God’s Intentions – Not Theirs

…go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. Mark 16:1-8 (9-20) Peter is specifically singled out. Scripture does not say for certain, but is it possible that if the women at the tomb and the disciples were witness to Peter’s denial of Christ, or even heard of it by hearsay, they’d already judged him a betrayer? Whatever the climate, it seems clear that Jesus intended to see Peter in Galilee along with the other disciples; not by himself, not secretly. Peter was already forgiven before Christ died on that cross never discounting, nor disqualifying Peter’s place among the disciples. Told in all four gospels, Peter’s denial sticks out in the scripture even today. Yet what also sticks out is that perhaps in his repentance, at least temporarily, Peter may have abandoned himself as a disciple, but Christ never once abandoned Peter, and – in spite of our own fears, neither will God abandon us.