Reading from Gospel of John re: Peter going into tomb first

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makamoimoi

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I keep thinking about the reading of the Gospel of John (20;1-8) for Sat 12/27. Mary Magdalene ran to tell that the body of the Lord was not in the tomb. So the “disciple that Jesus loved” (this is John right?) and Simon Peter ran to the tomb, John got there first, waited for Peter to arrive and enter the tomb first.
The priest based his whole homily on John was afraid to enter the tomb, so he waited for Peter to go first, he talked all about our fears in life, it was a good homily. BUT I think John was not afraid, after all, he stayed at the foot of the Cross when all the other men ran. I think Peter went in first showing his position of being in charge and is part of the explanation for the truth of the Papacy, and the priest missed a chance to educate us.
This keeps bothering me, but I know I am way too easily annoyed when it comes to matters of my Faith. Am I wrong in my interpretation?
Thank you!
 
makamoimoi said:
I think Peter went in first showing his position of being in charge and is part of the explanation for the truth of the Papacy, and the priest missed a chance to educate us.

Am I wrong in my interpretation?
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Our priest didn’t miss his chance. He said even though the
disciples knew Peter had just denied Jesus 3 times, they
respected his position as leader.

Don’t say, “am I wrong?”, just enjoy listening to what struck
your priest about the reading.
 
makamoimoi said:
I keep thinking about the reading of the Gospel of John (20;1-8) for Sat 12/27. Mary Magdalene ran to tell that the body of the Lord was not in the tomb. So the “disciple that Jesus loved” (this is John right?) and Simon Peter ran to the tomb, John got there first, waited for Peter to arrive and enter the tomb first.
The priest based his whole homily on John was afraid to enter the tomb, so he waited for Peter to go first, he talked all about our fears in life, it was a good homily. BUT I think John was not afraid, after all, he stayed at the foot of the Cross when all the other men ran. I think Peter went in first showing his position of being in charge and is part of the explanation for the truth of the Papacy, and the priest missed a chance to educate us.
This keeps bothering me, but I know I am way too easily annoyed when it comes to matters of my Faith. Am I wrong in my interpretation?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say that either one is wrong. It depends upon the disposition of the reader.
You certainly have a point about John being at the foot of the Cross, but that was a very “familiar” and “human” situation. Horrible to behold, but something that John could understand. The situation at the tomb was quite different so his thoughts and emotions may well have been different.
Let ask you if you were in John’s place, and arrived at the tomb ahead of Peter, would you want to go into this dark, forbidding place of the dead alone? Wouldn’t you perhaps wait for your companion to arrive so you could go in together? Likewise, when Peter did arrive, there are two aspects to consider. First is that Peter was the leader of the apostles, but also that he was the older of the two and thus would “pride of place” to enter first.
Finally we can consider the courage of Peter in entering the tomb first as contrasted by his fear on the night of the passion.
My point is that there are a number of different ways and lessons that can be drawn from a given passage. It doesn’t mean that only one is correct.

Peace
James
 
Would you be afraid of stepping into the tomb that our Lord has just been resurrected from? I know I would! I think he’s only referring to fear of the Lord, which is the step towards wisdom. Although, I agree with you, I don’t think he was afraid in a worldly sense.
 
**well, I think I have to vote for John, that makes a lot of sense. **

(but I still think the priest missed a teachable moment, everybody can see we need all the help we can get )

But thank you for your point of view, it’s very enlightening personally. And us girls got to stick together, St Mary Magdalene did see first!😉
 
makamoimoi said:
I keep thinking about the reading of the Gospel of John (20;1-8) for Sat 12/27. Mary Magdalene ran to tell that the body of the Lord was not in the tomb. So the “disciple that Jesus loved” (this is John right?) and Simon Peter ran to the tomb, John got there first, waited for Peter to arrive and enter the tomb first.
The priest based his whole homily on John was afraid to enter the tomb, so he waited for Peter to go first, he talked all about our fears in life, it was a good homily. BUT I think John was not afraid, after all, he stayed at the foot of the Cross when all the other men ran. I think Peter went in first showing his position of being in charge and is part of the explanation for the truth of the Papacy, and the priest missed a chance to educate us.
This keeps bothering me, but I know I am way too easily annoyed when it comes to matters of my Faith. Am I wrong in my interpretation?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Hi!

…we must remember that Priests and Bishops are men… their homilies are a marriage of their own particular views on life and formal Church Doctrine; as long as they do not profess a teaching that is contrary to Church Doctrine (Holy Scriptures and Holy Traditions) we must do our best to allow them a certain margin for expression.

…however, if this is truly bothering you, you should seek an audience with your parish Priest and open a dialogue about the issues that corcern you.

You are correct in stating that he missed the opportunity to speak on John’s acquiescence of Cephas’ primacy–considering that it is John himself who is speaking about the tomb incident and how he allows Peter to precede him into the tomb, that speaks volumes…

…but there are many many layers within the narrative of such a simple event… they were all frightened since they knew that the masters of the law, and others, would not be satisfied with Jesus’ death… consider too, your take on John’s seeming courage (standing by Jesus even till His death); from one perspective it seems that John was the only disciple that did not desert the Master; yet, it is John himself that tells us that the disciple that the Lord loved the most (John himself) was known to those of the high priest’s house… John happens to enjoy the safety of being among familiar grounds with people with which he was acquainted… his risk is minimal, compare to Peter’s.

