But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see him as he told you. Mark 16:7
“Now tell me if that’s not a hidden treasure!
If I might paraphrase the words, “Don’t stay here, go tell the disciples,” a pause, then a smile, “and especially tell Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.”
What a line. It’s as if all of heaven had watched Peter fall—and it’s as if all of heaven wanted to help him back up again… No wonder they call it the gospel of the second chance. Not many second chances exist in the world today…You can have a second chance.
Just ask Peter…The next time he saw Jesus, he got so excited that he barely got his britches on before he jumped into the cold water of the Sea of Galilee.
It also enough, so they say, to cause this backwood Galilean to carry the gospel of the second chance all the way to Rome where they killed him. If you ever wonder what would cause a man to be willing to be crucified upside down, maybe now you know.
It’s not everyday that you find someone who will give you a second chance—much less someone who will give you a second chance every day. But in Jesus, Peter found both.”
You can too.
Max Lucado, excerpt from “The Gospel of the Second Chance” in No Wonder They Call Him the Savior (Portland: Multnomah, 1986) 44-45.