LET US RUN A HOLY RACE
John 20:2-8

They were running side by side, but then the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. v. 4

This text calls our attention to the eagerness and the love of the apostles John and Peter. They heard Mary's news and immediately ran to the tomb of Jesus.

LEARN FROM PETER & JOHN

We can learn much from this holy race between the two apostles to the empty tomb of Jesus. John is "the disciple Jesus loved." Peter is the one Jesus chose to build his church upon. In his youthful love, John outran Peter and reached the tomb first, but entered last. John, "one of the sons of thunder," started out with zeal, but upon seeing the linen wrappings on the floor of the tomb at his arrival, hesitated. Peter ran more slowly, perhaps more surely, and went right in. It was only after following the lead of Peter that John saw and believed.

PUSH ON TO WHAT IS AHEAD

We, too, are called to run a race. Paul wrote, "Thus do I hope that I may arrive at resurrection from the dead. It is not that I have reached it yet, or have already finished my course; but I am racing to grasp the prize if possible, since I have been grasped by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not think of myself as having reached the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what is ahead. My entire attention is on the finish line as I run toward the prize to which God calls me - life on high in Christ Jesus."

We run this race within the church, under the leadership of Peter. We might get in front of Peter from time to time, but it will always be Peter who enters the real tomb first, and it will always be by following Peter’s lead that we come to see and believe in the Resurrected Christ in our world.

This holy race should not, however, breed a spirit of competition among us. We should only compete in doing away with worldly competition, which seeks to get ahead at the expense of another.

RUN THE RACE IN LOVE

How do we run? Do we run with sensitivity to others, or do we seek to run at the expense of another? We must run in love or else we do not run a Christian race at all!

John Michael Talbot

Photo by James Emery