He Saw and Believed
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; we have seen it and testify
to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the
Father and was made visible to us—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.
1 John 1:1-4
When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb
and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not
with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other
disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw
and believed. John 20:6-8
Piety
How do you answer when people ask you if you believe in
Christmas?
Study
We are in the joy-filled, white-vestmented Octave of
Christmas. Green trees, red poinsettias,
and lights adorn the altar amid a cold, dark, grey winter. On the second day of
Christmas, the magisterium served us a heaping plate of St. Stephen’s martyrdom. Now, on the third day of Christmas, we do not
get three French hens but fast forward to the tomb on Easter Sunday.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us just two days
ago. But, if we do not believe it, then
what’s the difference because the tomb is empty? Precisely!
The tomb is empty!
Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the resurrection.
However, when she told the disciples, John’s account shows that perhaps she did
not yet fully understand (believe?) the situation. She said to them: “They have taken the
Lord from the tomb, and we do not know where they put him.”
John, though, could not contain himself. He took off running
to see for himself.
Recently, I have come to regard the Gospel of John as part
poetry, part “new journalism” in the Tom Wolfe School.[i] With
his literary flair and habit of placing himself as a character in his
nonfiction writing, many people and critics regarded Wolfe as one of the
pioneers of New Journalism. Wolfe would
merge the firsthand account of his subjects (like covering the hippie
generation or Wall Street or the first crop of astronauts) with his exposition where
he, a journalist, shadowed and observed his subject over a long time.[ii]
Not unlike what John did with Jesus. After all, John was the
son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman, and Salome. John and his older brother
St. James were among the first disciples called by Jesus. He was there. He
composed his Gospel and three Epistles at Ephesus, and the Book of Revelation
on the island of Pátmos.
John was at the foot of the cross to hear the final
commandment from Jesus: “Behold your mother.”
He was there for the Passover/Last Supper discourses. I
am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear
much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. 15:5
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones
than these, because I am going to the Father. 14:12
He was there for the washing of the disciples’ feet. None of the Synoptic Gospels include the story, but John presents it to us as a “model” (“pattern”) of the crucifixion.
It symbolizes cleansing from sin by sacrificial death.
He was there when Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead.
This episode is the climax of all the signs we encounter in John’s Gospel. It leads directly to the decision of the
Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. Lazarus is a hint of the real-life irony that Jesus (dead
AND raised) will give life to all who believe in him. (Never lose your
irony: Jesus’ gift of life to Lazarus leads
directly to his death.)
After Jesus visited the temple for the Feast of the
Dedication, John was there for the quiet passage back across the Jordan to the
place where Jesus began his public ministry -- and would eventually begin the
end of it.
He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him
and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was
true.” And many there began to believe in him. John 10:40-42
John also was there when Jesus restored the sight of the man
born blind – much to the chagrin of the witnessing Pharisees. Rather than see
the miracle, all they saw was a violation of the Hebrew Sabbath rules.
John was there when Jesus confronted the men attempting to
stone the woman caught in adultery.
John also was there at the ‘beginning” – although that was
John the Baptizer, not the Evangelizer.
John the Divine also reported live from Cana in Galilee,
where the water looked at its Creator’s Son…and blushed. Then, his reporting
took him up to Jerusalem for the cleansing of the temple and the first
foreshadowing of the Passion. (“Destroy this temple, and in three days, I
will raise it up.” 2:19)
And THAT…stayed in John’s head. He even told us right there in chapter two,
what he came to believe when he saw the empty tomb. (“Therefore, when he was raised from the
dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe
the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.” 2:22).
John was there when Jesus wept…wept for the execution of his
cousin and the death of his friend.
 |
| St. John of Patmos at the 135 Men's Cursillo. |
In between, John also reported on the three encounters with
Nicodemus, the conversion of the Samaritan woman at the well, the
multiplication of the loaves and fish, and so much more. Yet, from that day in the temple until
today’s Gospel, everything percolated in John’s heart until he saw the burial cloths,
but did not go in. He did not have to go in to believe.
Action
“Do you believe in Christ’s Mass?” When they ask you, how
will you answer? Will you enter the empty tomb?
Do you even have to?
[i]
That is when I am not considering John of Patmos delivering a soliloquy (Thank
you Rector Phil Russell.)
[ii]
Maybe modern scholarship points to the fact that John’s Gospel is not a direct
eyewitness to the life of Jesus; however, the stories passed down through the
years started with someone as the eyewitness. Whoever wrote it down (and when),
even if long after Jesus ascended into heaven, knew precisely what happened and
why. He saw…and believed!
Top Illustration: St. John the Evangelist, elephant ivory plaque,
Carolingian, early 9th century; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
City. Overall 18.3 × 9.4 × 0.7 cm.
Photograph by Katie Chao. The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York City, The Cloisters Collection, 1977 (1977.421)
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