…perhaps this is an opportunity for you to join your parish Bible study (or organize one if they do not yet have one); once you are actively involved in the Bible study, you could then express your concerns with the need for deeper teachings and stronger homilies…

Maran atha!

Angel
 
It’s hard to say it all in a homily. In addition

Morally, Peter and John represent the active and contemplative missions of the Church, so that even when contemplatives are the first to arrive at a deeper understanding of the faith, deference is given to the hierarchical leadership, who later defines and promulgates their authentic insights.

Allegorically, the tomb is the Sacred Scriptures. Peter is faith, which is the first thing we bring to it’s pages. John is understanding, which afterward enters and penetrateds their meaning more deeply.
 
Could John have been thinking, “Is it true? Is it possibly true? The Rabbi is alive?” And he couldn’t bear to look?

Notice it says that John saw the headroll and then believed. He might have believed that all his hopes were being fulfilled in the Resurrection.
 
ryanoneil said:
It’s hard to say it all in a homily. In addition

Morally, Peter and John represent the active and contemplative missions of the Church, so that even when contemplatives are the first to arrive at a deeper understanding of the faith, deference is given to the hierarchical leadership, who later defines and promulgates their authentic insights.

Allegorically, the tomb is the Sacred Scriptures. Peter is faith, which is the first thing we bring to it’s pages. John is understanding, which afterward enters and penetrateds their meaning more deeply.
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Nice! And what does Mary Magdelene represent allegorically?
 
Recall that in their Jewish upbringing under the law of Moses, many practices could make you “unclean” and subject to the ritual purification by a priest as prescribed by Moses. Death and that associated with death, such as the tomb (especially an occupied tomb) was also likely considered to make you unclean. Thus, they would have had at least some hesitance to enter. A practicing Levite can correct me here.

Similar in nature is the incident where Jesus cleansed the demon-possessed man in the tombs (Luke 8:26-37). The people of the nearby town were struck with fear and asked Jesus to leave. This is likely because the tombs were unclean, the demon-possessed man was unclean and the swine ran into the water and perished. At that time, demons were thought to reside in the depths of the water.

This might also explain Peter’s fear when he walked on the water and began sinking (Matthew 14:30). Since Peter normally had no fear of the water (John 21:7-11), that was apparently not the problem.

John was quite young, and may actually have feared to enter. Also, Peter’s primacy had been established by Christ (Matthew 16:18), as mentioned by makamoimoi. Peter, ever the impetuous man, then went inside. This occurred after he had denied Jesus three times and had wept bitterly, but before he reaffirmed his love three times to the risen Christ. This event at our Lord’s tomb may indeed have been a part of Peter’s conversion and deepening in faith. IMHO.
 
po18guy said:
Recall that in their Jewish upbringing under the law of Moses, many practices could make you “unclean” and subject to the ritual purification by a priest as prescribed by Moses. Death and that associated with death, such as the tomb (especially an occupied tomb) was also likely considered to make you unclean. Thus, they would have had at least some hesitance to enter. A practicing Levite can correct me here.
Click to expand...
…yet, we must also take into account that Mary Magdalene had gone back to the tomb, while it was still dark, most likely in order to prepare Jesus’ body since He had died just before the Sabbath (Friday eve) and they were not able to prepare His body for burial (coincidentally, this scene is another testimonial against Mary’s other children since they were absent, yet again, on this important issue).

Consider also that, other than Lazarus, the disciples did not experience many episodes of people coming back from the dead… hence, their apprehension as a whole; incidentally, Peter did not demonstrate such apprehension as he quickly entered the tomb.
Similar in nature is the incident where Jesus cleansed the demon-possessed man in the tombs (Luke 8:26-37). The people of the nearby town were struck with fear and asked Jesus to leave. This is likely because the tombs were unclean, the demon-possessed man was unclean and the swine ran into the water and perished. At that time, demons were thought to reside in the depths of the water.
Click to expand...
…I do not mean to contradict, but the people were afraid of Jesus’ Power since He had removed the demons (Legion) from the man–no doubt some may have also had some financial interests in removing Jesus from the area, by sparing a son of Israel, Jesus had caused a herd of pigs, two thousand strong, to be drowned.
This might also explain Peter’s fear when he walked on the water and began sinking (Matthew 14:30). Since Peter normally had no fear of the water (John 21:7-11), that was apparently not the problem.
Click to expand...
…two points: 1) Peter was used to being in the water not on it, and 2) even the best fishermen would fear storms and strong currents–once Peter took his eyes off Jesus all security was lost.

Maran atha!

Angel
 
jcrichton said:
…yet, we must also take into account that Mary Magdalene had gone back to the tomb, while it was still dark, most likely in order to prepare Jesus’ body since He had died just before the Sabbath (Friday eve) and they were not able to prepare His body for burial (coincidentally, this scene is another testimonial against Mary’s other children since they were absent, yet again, on this important issue).

Consider also that, other than Lazarus, the disciples did not experience many episodes of people coming back from the dead… hence, their apprehension as a whole; incidentally, Peter did not demonstrate such apprehension as he quickly entered the tomb.

…I do not mean to contradict, but the people were afraid of Jesus’ Power since He had removed the demons (Legion) from the man–no doubt some may have also had some financial interests in removing Jesus from the area, by sparing a son of Israel, Jesus had caused a herd of pigs, two thousand strong, to be drowned.

…two points: 1) Peter was used to being in the water not on it, and 2) even the best fishermen would fear storms and strong currents–once Peter took his eyes off Jesus all security was lost.

Maran atha!

Angel
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Points all well taken. 👍
 
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