Restoration

Mark 16:6–8 (ESV) And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This is how the earliest and most reliable manuscripts end in the Gospel of Mark.  I remember thinking Matthew ended abruptly because it sent a message, the work of redemption is done, go to work telling people about it.

But I think Mark ends so abruptly for a different reason.  In this Gospel, Mark is the writer, but Peter is the speaker.  Mark is most likely a collection of Peter's sermon materials.  Here's what I think... I think Peter couldn't get past verse 7 without tears of joy and most of his sermons ended with the reality of what the resurrection meant to him personally.  

I see Peter, preaching his heart out about all Jesus did, the winding it down in the crucifixion solemnly before his hearers who would need no details of how it went down, just the personal aspects associated with Jesus and the disciples.  Then, I see him relaying the message of the angels to the women... "Go and tell his disciples AND PETER..." and then I see his voice cracking, and his tears welling, and his joy leading straight to an altar call no one could resist.  

The resurrection is the power to give us a second chance.  Think of Peter's predicament without the resurrection.  The last thing Jesus heard him say?  "Even if I have to die with you, I'll never disown you."  And the next thing Jesus saw?  Peter denying Him three times, twice to a little girl. 

This is what the resurrection did for Peter.  It gave him a second chance to hear his Savior

speak forgiveness and restoration over his life.  

The question is?  What does the resurrection mean to you.... personally?  It means the end is not what you thought it was.  It means you have something more to live for than you realize.  It means Jesus is aggressive for you and wants to restore you back to Himself and the Father.  It means you have a story to tell others.  It means the mistakes of this world will not be the definition of our reality in the next.

It means everything.

PRAYER:
Father, fill me with a sense of the reality of Jesus' resurrection.  Fill me inwardly with its reality!  I want to grow in my witness, my hope, my joy, my enthusiasm for life because Jesus is alive.  I ask in HIS Name, Amen.