Why Do We Go Home?

At the end of John's account of the Gospel, Mary Magdalene finds the tomb of Jesus empty and runs to tell the other disciples that his body had been stolen. When Peter and the "disciple that Jesus loved" arrive at the tomb, they discover that it is empty just as Mary said.

I have come to believe that "the disciple Jesus loved" or the Beloved Disciple is a multifaceted character. I believe that he may represent in some way the eye witness account of part of Jesus' ministry. That he did not write the fourth Gospel account, but was the bearer of the stories that were later recorded by an evangelist in what scholars now call the Johannine community. In other words, the Beloved Disciple is a true character in the Gospel account and a real historical person who was actually there. I do not think he is John bar Zebedee.

But more importantly, I believe that the Beloved Disciple is a null set. The evangelist is a brilliant writer and employs a vast array of literary tools throughout his/her/their Gospel account. In several instances, there are major characters in the Fourth Gospel who are not given names. In these cases, the reader is drawn directly into the story, invited to put himself or herself in the place of the unnamed character, be it the Samaritan woman at the well or the man born blind, An argument can be made that the same goes for Lazarus and Nicodemus. These null set characters can be played like Mad Libs, inserting your own name into the story. So what happens when we become the Beloved Disciple?

First, we find ourselves reclining on the chest of Jesus as he shares his last meal with the disciples before his crucifixion. Next we find ourselves at the feet of Jesus on the cross, as he tells us that his mother is now our mother. Then we find ourselves running to the tomb to discover that it's empty.

Then we go home.

There's no wonder, no excitement. Not even fear or confusion or depression. We see something amazing and then we just go home. They say that every Sunday is a little Easter where we celebrate the fact that the tomb is empty, but then when the service is over (and it better be before noon), we all just go home. Sure, the tomb is empty, but our reaction is more like someone has stolen the body rather than Jesus has been resurrected. And so we go home. We go back to our lives as if nothing is different.

Sure, Jesus shows up in the upper room that evening and again a week later, but again, nothing changes.

The next time we find ourselves in the place of the Beloved Disciple, we're on a boat fishing when the miraculous occurs. Why is it only now that we see the risen Christ? What can move us, like the Beloved Disciple, to tell the story of Jesus to others?

What gets lost between seeing the empty tomb and sharing the story of salvation? What sort of miraculous catch do we need to experience before we follow Jesus? Why do so many of us that call ourselves disciples just go home?