Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Disciples' Love

I think I would have to say that John is probably my favorite Gospel. They're all good for their own reasons, of course, but for me there's just something about John. They say that Luke's focus is on Jesus being the Son of Man, and John focuses on Jesus as the Son of God, but I think there's a lot of Jesus' humanity mixed in as well.

One of the most striking things to me, though, is the vividness of the last few chapters. I cannot understand how anyone who has read it can believe that it isn't an eyewitness account. The night arrest in a garden in the Kidron Valley, Peter and John's following from a distance and how John got Peter into the court, the brutal execution. But the best part begins Sunday.

Mary Magdalene goes early and finds the stone moved. Very likely in fear, she flies to Peter and John, who both light out at a full run, but the other disciple outran Peter. Jesus was still dead for all they knew, but they still loved Him so much that it became something of a race - the big fisherman verses the more fleet-footed John.

I want my heart to be bursting with love like that.

Later on, after they find the tomb empty (John stood speechless, while Peter, true to character, dashed inside to look), and after Jesus had already appeared to them once, we find them on the Sea of Tiberias. Fish sounded good for breakfast, but so far, nothing was all they had, and it seems they had a lot of it. A Man stands on the shore and suggests that they try fishing off the starboard - it might just work better that way (He calls them children - I love that). Sounds good, so they give it a try. Immediately they have so much fish they can't lift the net. Peter's seen this one before. "It's the Lord!" he yells, and throws, yes, throws himself overboard and swims the 300 feet to shore, just to get at Him.

There's just something about that that I want badly. To fling myself at Christ, to burst my lungs running to Him. It takes a very deep love, and I don't have it yet, I'm afraid. But I want it. And I think that's the first step.

A good thing to always remember, though - we aren't the only ones running. Nor is this love something that comes from just us.