One of my favorite post Resurrection paintings is of Peter and John running to the empty tomb. John looks overjoyed while Peter seems anxious and a bit worried. I love the painting because it depicts a friendship founded in their love for the master and ultimately their Lord. The two of them represent how one comes to Faith. Peter pronounced his Faith with great conviction that Jesus was the Christ…the one coming into the world when Jesus asked: “who do you say that I Am.” What was quick across his lips took longer to reach a full understanding and grounded trust in the mission. John, on the other hand, kept silent and waited for the scenario of salvation to play out. He stood at the cross…he watched salvation come through the death of Jesus while comforting Mary all along.
Upon hearing that the tomb was empty they both run to see in dismay and in Hope. John shows his patience with Peter as he outruns him to the tomb but does not enter first. Out of respect for Peter John allows him to “see” first…to ponder what it meant to raise from the dead. I am sure that Peter, as he saw the burial cloths alone heard the pounding of Jesus three-fold prophesy: I will be taken, put to death and then rise on the third day. I am sure he was overwhelmed by fear but the memory of the transfiguration gave him the courage to believe!
John, on the other hand, saw and believed. John had the ultimate experience of Faith and that is to witness the cross and the full love of offering oneself to receive what follows death. John was sure of the promise before it happened and rejoiced in it when the third day was upon them.
The patience John shows Peter in this scene is the kind of patience we must show those who seem good and professing their faith on their lips but have a hard time incorporating it into an active commitment of heart and soul. The patience is to know that kindness and example will lead those who are slow to faith to ask the questions necessary to see the fullness of Truth.
This patience continues after Jesus had already appeared to the apostles twice after the resurrection when peter decides to go on a fishing expedition. It was as if he was unsure how his life should be changed and just goes back to what he knew…what he used to be as just an ordinary man of Faith.
What I love about the story John does not reprimand him but goes along for the experience and reflection of life in the boat. Of course, they were hard at it all night and catch nothing. A reflection of what their lives were without Jesus. But then of course, once again, Jesus calls out to them to drop their nets for a big catch. In essence, Jesus calls them back to the new normal of being fishers of men.
When the catch is made and the amazement overwhelms them all, John realizing that it was Jesus all along, whispers to Peter “it is the Lord” and upon coming to his senses or more so a moment of Faith Peter jumps from the boat and races off to Jesus. Once again John is patient he does not scold Peter or correct him but allows the moment to be right and Peter responds with what is True and believes!!
We so often want our children, our friends, our spouses to come quickly to Faith and the conversion of their lives. We become impatient with lip service and thick-headedness. But remember perhaps they have not yet entered nor carried the cross of Christ. Perhaps the death of Christ as an act of love and salvation does not yet mean anything more than the proof that He is God. So keep giving them their space to peer into the empty tomb and whisper the truths into their ears: He is the Lord. They too will come on their own time and they too, like Peter will offer themselves fully to the Lord. Patience is a virtue my mother always said and that virtue is the path to faith for those we love.
Image: The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection (Eugène Burnand, 1898)