The readings for this Easter Sunday depict the key events for the establishment of the Christian faith and our Church – the Resurrection and the reception of the Holy Spirit. But taken in order these passages seem to be out of sequence chronologically, especially from what would have been the viewpoint of the disciples. So, let’s examine them in reverse beginning first with the Gospel and then going back to the First Reading.

In John’s account of the Resurrection (Jn. 20:1-9) we are told that Mary Magdalene has gone to the tomb while it is still dark, the light of faith has not yet dawned for the followers of Jesus. When she discovers the empty tomb, Mary runs to Simon Peter and an unnamed man described as “the other disciple whom Jesus loved.” (Jn. 20:2a).

Not yet having had a vision of the risen Lord, Mary believes that someone has stolen the body of Jesus. At this report Simon Peter and the other disciple immediately rush to the tomb. Now this nameless disciple is a character peculiar to the Gospel of John. Biblical scholars debate about his identity. Most commonly he is thought to be John, the brother of James and son of Zebedee. They are common fishermen encountered by Jesus early in his ministry along with Peter and Andrew.

This Beloved Disciple, John, is also thought to have been the source for the material found in the Fourth Gospel where he appears to have a unique role. Reclining closely to Jesus at the Last Supper, he is the only one privy to the knowledge of the identity of the betrayer, Judas Iscariot (Jn. 13:26). And he is the only disciple to stay close to Jesus during his passion, receiving the care of Mary, the Mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross (Jn. 19:26-27).

If the disciple John is actually the man known as the Beloved Disciple, it is theorized that he kept his identity a secret in his Gospel so that the Romans who were persecuting  Christians in the late first century AD would not have had cause to arrest him. It is also not a surprise that he might portray himself as having a special relationship to Jesus.

We can see the stark contrast between the Beloved Disciple and Peter in John’s Gospel. Peter nods to the disciple reclining nearest to the Lord at the Last Supper knowing that Jesus would reveal to his beloved the identity of the one who would betray him (Jn. 13:23-26). And the Beloved Disciple stays with Jesus throughout his final ordeal, while Peter denies and abandons him.

In today’s Gospel we again see the distinction; both men run to the tomb, but the other disciple runs faster than Peter and arrives at the tomb first (Jn. 20:4). And when they enter the tomb, there is something about the condition of the discarded burial cloths that causes the Beloved Disciple to see and believe, while Peter ponders in confusion.

In the First Reading for today from the Book of Acts (Acts 10:34a, 37-43) we see a very different portrayal of Peter. It is composed by a different author, the same writer as the Gospel of Luke. Here Peter has undergone a great transformation since the events of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as tongues of fire (Acts 1:1-7).

From the perspective of Luke, the one who denied Jesus and deliberated the Resurrection has taken on a leadership role among the Twelve with rarely a mention of the disciple John. He has performed miraculous deeds and delivered elaborate proclamations, such as the one in today’s reading. He has cured a crippled man through the name of Jesus (Acts 3:1-10) and become so powerful that people are healed merely by his shadow (Acts 5:12-16). He has converted thousands of Jews with his speeches (Acts 4:1-4) and testified bravely before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:5-22). He has raised the dead (Acts 9:31-43) and brought the good news of the Gospel confidently to Gentiles (Acts 10:34-49). He will go onto to become the first Bishop of Rome.

 The beauty of the story for us is that we have access to the same transformation as Peter through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the same Spirit we receive through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. It is the Spirit which nourishes and sustains us through the Eucharist. We, too, can go on to spread the message of the Gospel in our daily lives through the same gift of God’s grace which, after all, morphed Peter from fisherman to apostle.