Easter Wednesday

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God 

After reading the Easter story for the umpteenth time, I was struck by the fact that Peter ran to the tomb when he was told that Jesus was alive. Why did he run? Other disciples heard the same report, yet besides Peter, John was the only other disciple to run and, as far as we know, enter the tomb [John 20:3].

Why did Peter run? Was it his personality? He was the first to react to a lot of things when he and the Lord were together. Like the time he jumped ship to get to Jesus on the water. Or when he saw Jesus transfigured, he said, “Let’s build a shrine!” Was he merely reacting? Or was there something gnawing at his heart?

Could it be his reaction to a servant girl who accused him of being one of the Christ followers, “I don’t know Him,” and with a curse to boot [Luke 22:57]? Maybe he desperately longed for forgiveness, peace to his tortured soul [Matthew 11:28-30].

How do you deal with sin in your life? The right answer is, follow Peter’s example and run to the empty tomb! Never downplay sin in your life. Don’t pretend like you don’t have any. Don’t brush it off or blame it on someone else.

The empty tomb reveals what alone truly removes our guilt and sin. Our Savior has risen. The resurrection is God’s verdict that the wages of sin have been paid in full. Your sins? Yes! My sins? Yes? All of them? Yes, a thousand times, YES! “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” [Romans 4:25]. That is the Good News that truly drives out guilt.

Run to the empty tomb. Believe. He is risen, indeed. Forgiveness is not just an Easter Sunday thing. That’s an Easter is an everyday thing!

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Luke 24:12