John 20:1-4 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Resurrection of Jesus

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

My favorite kind of movie is one that is full of action, drama, twists and turns and surprises. I like to feel like I am sitting on the edge of my seat. But also essential to what makes a good movie, for me, is that there must be humor breaks along the way. I’m not talking about a comedy, but I am saying that in the midst of the drama there should be some humor, some levity, some joy interspersed with the action.

That’s how I like my movies. If you were here right now, I would ask you for examples.

This notion of humor in the midst of drama is one of the reasons why I love this particular passage of scripture. Thank you Monica for the reading.

Here’s the Sitch. Jesus dies on Friday. On Saturday, all of Jesus’ friends are in hiding, fearing for their lives. Saturday, is undoubtedly the the worst day of their lives, except for Friday. Every sound they hear outside causes them to: one- jump in fright and two- to hunker down as quietly as they possibly can. Outside their locked door, soldiers and authorities might be gathering to break in and to arrest the whole lot of them.

Saturday night comes. In the darkness, they can’t sleep as they worry about their own fate and of course as they grieve the fate of their leader, their friend, their master Jesus.

Mary Magdeline is up early on Sunday. In John’s Gospel it’s just Mary. In the other gospels other women are involved as well. But Mary courageously leaves her secure location, and moves through the city to the tomb where Jesus has been laid.

When she gets there she makes an horrific and startling discovery.

The stone that was used to cover the opening of the tomb has been moved. Mary doesn’t step in to the tomb, she’s too nervous, but she can see that it is empty inside. She runs back to the hiding place.

On the way back. Her mind is racing. Why is the stone moved? Who moved it? Why did they take his body? What awful thing must they be doing to the corpse of her beloved Jesus?

She arrives back at the house. The sun is just starting to show over the Mount of Olives. She bangs on the door and recites the password if there is a password, and rushes in when somebody opens the door a crack.

She makes the declaration “I went to the tomb and the stone is moved and Jesus is gone.”

Peter and John, upon hearing Mary’s words, rush out the door. In this moment, gone is all fear and trepidation about what is outside. Their only thought now is about Jesus’ missing body.

Let’s just take a break here to discuss the authorship of the gospel of John. Generally, scholars are all over the place as to who wrote what in the New Testament. While most New Testament documents have a name attached to them, scholars argue that those names are not necessarily the names of the people who actually authored the documents.

In this particular case, I’m very comfortable with the idea that it is John who wrote this gospel, if John is the one that, as a commentaries suppose, is identified as the one that Jesus loves.

The passage doesn’t use John’s name. It simply identifies him as the one that Jesus loves. If the disciple who Jesus loves is indeed John, then I will argue till the cows come home that John is the author of the gospel. For this one simple reason.

Quote “They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb.” Unquote.

I am convinced that the person wrote these words is in fact the one who out ran Peter to the tomb. Because there would be no reason to put this bit of information into the text unless you’re wanting to brag just a little about yourself. No other gospel includes this sentence. It is left for John alone to brag about his speed. And that makes me chuckle.

As I see this as a movie scene in my head, I see all the tension and fear of Saturday and the suspense of Sunday morning, with this break in the action to share with us a funny clip of these two disciples running for the tomb and John turning into a foot race between the two. And John makes sure that he is identified as the winner of the race.

Now Peter actually goes into the tomb first, but it is John who lets us know that it was John who won the race.

I’m guessing that when they return to the disciples who are still behind closed doors and still scared silly, before Peter can give a report as to what they discovered at the tomb, John blurts out that “we ran as fast as we could to the tomb, I got there first.”

Again I’m seeing this as a movie scene in my head, even as the disciples are intent on learning what has happened to their Savior, there are one or two eye rolls at John’s boasting.

I gotta wonder why this sentence made it into the scripture at all. Why didn’t those early compilers of the text recognize John’s boast for what it is, as extraneous and frivolous, and just drop it.

Maybe, just maybe, these compilers, who are at heart storytellers, recognize this beautiful momentary break in the drama as a moment that brings joy, and a smile, and even a chuckle to the reader.

So here we are in want may be one of the strangest, weirdest moments in our lifetimes, where health officials and community leaders have told us to stay put, to stay away from each other, to shelter in place.

We are watching an economic drama unfold before us as millions of people are losing their jobs because they’re not allowed to go to work and retail stores and restaurants are closing and as the stock market ricochets up-and-down like a roller coaster on steroids.

We just don’t know, when we come out on the other side of this, what kind of changes our society is in for.

So there’s understandable fear. There is angst. There is confusion. There is loneliness. There are struggles as we face the ever-changing situation.

Maybe we need, like humor in the most intense moments of a movie or like the telling of John’s Braggadocious win in the foot race with Peter, something that brings us joy, that encourages us, that allows us to step outside all of this and just relax.

May I suggest to you, my friend, that you could be that in the lives of other people. You can be a source of joy, of encouragement, of comfort in someone’s life.

A phone call.

A text.

An email.

A face time encounter.

An Instagram message.

A social media post that encourages, that lifts up, that causes people to chuckle. This is one that made me chuckle out loud, “This is the Lentiest Lent I ever Lented.

An offer to help from a distance.

A promise to pray.

A word of encouragement.

The simple words, “stay safe.”

It is easy for me to mock John for his ridiculous boast in sharing that he outran Peter to the tomb, but I think his telling of it reminds us of our need to step away from the pressing predicament we are in, and to strive to bring joy and comfort into the lives of others.

Amen.