In my morning bible reading today, I got to to John 20, the resurrection passage in John, and couldn’t help but stop for a moment. I only got as far as verse 18, and I had to reflect on what I read. I thought about what was just said, and I laughed to myself.

You need to read this passage with a certain understanding to get where I’m coming from. Some people trip up because they don’t have a clear understanding of who “the other disciple, the one Jesus loved” is - whom is only referred to in this way in the Gospel of John. Sometimes people like to think it was Lazarus, or even Mary Magdelene (which doesn’t make sense in this passage) and it gets a bit murky. From my understanding, and what I think is true, is that it is the Apostle John who wrote the Gospel of John, and when he refers to “the other disciple, the one who Jesus loved,” he is indeed referring to himself. To understand my humor, you will have to go along with me on this one.

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

John 20:1-18 MSG

Amidst this grand story of Jesus and His resurrection - how Mary Magdalene came and found the tomb empty, the tomb of her Master and teacher - I find this rivalry between John and Simon Peter. Although John doesn’t much talk about himself in the Gospel of John, he almost can’t help himself here. In verse 4, he almost gloats in writing “The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter.” Although, on it’s own I would have been willing to over look this verse, but soon after he tells us again how he got there first, now in verse 8 he writes “Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed.”

Here John is, recalling his encounter with the disappearance of his Master Jesus, the resurrection, and what does he remember? He remembers getting there first. He doesn’t just slip it in there, and let that be that, but he has to remind us once again, that it was he who is the first to reach the tomb, and believe. He won the race with the other: Peter - the rock on which the Church was started - let alone the fact that Mary Magdalene was there before either.

I find it funny, maybe it’s just me, but it makes me laugh. And then when I sit and think on all this and I see a parallel, something that John has in common with the Church of today.

We have gotten in to this race, and we feel that since we have discovered our Master’s resurrection and all that comes with it, that we are saved by His grace, that we have arrived. We sometimes feel we need to go no further, and we lord it over those who have not “made it.” Jesus is no longer in the tomb, and we were there first to see it, it’s important that people know that.

The Church today (and that most certainly includes me at times) has become so concerned about being the “saved” and being the “one Jesus loved” that we forget the others that aren’t quite there yet. We forget that Peter is the Rock that the Church is built on. It is those who are still seeking, and still pursuing the Truth - not quite there - that is where the Church is built. It is not set upon those who have arrived, those who arrive and believe usually get no further than arriving. But those who are still pursuing will have a greater impact on the world then those who feel they have arrived.

I challenge you to remember that Christ is more concerned with those who have not arrived than those who live on their high horse, recalling how they got there first. We need to get among those who aren’t quite there yet, and show them the Truth of Christ’s resurrection - the love, grace, and power - so they can come to believe in the same way we have. If we can stop pressing our Christianity in the faces of those who have not made the same commitment we have, and start showing them Christ resurrected, we will certainly save the world.