II. — THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION BROKE ON HIM GRADUALLY. — Had the whole wonder and glory broken on the Apostles suddenly, it would have overwhelmed and dazed them. The excess of light would have blinded them. It was, therefore, wisely ordered that it should be tempered, and made "by divers portions and in divers manners."
(i) The Tomb was Empty. — Early on Easter morning Mary of Magdala, breathless with haste, broke in on the sleepless anguish of John's home with her hastily-formed impression that the body had been taken from its resting-place by unknown hands. "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we — women who visited the spot further to embalm His body — know not where they have laid Him."
Instantly Peter was on his feet and hurried forth, followed by John, and they made for the Garden at the top of their speed. On reaching the tomb first, because younger and fleeter of foot, John contented himself with looking in. Sacred awe, reverence, wonder, and respect for ceremonial custom withheld him. But Peter, regardless of all restraint, true to his impulsive nature, could brook no delay, but went straightway into the chamber whence his Master had gone forth an hour or two before. Clearly it had not been rifled either by friend or foe. The careful disposition of the clothes made that hypothesis impossible. They had fallen together so naturally as though the body which had lain within their folds had been withdrawn without removing them, and the head-cloth was carefully folded up, as only deliberate hands would fold it.
John was so impressed with what he saw that he almost guessed the truth; and Peter became thoughtful and wondering. But they needed further confirmation, for they knew not the Scripture that He must rise again from the dead; and so they went away again to their own home.
(2) The Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene. — This was the next stage in the unveiling of the great wonder of the Lord's Resurrection; and evidently it made a profound impression on Peter, for it is in Mark's Gospel that we are told that when Jesus was risen early on the first day of the week He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, "from whom He had cast out seven demons." That last clause probably reveals the secret of the comfort which Christ's interview with Mary brought to his distraught soul. He well knew the story of her past, from which the Master had delivered her; and he reasoned that if Jesus had revealed Himself to her, had spoken her name in the old tone of voice, and had commissioned her to go to His brethren with the message of Resurrection and Ascension, there was good reason to believe that in his own case also, though all unworthy, the Lord would resume His old intimacy and comradeship.
Mary had led him to visit the empty tomb, and now, as she came a second time to the house, with the further tidings of her own experiences with Him, whom she took to be the gardener — a surmise which was more accurate than she supposed — Peter's hope took a great leap forward. To adopt his own words in after years, he was "begotten again unto a living hope," and he was prepared for the yet more personal invitation, which was even then upon its way. The tenderness of that message could be relished with a more delicate appreciation, because it was not the first intimation of the mighty event which had just transpired.
(3) The Message of the Women, — They had departed quickly from the sepulchre, and ran to bring His disciples word; but they were arrested by the appearance of their Lord, who met them saying, "All hail!" They took hold of His feet and worshipped Him, and He repeated the Angel's bidding, saying, "Fear not, go tell my brethren." All this delayed them. It would appear also that, whereas Mary had gone to John and Peter, these women probably made for the other eight Apostles, who were gathered in the Upper Room; and as the Magdalene evidently hastened from the two Apostles to the eight, so the women hastened from the eight to the two, who were discussing the events of the morning, and even the Mother had staid her tears to listen with wondering expectancy.
The women broke in on them like a ray of the sun through a cloud-drift in a murky sky. They had seen the Lord! He had spoken to them! He had commissioned them to bring them glad tidings of great joy! But before they met Him, the Angel had bidden them inform His brethren and Peter that He was risen, and was preceding them into Galilee, where they should see Him. The women had no idea of the relevancy of those words. They looked on Peter as foremost among the disciples, and it seemed quite fitting that he should be specialized by the Angel's message; but to Peter the mention of His name was as life from the dead. Did he not start up when he heard the women mention it? Did he not question them severely, to be quite sure that the utterance of His name was not an invention of their own? Did he not insist on their recalling and repeating the whole wonderful story, with every detail of light and shade? And when they had passed on to tell "the rest," did he not quietly adore the love that would not let him go, the love that bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, endured all things, and that never failed, until it had found and brought back the sheep that had gone astray?
III. FINALLY THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM. — In his enumeration of the witnesses of our Lord's Resurrection in I Cor. xv. Paul records that "He was seen of Cephas"; and when Cleopas and his friend entered the Upper Room on Easter Eve they were saluted by a chorus of glad voices, saying: "The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto Simon." That is all we know. Where they met, and when, and what passed between them — all these are hidden in Christ's heart and Peter's. Probably they will never be disclosed, even when the sea gives up its dead. Nor do we wish them to be disclosed, because we also have secrets with Christ, which we have committed to His safe keeping, with the absolute assurance that they shall never be divulged, even in that world where they know even as they are known.
What passed in that interview is not recorded, but from our own experience we can fill in the blank page. We know that there must have been bitter tears, broken words, long breaks of silence when speech was overborne, assurances that the penitent did really love, whatever might be argued to the contrary from word or act. Did he quote Psalm li, or repeat what he remembered of the confession of the Prodigal Son? But if so, was he not stopped before he had gone far into either? Did he not hear that gentle voice calling for the best robe, the ring, the feast, the music, and song? Yes, we know all that passed. We have gone through it! We, too, have been lifted from the dust and made to sit at the King's table, though, like Mephibosheth, we have been "lame in both our feet."
What delicate thoughtfulness there was in the Master's arrangement of this personal interview prior to the later gathering of the day, when He revealed Himself to the entire company. In their presence Peter could never have poured out his soul, or made full confession, or have kissed His feet. That first hour of radiant fellowship cast its sheen on all subsequent hours of that memorable day. Having washed in the laver of forgiveness, he had boldness to enter into the Holiest; and when the Lord showed His hands and side, the credentials of His finished work, and breathed on them the zephyr-breath of Pentecost, Peter was able to appropriate them to the full.
What mortal tongue can tell or pen describe the delicacy, depth, tenderness, and strength of the love of Jesus? The thought has sometimes suggested itself whether it was not worth being born of a sinful race to have had the opportunity of learning what the forgiving grace of Jesus is. Charles Kingsley desired
that these three words should be engraved on the tomb which held the mortal remains of his wife and himself—Amavimus, Amamus, Amabimus—we loved, we love, we shall love. But the love of Jesus in its past, present, or future, only eternal ages will
Yet why do we speak of tenses, when we speak of God's Love? It is eternal, ageless, timeless. Before time began, and when time has ceased to be, Love is. We may compare the sun with the glow-worm s torch, but each has had its beginning and will have its close; whilst the Love of Jesus has neither the one nor the other. Fear not! It will never fail thee!