Walters,Oklahoma
How Many Second Chances Do You Get?
Three little words, small enough to overlook. I cannot tell you how many times I have read this passage of Scripture, I would say at least a hundred or more, but I never really seen or paid attention to these three little words that mean so much.
But you can be sure I want miss them again. I have it highlighted in orange and underlined in red in my Bible. You might want to think about doing the same. What am I talking about? Mark 16: 7: it says: “But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.”
Do you see it? Read it again. Three little words in that verse that means so much. “But go, tell” Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going to Galilee before you. Folks, don’t tell me that’s not a hidden treasure.
To go and tell are the two things that all followers of Jesus are to do. Peter is given special mention as an encouragement following his denials of Jesus. The message for the disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee recalls Jesus’ prophecy in 14: 28.
Allow me to paraphrase the words of Mark 16:7. “Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples, and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.”
WOW! What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall – and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help pick him back up again. Be sure and tell Peter that he’s not left out of the picture and that one failure doesn’t make him a looser.
No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance.
Those who know these types of things say that the Gospel of Mark is really the transcribed notes and dictated thoughts of Peter. If this is true, then it was Peter himself who included these three words! And if these really are his words, I can’t help but imagine that this old fisherman had to brush away a tear and swallow a lump in his throat when he got to this point in the story.
It’s not every day that you get a second chance and Peter must have known that as well. The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the ice cold water of the Sea of Galilee. It was also enough, so they say, to cause this backwoods Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. Have you ever wondered what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down? Well, maybe now you know.
My friends, it’s not every day that you will find someone who is willing to give you a second chance, much less someone who will give you a second chance every day.
But in Jesus, Peter found both and so can you.