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April 10 Daily Devotional

Chief of Sinners Called

Frans Bakker

But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter. —Mark 16:7

Bible Reading

Mark 16:1–8

Devotional

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, go to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body with sweet spices. Upon their arrival, they find an empty tomb and an angel clothed in white. The angel tells the women of the good news of the resurrection. They are told, “But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter.” The disciples, who have forsaken Jesus, and Peter, who denied the Lord, are to hear the glorious news.

The fallen disciples are given a special announcement mercifully from a special messenger. An angel of the Lord proclaims the victory of their Savior over sin, death, and hell. Have you ever seen yourself as a fallen Peter? Have you experienced heartfelt tears and grief over your sin? Without a sense of your guilt there is no room in your heart for God’s grace. But Christ does not forget His grieving ones, His fallen ones. There is an announcement of joy for those who have fallen and sorrow in grief. They also may go along to Galilee to meet the Lord. They may go with fear and trembling, but they may go!

“Tell his disciples and Peter.” As Peter, you too may grieve over your sins against the Lord of glory. You may feel unworthy of any touch of God’s grace in your life. You, who experience pride in your life, are humbled by feelings of unworthiness. In this way God’s Spirit teaches His people. We see this in the life of Paul. Paul thought that he himself, not Peter, was the least, and concluded that the risen Christ was seen last of all by him, as one born out of due time. He saw himself as the chief of sinners. And yet all God’s people can echo the thoughts of Paul. They see themselves as the chief of sinners. But when Christ arose from the grave, He thought especially of these people. They have been bitterly disappointed in themselves, but they could not disappoint Him. He knew them better than they knew themselves and therefore He entered into death for them.

Oh, what a comfort for those who are most unworthy! For now the greatest question is not how deeply we are fallen, but whether this King can bestow His merits upon you? This is a question that greatly frightens selfrighteous people, for people who recognize no sin, for people who have never fallen and therefore can still find life in themselves. May this indeed become frightening to you, unconverted sinner, for as long as you remain in your spiritual death the risen Christ cannot give you life! The fact that you think you have no sin will result in your death. If you have never, like Peter, wept bitterly about your sin, then death will be yours eternally. Must you live on like this and leave this life in such a condition? In spite of a living Christ, will you still remain dead? Perhaps you say, “I cannot rise out of my state of death.” But what kind of inability is that? Is it a genuine inability or is it unwillingness to fall on your knees in repentance before the King of kings?

But what ought to be a terror for the one, may now become a comfort to the other, for the exalted Christ is also set for the fall and rising again of many, for the fall of those who think to stand, but for the rising of them that have fallen, yes, for those who are doubly unworthy.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.

 

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