(Audio)
John, the beloved disciple, was the one who reclined on the breast of Jesus at the Last Supper. His close connection with the savior, and then, with the mother of the savior, provided the space for contemplation that gave us his profound insight into the incarnation, when the word became flesh. It was as if John never lost the sense of wonder that such a thing should happen. Whenever he mentions it in his writing there is sense of freshness as though he is realizing it again for the first time.
What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life —
for the life was made visible;
The main reason John was so persuaded of the incarnation was probably because of the resurrection, in which all of the claims of Jesus were vindicated. Jesus was not just one more failed revolutionary, not just another persecuted prophet, or wise man condemned by society. He possessed an indestructible life, as the author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote (see Hebrews 7:16). Just as John had first hand experience of Jesus' life, and of his majesty revealed during his transfiguration, so too did he directly encounter the risen Lord. And it was this encounter that gave shape to all the rest, that, as it were, filled in all of the missing pieces, and was the final answer to all of the mysteries.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
Though younger and in some sense closer to the Lord he nevertheless waited out of respect for his senior, the one whom Jesus had entrusted with authority. He went after Peter and beheld evidence of the miraculous event that had occurred. Unlike in the case of Lazarus, the burial clothes were left in the tomb and the cloth was rolled up in a separate place. Grave robbers wouldn't have left these valuables behind. It all spoke to an event that had no precedent.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
It took more than one encounter to bring even the beloved disciple to a mature faith in the resurrection. But in stages God drew him ever deeper into a faith that was increasingly unshakable. This culminated in the events of Pentecost when the power of the risen Lord descended on him and the others as tongues of fire.
John would have us know to have an encounter with the risen Lord was not reserved to him and the first disciples alone. He wrote precisely so we could know it, and by knowing it, to share in his fellowship.
what we have seen and heard
we proclaim now to you,
so that you too may have fellowship with us;
for our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.
Given that most of us would probably not yet describe our own joy as complete we should attempt to seriously attend to the words of the Beloved Disciple. If he could imagine all of the mysteries of Jesus again for the first time, so too can we, with his help.
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