From Jude’s letter, it seems the problem was caused not by the obvious teachers in the church, but rather double agents who had snuck in and taken on influence among the people. This is why his first reference was to a group of grumblers and complainers who incited the Israelites against Moses in Numbers 14. God had led them out of Egypt to the promised land, but when they saw the people in the promised land, they were afraid because they were giants. Certain individuals who had spied out the land stirred up doubt among the people. They did not believe God would give them the land.

Have you ever watched one of those home improvement shows, where they think they only need to repaint, but then discover that there is a huge problem behind the wall threatening to destroy the whole house? Jude started out thinking he was going to write a long letter exploring their shared faith, only to discover a much more urgent and dangerous problem. The church was under the sway of false teaching by people who had snuck into positions of influence.

The part that stands out in Mark that does not appear in the other accounts of Jesus' life are the angel's words found in Mark 16:7, “but go, tell his disciples and Peter.” How tender and beautiful of God to realize that Peter was going to need to be assured that he was still Jesus’ disciple.

Think of all the things we’ve looked at this week and all that Jesus went through.  Peter’s denial of Jesus and the anguish that must have caused Him. Jesus before Pilate and all the accusations thrown at Him by some of the very people that, days before, had praised Him and then, that same crowd calling for Jesus to be crucified. He was spit upon, mocked, and cruelly flogged with whips that were topped with bones and nails.

As you read this text today, notice the mention of “a certain man from Cyrene, Simon” (Mark 15:21). We don’t know much about this man except for where he came from and who his sons were.