April 19, 2026
In the Lectio 365 post-Easter reflections this poem by RS Thomas was quoted.
There have been times when,
after long on my knees in a cold chancel,
a stone has rolled from my mind,
and I have looked in and seen the old questions lie folded and in a place by themselves,
like the piled graveclothes of love’s risen body.*
This week I was struck and somewhat amused by the readings in John’s gospel. John, the ‘beloved disciple’ runs to the tomb faster than Simon Peter. The news of the empty tomb from the women causes him to run like Aussie sprinter Gout Gout on overdrive. Well it would, wouldn’t it? Simon Peter runs up behind him puffing and wheezing and says nothing! That’s probably a first for him. Whether out of breath or just bewildered is not said. But John, on the other hand, the text says (ch20 v8), ‘believed’.
Sometimes in life we are caught between three places – doubt, bewilderment, and belief. All John has at this point is an empty tomb, but he trusts. Perhaps Peter simply doesn’t know what to think. In more ways than one, he’s catching his breath.
John writes at the end of this same chapter: (vs30-31) Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
I pray for each of us who are still in dark places or caught between faith and doubt that the risen Saviour would show himself afresh to us in these days. And in that process, you may discover again ‘life in his name’.
*RS Thomas, from ‘The Answer’, in Collected Poems: 1945-1990
Julian Holdsworth
BSBC Pastor
