Third Sunday after Pascha. Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Tone 2; our Venerable Father John, Disciple of Gregory the Decapolitan (c. 842)
Acts 6:1-7; Mark 15:43-16:8
Read Mark 15:43-16:8
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.”
There is this little phrase that one might miss if one is not looking for it. It’s the little phrase … and Peter. The last time Peter saw Jesus was when Jesus looked at him as Peter denied Him the third time. He ran away and wept. Now the angel tells the women that they go tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus wants to see them in Galilee. Peter would have heard that little phrase loud and clear. Jesus still wants to see me even after what I did.
Usually, in the Gospels, we always read about Peter and the apostles, but here the order is reversed. Perhaps a gentle reprimand? Jesus is saying: “I will see the disciples and, yes I will even see Peter.” So, in the Gospel of John, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” three times to atone for his three denials. Here in the Gospel of Mark a different kind of reprimand – subtle, gentle, but with a little bite.