We learn a few things from this passage of Peter and John racing to an empty tomb. For one thing, we learn that John is faster than Peter! It makes me think that Peter would be a good companion for a mountain hike should that hike lead you to come upon a bear. You know the basic rule of survival in case you come across a bear on a mountain hike, don’t you? Just be faster than one other person in the group! John escapes. Peter doesn’t.

We also learn other things about these two men racing to an empty tomb.

First, about John, we learn that he had a special bond with Jesus. Most Bible scholars believe that the reference in several places of John’s gospel to "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is John referring to himself. Jesus certainly loved all of his disciples, but there was a special friendship between Jesus and John. We also believe that John was significantly younger than Peter and may have been the youngest of the disciples. That would explain John’s arriving at the tomb ahead of Peter. John is also a bit cautious—he arrives first to the tomb but doesn’t enter in, he merely looks in.

Peter, on the other hand, is probably older and definitely slower than John. Perhaps his age is also part of the reason he is the recognized leader of the disciples. When the names of the disciples are given in Scripture, Peter’s name is always first. And, despite his denials of Christ that took place earlier, it is to Peter that Mary Magdalene comes with news of the stone rolled away from the tomb. Peter is also impulsive, as we’ve seen on several occasions. It is Peter who jumps out of a boat on the Sea of Galilee and begins walking toward Jesus. It is Peter who responds to Jesus’ question, "Who do you say I am?" In the Garden of Gethsemane, it is Peter who takes his sword and strikes the servant of the high priest. And it is Peter who follows Jesus after the crowd has taken Jesus away.

Of course, Peter’s "leap before you look" nature often leads to problems. Initially walking on water toward the Lord, Peter begins to realize what he’s doing and starts to sink. After being told he is blessed for responding, "you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," Jesus’ question, Peter is rebuked by Jesus because he tries to correct Jesus when he speaks of his coming death. And following Jesus after his arrest places Peter in a situation where he denies Christ three times. Peter’s impulsiveness is both his blessing and his curse.

So, it is no surprise that upon arriving at the tomb, John looks in from outside the tomb while Peter, arriving a few moments later, impulsively goes into the tomb. What they observe there begins to lead to belief in the resurrection Jesus had spoke about. They still haven’t put it all together—they’re still not connecting the Scripture passages that point to this event—but they begin to believe.

I wonder what our own race to an empty tomb reveals about our character. Is our pace quickened with youthful exuberance about the possibility of resurrection? Or is our pace slowed by age old questions about the resurrection? Surely you’ve heard some of the arguments and doubts raised about the resurrection: The body was stolen by grave robbers; or the authorities took it; Jesus didn’t really die on the cross; the disciples took the body and concocted a story of resurrection. Is our racing to an empty tomb, and more importantly, our grasping the significance of the resurrection slowed by doubts raised by such questions? What we learn from the Scripture story helps us answer such questions.

First of all, the argument that the body was taken by grave robbers. After all, a large stone was placed in front of entrances to graves, in part, to keep out grave robbers. Is it possible the body was stolen and the disciples made up a story about resurrection to explain it? No. First of all, the description of the grave clothes speaks against it. Either that or the robbers were very neat robbers, the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head folded up and neatly placed next to the strips of linen. And, as we shall see in a moment, the notion that the disciples made up a story lacks credibility.

Some have suggested the authorities took the body. I don’t understand why this argument appeals to those who promote it. Why would the authorities want to take Jesus’ body, opening the way to claims of resurrection? And, if they did take the body and the claims of resurrection began to surface all they needed to do was produce the body to stop the stories. No, the authorities didn’t take the body.

Another popular argument against the resurrection is that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross, that he only appeared to die. I think the best answer to that argument is one I heard about from another pastor. It seems a woman came to him somewhat distraught because her pastor had actually put forth that argument. I’m not sure why he had, but he had. My colleague’s response was this: "Suggest to your pastor that he be flogged 39 times, beaten senseless, pushed to the point of exhaustion, nailed to a cross for six hours, speared in the side, then place in an airtight tomb and see what happens." The theory that Jesus really didn’t die has no credence whatsoever.

Or, perhaps your pace to the empty tomb and resurrection is slowed by the theory that the disciples made up the story—whether out of despair, or out of a desire to make credible the statements Jesus had made about his resurrection, or as explanation for a missing body caused by grave robbers. The response to this argument comes from an interesting source—Charles Colson of Watergate fame. Colson writes this—it’s a bit long, but definitely worth hearing on this Easter Sunday:

Then Colson concludes with these words of encouragement to anyone whose pace to an empty tomb is slowed by doubts: "No, you can take it from an expert in cover-ups—I’ve lived through Watergate—that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain faithful—despite prison, torture, and death. Jesus is Lord: That’s the thrilling message of Easter. It’s a historic fact, one convincingly established by the evidence—and one you can bet your life upon."

"The resurrection is historic fact…and one we can bet our lives upon." That is the thrilling message of Easter. Not only the fact of the resurrection…but what it means for our lives. It means that we have been restored in our relationship with God. We, an unholy, sinful people restored in our relationship with a holy God in whose presence there can be no sin. It is possible only through Jesus Christ.

I think sometimes our pace is slowed in racing to an empty tomb, our grasping the significance of the Easter story is hindered by what I call a "practice makes perfect" mentality. What a holy God requires is perfection—perfect, sinless holiness—and even though we’re incapable of it we think if we work hard enough at it that will be good enough. Our pace to an empty tomb and the significance of the resurrection is slowed by a self-congratulatory posture of being a "good person." We hope that is enough. But it’s not. God requires perfection and we’re not capable of it. No matter how hard we try, how hard we practice being a "good person."

When I played baseball in college I never practiced something so diligently, or so hard in my life. For four years, practically every day of my life included some form of practice for baseball. In the dead of winter we practiced early in the morning in the gym. In the spring, summer and fall we practiced in-between actually playing games. Practice, practice, practice. And one of the things we practiced endlessly was fielding groundballs. We would take infield practice, fielding groundballs and simulating plays involving groundballs. During batting practice, we infielders would be at our positions and between pitches to the hitters someone would hit us groundballs to field. In the middle of the night I would dream of groundballs and the proper way to field them. If someone would’ve shouted "grounders" in the middle of the night, I would’ve sprung out of bed and assumed the proper position for fielding groundballs. If someone were to shout "grounders" today and roll a baseball down the middle aisle, I would instinctively leap to the floor and assume the proper fielding position. Don’t anyone do that! But it was ingrained into our very being through hours and hours of practice. But did I or anyone else achieve perfection? No. A bad hop here, a misstep there and every once in awhile I’d boot one.

A holy God requires perfection…and we’re incapable of it, no matter how hard we practice. God knows this and provided a way to be reconciled with Him through the perfection of Jesus Christ—a way to stand perfect before Him through the perfection that is ours through Jesus Christ. That is the joyful and triumphant message of Easter. That is a truth toward which we can race, a fact we can bet our lives upon. He is risen! (He is risen indeed!)