“Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth, with thee and the Holy Ghost, One God, world without end. Amen.”
Jesus Appeareth to and Pardons Simon Peter
And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went, and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.—St. Luke xxiv: 28-34.
NOTE BY THE ARTIST
Beyond the simple statement that “he was seen of Cephas,” nothing is recorded regarding the appearance of Jesus to his sinning and repentant disciple, although, if we accept the sequence of events in the order in which they are narrated, it may safely be supposed that this took place after night-fall. But where nothing is known, conjecture is justifiable, and we may think of Peter as shrinking from the society of his comrades, unable to rest, and wandering, he knows not whither, in the silent, moon-lit streets. Chance leads him to the door of the house of Caiaphas, and there, on the scene of his lost opportunity, he realizes the presence of his risen Lord, and receives the gracious assurance of forgiveness.
76