Who was faster: Peter or John?

 Read John 20

Who was faster, Peter or John?

Paul talks about running the good race in a metaphorical sense but we just do see too many races in the Bible.  We do see one on the morning of the first day of the week.

Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone removed from the entrance.  We are not told that she looked or went inside, but she hurried back to report what she had seen.  What was her report?

They have taken the Lord out of the tomb.

We don’t know where they put him.

Let’s start with: They have taken the Lord out of the tomb.

I don’t think Mary was trained in reconnaissance.  All she really observed was the stone rolled away.  That someone had taken the body of the Lord probably came out of her own mind—her own fears.

They took him.  We don’t know who Mary was referring to when she said “they” but surely, she had someone in mind.  “They” was all-encompassing.

“They” gravitated towards the worst-case scenario.  What could be worse than dying on a cross?  I guess having someone take your body after you were dead.

We don’t know where they put him.  If he wasn’t in the tomb, then someone had to put him somewhere.  It was those “they” people once again.

Mary had a lot of presumptions based upon the single fact that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

John and Peter didn’t follow up with a series of questions.  One question might have been sufficient.  What did you actually see?

There was no follow-up. Both men took off for the tomb. Surely, there was some anticipation and expectation here.  But what did they expect to find?

Now to the original question.  Who was faster, Peter or John?

Apparently, John outran Peter.  John stopped at the entrance and when Peter caught up, he ran by John and entered the tomb.

Who was faster? I guess it depended upon where the finish line was.

Had these been two women headed for the tomb, they would have gone side by side talking the entire way, but these two men had to get there.  It’s wired in us.  It’s our survival and protective nature to get where we need to go.

So they ran, one a little faster than the other.

Once in the tomb, all they saw was the burial cloth.  We are told that they believed but didn’t understand. Things just hadn’t clicked yet.

They saw that Jesus was not in the tomb.  They believed that he was gone but had not connected the dots with his previous teachings.  He would have to die and then rise from the dead.

What could they do?  They went back to where they were staying.  Really, who wants to stay in an empty tomb.  Maybe somebody had made breakfast by now,  but their Master was not there to explain everything to them.

Jesus had always explained the difficult stuff to them.  He might have scolded them first—are you really so dull—but he broke it all down for them.

Sometimes I wonder to myself, did Jesus ever second-guess calling all these fishermen as his disciples.  At least the tax collector had an analytical mind.  Perhaps he already knew he was going to throw a Pharisee in the mix after his resurrection. But I have digressed enough.

The disciples wouldn’t understand what they had seen until Jesus appeared before them later that night and even then, they believed but didn’t fully understand.

They were befuddled.

Let’s bring a familiar verse into the discussion. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

What had they seen?  Only an empty tomb with a piece of burial cloth inside.  Faith would have them singing Hallelujah Christ arose all the way back to the other disciples.

Their own understanding left them befuddled.

Faith should have prompted them to sing He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today, but their own understanding left them confused.

Here we are 2000 years later and we believe that Jesus rose from the dead, yet we are often confused. We believe that Christ rose from the dead.  We believe he took away our sin and saved us from death.  We will be with him for eternity.

How can we be confused?

We are confused by what the world—the world that we live in right now—is telling us.

Is the vaccine good or bad for you?

Does a mask really help?

Is digital currency the way to go?

Is Tik Tok really bad for our kids?

Can I believe anything that our government says anymore?

Can I believe any of the news media?

Do I have enough coffee and ammunition in case there is a civil war?

Are there more than 2 genders?

Are we headed for another world war, maybe a nuclear war?

Is the UPS guy just throwing my delivery into the yard like a newspaper?

How many Ukrainian dependents can I claim on my taxes?

Only when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, did they truly understand what Christ had done for us.

He atoned for our sins.  He rose from the dead.  He will come again to claim his own.

In our profession of faith, we have received the Spirit of the one true God.  We should not be confused.  We should not be befuddled.  We should have eyes to see through all of the junk the world is throwing at us.

What will we see?  That God loved us so much that he gave his one and only Son.

Say the words with me that we know so well. For God so loved the world…

When we read of an empty tomb on the morning of the first day, we need not be confused.  We can go straight to the singing.  He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today…

Amen.

Lighten the Load

 Read John 20

We remember the exchange between Mary and Jesus on that morning of the first day. I will pick up at the point where Peter and another disciple—likely John—have left the tomb and Mary looks in and sees two angels.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

 

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

 

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

 

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

 

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

 

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

 

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

 

Jesus told her to go and tell the disciples what she had seen.  In other gospels Jesus adds meet me in Galilee or to remind Peter that this message is for him too.

It seems that Mary was the first person to see the resurrected Lord.  She couldn’t give him a big hug because he told her not to—he had yet to ascend to the Father.

Mary did as instructed but it appears nobody returned to the tomb after this. Jesus appeared to them—all except Thomas—on the evening of that same day.  We know the story of Thomas having to see for himself and he got that opportunity a week later.

