The Commission Given to the Women

After the Lord Jesus arose from the dead, His appearances were many. Even on the day of His resurrection, the Lord appeared to Mary Magdalene, the other women, the apostle Peter, the two men going to Emmaus, and the ten disciples with Thomas missing. What do we learn of these appearances and of all Christ's appearances after His resurrection? He visited only His own people. We do not read of any visit to people of the world. If we do not learn of Him in His humiliation, we will never share in His exaltation. The day of the resurrection of Christ was the Victory Day of the church of God. Prince Immanuel arose; the payment was completely made for the salvation of His church. The enemies hated Him, His disciples had forsaken Him, but Christ never forgot His beloved ones.

Early in the morning the women left their homes to buy spices to anoint the body of Jesus, and then they began walking to the sepulcher. We learn here what respect they had for the Sabbath by not going to the grave on the day of rest. This teaches us also how holy we must keep the Lord's day, by not doing our own things for pleasure, but to dwell in the house of God.

The sun was rising, and the women were speaking together of how to remove the stone from before the door of the sepulcher. To their great surprise upon coming there, the stone was already removed. They entered to anoint the body of Jesus, saw a young man clothed in a long white garment, and became afraid. The angel at once spoke, “Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here: behold the place where they laid Him.” Women, look, the place is empty; Christ Jesus has risen, as He spoke to you before His death. The angel did not ask what they desired, but he immediately spoke to them of what took place. He had a message for them, “Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter.”

But go, women, and inform His disciples, who are probably wandering in sorrow and depression because their Master is no longer with them. Women, go, do not keep it to yourselves, but go tell His disciples that He is risen, that their sorrow may be turned into joy. Think, my friends, of what the angel said to the women: “Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee.”

Why is the name Peter mentioned here in such a special way? Was he no longer a disciple? Peter needed it the most because he had denied his Master in such a forceful way three times. Peter was maybe walking as if he had sinned all grace away and that for him there was no more hope. Peter would not forget the look of Christ after he had denied his beloved Master. One look brought him to his senses; one look, and he recalled the words of Christ “that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice.” So the angel said, “Go tell His disciples and Peter,” whom the Lord had not forgotten. Maybe there is one who is reading this and feels like Peter. I have sinned so deeply, I have denied Christ so many times, I have such evil thoughts in my mind, and for me it seems that I have forfeited all things. Maybe Peter thought that his Master would not have anything to do with him anymore, and he dared not include himself with the disciples any more. Walking almost hopeless, but still feeling in the heart, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”

“And Peter”! Are you one that dares not include yourself, and the inward voices are saying, “For me it is impossible”? God knows sinners better than they know themselves. He knows the hearts and the secrets within. Here the blessed Lord Jesus did not forget His Peter, and He will not forget those whom He loved from the stillness of eternity. Peter may leave himself out, but Christ had suffered and died for him and would visit his soul.

We read in Scripture of the appearances of Christ to Mary, the women, the men of Emmaus, and others, but we do not read of the meeting between Christ and Peter. Why is that? It is because there are no words to describe what took place. It was an indescribable meeting. The choice moments when God reveals Himself to the heart are also indescribable because the heart can be overwhelmed with the eternal wonder of divine mercy for such a sinner. It is one thing to be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment, another to receive encouragement from God's Word by His Spirit, but it is beyond words to express what an applied Christ is for the soul. Think of Thomas when he said, “My Lord and my God.” Then the eternal wonder of free and sovereign grace shines forth, and the sinner can only say, “He must increase and I must decrease.”

“He goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see Him, as He said unto you.” Into Galilee, a humble place where Christ spent much of His time; into Galilee, where Christ performed His first miracle; from where His disciples had been called; and where Christ and His disciples had blessed times together. Christ would not meet them in rich Jerusalem, nor in Gethsemane where He suffered indescribable agony, nor in the area of Calvary, but in remote Galilee where they had been taught many things. In Galilee Jesus would meet them, go before them and lead them, but in Galilee they must wait for Him. Christ has a waiting people, and this lesson must be learned over and over. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” Before Jesus died, He said to His disciples in Mark 14:28, “But after I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.” All meetings for God's people are by Christ's appointment, not from their side.

My friends, in this post-Easter period, the same message comes to us | from God's Word. “He is risen, as He said, come, see the place where the Lord lay.” How each one must ask, “What do I know spiritually of the time of Advent, of Christ's birth, sufferings, death, and resurrection?” May each one be given to ask for this knowledge which is wrought in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. The door of grace is still open for the greatest of sinners. We sing in Psalter 425:3, “Seek ye Jehovah and His power, seek ye His presence every hour.” Those who have been taught by the Lord, look to Prince Immanuel; He will go before you through the valley of tribulation and over the hill Difficulty. He is victorious over death and hell. He will call for His bride, “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.” An eternity will be needed to honor and glorify Him who purchased His people with His blood.

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