Luke 24:33-34 & 1 Cor. 15:4-5

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

We have two short Bible passages this evening:

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! (Luke 24:33-34)

He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,and … he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Cor 15:4-5)

This appearance to Peter, also known as Simon and Cephas, is an overlooked detail of the Easter story. We remember easily enough that on Sunday the risen Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the two on the road to Emmaus, and to the eleven disciples in hiding. But here we’re reminded that he also appeared to Peter. I’d forgotten that—if I’d ever noticed it before.

This barely mentioned appearance shakes up our narrative of the risen Christ’s very personal relationship with Peter, the apostle who had so recently denied that he even knew Jesus. We know that when the women returned to the disciples with the news that the tomb was empty, their story “seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Lk 24:11-12). Peter was among those who found the women’s story hard to believe. Nevertheless, he and John went to check out the story. The tomb was indeed empty, but the meaning of the missing body was obscure: “As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that [Christ] must rise from the dead” (Jn 20:9). So, at this point, Peter had not seen the risen Christ.

Shortly afterwards, Jesus greets Mary by name. Bidden by Christ, she announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord” (Jn 20:18). I’m inclined to think that if by then Peter had also seen the risen Christ, perhaps on a slow walk back from the empty tomb, he would have confirmed Mary’s good news. That he didn’t also explains why Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus knew about the empty tomb and the angels’ announcement of the resurrection (Lk 24:22-24), but not about an appearance of the risen Christ to Peter.

They only learn about this late that night, when they return to Jerusalem and are told that Christ has also “appeared to Simon.” Paul later confirms this incident, having heard of it, perhaps, from Luke: “On the third day, … he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Sometime during that Sunday, then, Peter must have been on his own, perhaps worrying about what the resurrection meant for his sin of triple denial. Jesus made a point of meeting with him personally.

Well over a week later, Jesus was to have another conversation with Peter, this time by the Sea of Galilee. After Jesus has cooked and served a breakfast of bread and fish to the disciples, he takes Peter aside and entrusts him with a calling: “Feed my sheep” (Jn 21:15-18). Was this the first time that Peter had an inkling that his denial of Christ had been forgiven? I don’t believe so. Charles Ellicott (1819–1905), a Church of England bishop, commented on Peter’s earlier encounter with the risen Christ on Easter Sunday: “What passed at this meeting we can only reverentially imagine. Before the Passion, the Lord had ‘turned and looked’ on Peter with a glance of tender and sorrowful reproof (Lk 22:61). Now, we may believe, He met the repentant eager disciple with the full assurance of pardon.” 

Christ is quick to forgive. If Ellicott is right, Christ didn’t want Peter to linger in fear that his sin was unforgivable. I believe he met with Peter one-on-one to reassure him of full and complete pardon. I believe, too, that this forgiveness humbled Peter, who kept the details of the conversation to himself, mentioning to the other disciples only that he, too, had seen the risen Christ.

Christ’s forgiveness of Peter is not an exception, but the rule. Christ is quick to forgive us, too. His Spirit meets with each of us personally, as often as is necessary, to assure us that our sins, too, are fully forgiven. His death and resurrection boldly declare this precious truth. His Spirit enables each of us to believe it to be true of us, individually and personally.

Your brother in Christ,

Max