We remember Thomas not needing to put his finger in the holes in the hands of Jesus or in his side.  Thomas was convinced immediately—my Lord and my God.

I love the words of Jesus that followed.  You believe because you have seen.  Those words applied to all of the disciples not just Thomas. Jesus continued, blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

What wonderful words that followed the resurrection, but I would like us to consider what happened to kick this day off.

Mary had gone to the tomb.  The stone had been removed.  Evidently, she didn’t look inside, or maybe she did. She ran back to tell the disciples and told them that they have taken the Lord and we don’t know where he is.

So, maybe she did look in the tomb or maybe she drew her own conclusions. In either case, it was enough to prompt Peter and John to race to the tomb.

Long ago and far away, I was the commanding officer assigned to train and prepare a reserve infantry company to mobilize and go to war.  That day came with the first Gulf War.  When the reserves returned, their first sergeant remained on active duty for a few months.

Every day at noon we would go for a 5, 6, or 7-mile run.  As we were returning to my office and nearing the end of our run, I would ask if we were going to the sidewalk or the flag pole for the end of our run.  The first sergeant would say one or the other and I would sprint ahead of him to that point to make sure I finished first. Yes, I have always been that ornery.

After a couple months we entered the Dam to Dam 20 K Run.  It was 20 kilometers as you might suspect.  We paced each other for the duration.  This probably helped us go a little faster than we might have on our own. 

As we neared the end of the race, there was tape along the sides of the route that narrowed our running lane so the person at the finish line could take our tags and record the order of finish.

As we approached that point, the first sergeant asked me, is that the finish line? I said, I think so. I had never run this race before so his guess was as good as mine, but he sprinted in front of me so the person at the end of the funnel took his tag first.

He got me.  When it counted and our names would be listed, his should appear first. Years later, I googled the run and the year and found a list of finishers.  I was listed as something like 1,012 of over 9,000 runners (maybe more, maybe less—a whole bunch of people) and the first sergeant was listed as 1013.  Somehow, my tag got put on top of his. So for all posterity, I got to the finish first, not that anyone will ever check or care.

John—this gospel’s author notes that the other disciple—probably John himself—beat Peter to the tomb. He stopped but didn’t go in. Peter caught up but didn’t stop.  He went in.

John followed.  Jesus wasn’t there but his burial garments were.  The gospel says:

They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

So what did these two disciples do?  They went home, or at least to their home away from home in Jerusalem.

Upon hearing Mary’s report and seeing for themselves that Jesus was not in the tomb and his burial clothing was left behind, they rejoiced in his resurrection and started singing He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!  Not exactly!

They still didn’t get the big picture, even though Jesus told them more than once what had to happen.  Jesus even chewed out Peter when he said he wouldn’t let it happen.

These two men who would become pillars of the church were dumbfounded.  They didn’t get it.  They did the only thing they could think of—they went home, wherever that was in Jerusalem.

Maybe there would be a little coffee left or half a bagel. If they had stayed in a first-class joint, maybe some yogurt.  They went back to where they were staying.

Other than having a little chuckle at these disciples’ expense, why do I point this out?

There are two things that I will challenge you to do in celebration of today.  The first is begin a year-long celebration of the resurrection.  Yes, find a way to celebrate the victory of Jesus over death every day.  He took away our sins and conquered the grave.  We can look forward to life because of this.

Amen!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Oohrah!

We should celebrate today.  It is special not because it’s the actual date on the calendar but resurrection is special, and the love that sent Jesus to the cross is special. We are special to God.

The second thing is that I want you to cut yourselves some slack.  Yes, the Holy Spirit lives within us.  Yes, that same Spirit brings us to conviction when we do something wrong or fail to do what we should have done.  The Spirit is a blessing but very demanding.

It is tough to live up to the right standing that God gave us in the blood of Jesus.

On occasion, consider Peter and John on that first morning.  Despite the great things that they did in the days and years to come; they were somewhat confused.  They didn’t get it.  They were at a loss as to what to do so they went home.

Cut yourselves some slack every once in a while, when you don’t have everything figured out.  Take a breath when you don’t have all the answers.  Just chill every so often and know that God is God and he does have this figured out.  He knows the next steps.

Trust him and quit beating yourself up every time you miss the mark.  We still confess to God where we fall short.  We still aim high desiring to bring glory to God, but we are going to stop beating ourselves up and feeling down when we don’t quite have an explanation for everything—when we are not exactly sure what the next step is.

Who can understand the ways of the Lord?  Who can grasp the whole picture?  Sometimes, we know exactly what we must do, and sometimes, we wait for the Lord to reveal our next step.

We need to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord and what he has in store for us as his disciples.  We need to be known by our love and be a light in the world, and we need to lighten our load a little and stop carrying around the need to know exactly what to do right now.

Sometimes, we are to wait upon the Lord.  Sometimes we just trust and see where he leads us.  Sometimes we just go home, but we must never despair for we know with certainty that God loves us more than we can understand and will never stop loving us.

Let us celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Let’s lighten our load.  The Lord will direct our next steps in his time.

Amen.