Mark 16 Devotional

Word Sent to Peter

“But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here! See the place where they put Him.”Mark 16:6 (BSB)

The women go to the tomb just after sunrise with spices for a dead body, asking each other who will roll the stone away from the entrance (16:1-3). When they look up, the huge stone has already been moved (16:4). Inside, a young man in a white robe tells them not to be alarmed. The Jesus they are looking for, the one who was crucified, has risen, and they can see the empty place where he was laid (16:6).

Then comes the message: go and tell his disciples, and Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee, as he told them (16:7). Peter's name is singled out. The last time Mark showed him, he was weeping after denying Jesus three times (14:72). On the night they all fell away, Jesus had promised to go ahead of them after he rose (14:28). The resurrection is God's victory over death, and it is also Jesus keeping his word to disciples who had failed him. The risen Lord still calls his failed followers by name.

To think about: What failure makes you feel disqualified, and what does it mean to you that the risen Jesus sent word to Peter by name?