Words by St Mel’s Cathedral

Being the Beloved—

The Easter gospel is almost an anti-climax. You’d be hoping for a bit of glory but it all begins with darkness. ‘Still dark,’ John writes. In his gospel where light and darkness play such a prominent role, the darkness that began with the falling of night when Judas left the room at Passover will last until someone believes in the risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene is in a state of disbelief, unbelief. Empty tombs are not good news, and that Jesus’ tomb is empty is dreadful news, the most awful news imaginable. So she rushes back to the others with the report: ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb!’ ‘Where have all the flowers gone?’ could have been her song. What a let down! She is deflated. There can be no good in it at all. Her fleeing from the grave is weighed with a deep sorrow. It is a journey away from faith and love, into the darkness of unbelief.

And it seems no different for Peter and The Beloved Disciple when Mary tells them the news. There is hesitation before the tomb and only after Peter enters, the Beloved One enters, and maybe Love has already unlocked his heart for this very moment because he sees and he believes. Beyond the emptiness of the tomb, the folded grave clothes point to life. When St Paul will speak of those to whom the Risen Jesus appears, Peter will be named first, but for John’s gospel, the first to believe is The Beloved Disciple. With insight borne from love, he believes without an appearance at all, just the folded grave clothes, a great sign.

We can take heart from the slow awakening of Easter faith among the three witnesses who make up the church. Isn’t it the same for us. In many ways we’re still in the dark, just like Mary Magdalene at the beginning of the story. Our struggling with prayer and with life, and after two Easters of worship through a screen and now slowly emerging from pandemic our hearts are darkened again by the plight of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters; where and how could God be with us in this mess? And there are our personal crises of grief and heartbreak. Who could ever know what veils cover the heart of one who always puts on a brave face?

And still our Easter faith challenges us to be like the Beloved, to see and believe—to see and believe. Love enables one to see with the heart. So the fox famously reminds The Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” The first Easter experience started in the darkness and ended in dawn light. Our Easter story in 2022 need not stay in the dark place. Let’s all be The Beloved Disciple, as our baptism names us to be, so that our hearts may lead us to all the places we wish to go, and most especially to that place where we will encounter the Risen Jesus! Because the message of hope still holds true: ‘yes … Jesus is alive, he is risen, as He said.’ Alleluia!