*This audio episode is a little quieter because I recorded it at 5 am when my household was sound asleep and the coffee hadn’t kicked in just yet. : )
Dear Friend,
This week I wanted to focus on the heart of God and how we see that play out in the days after Jesus’s resurrection.
When you think back to Easter and the events before the Resurrection, we see Jesus going to the cross, being rejected and abandoned by everyone on earth who loved Him. We see even God turning His face temporarily from Jesus on the cross (because Jesus was bearing humanity’s sin), leaving Him feeling completely alone. “Father, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46) He was probably at the loneliest any human being has ever felt.
He felt that deep sorrow of being abandoned. His friends, His disciples with everybody scattered. All the people who were crying “Hosanna!” and praising Him on Palm Sunday were now hurling insults at Him and distancing themselves. Even though He’d done all these kind things and miracles and everything He could to prove who He was, He was still rejected in the end, alone and abandoned.
Then He was resurrected.
And right there, from the very beginning, He’s extending His hand to reconnect and reunite with these very people who rejected Him, ran away scared, and abandoned Him.
We see Him reaching out to Mary at the tomb through the angel, him telling her, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (Mark 16:7)
Peter, the one who denied Him three times just days before. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the angel says “go find Peter,” and then Jesus tells her, “Go find my brothers and bring them to me.”
Then we see Him on the road to Emmaus, giving the best chronological Bible recap in history. “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). He’s telling these people the story of what led up to Him even being there, and their eyes are opened. He’s reaching out and going back to the people who hurt Him and rejected Him.
And we see Him with Peter by the fire, cooking fish, restoring him. He asks Peter three times, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” And then: “Feed my lambs... Take care of my sheep... Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
This is who God is.
We see Him throughout the Old Testament continually reaching out to creation, trying to redeem and restore us, to bring us back to Him. And after the resurrection, He wasn’t coming back with an “I told you so.” He wasn’t coming back in pride. He was coming back in humility, reaching out to humanity because He knew they didn’t understand. He had so much grace and love for these people who had just hurt Him, betrayed Him, and run away from Him.
Yet He’s forgiving and loving. Here’s what gets to me: He’s not waiting for them to apologize to Him. He’s reaching out His hand of forgiveness before they ever approach Him to ask for it.
I think this speaks to the loneliness that exists in the world and how Jesus has experienced all things that we have experienced. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15). He can identify with our struggles. If you’ve ever felt alone, abandoned, or betrayed, Jesus has been there. And He showed us the way, how to react and respond in love and in a godly way.
Maybe you feel like Peter. I think we all have at some point. We feel like we’ve let God down, gone our own way, or denied Him in some way. Know this: His hand is there, reaching out to draw you back to Him. To set you on your feet, to give you purpose and a plan. “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).
The cross shows us what humanity is capable of at its worst. Humanity at its worst was shown right there when Jesus was crucified. But Jesus being raised from the dead, and His actions afterwards, show us who God is at His finest, at His best.
Jesus was forsaken on the cross so we wouldn’t have to be. He took our place. He was rejected so He could offer us a way into the Kingdom of God.
“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
He didn’t die for us after we got it all together. He died for us while we were still sinners, while we were in the middle of our mess. We don’t have to get it all together to come to God. We just have to be humble enough to know we need Him.
So if you’re feeling distant from God, know He’s not distant from you. He’s right there waiting on you. He’s reaching out His hand. He already knows what’s going on in your life, and He wants to extend His hand as a friend.
That’s the heart of the gospel, receiving what we don’t deserve. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Grace we don’t deserve. It’s a free gift.
This week, I loved paying attention to Jesus’s response to the people who betrayed Him, because in human life, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been hurt by people. But knowing that if Jesus can forgive people in that situation, we can surely forgive, too.
Until next time.
Warmly,
Emily
