The unnamed “other disciple” in the gospel we just heard is obviously the one telling the story, John, the beloved disciple. It is striking to notice how much the Church relies on John as her main guide through Lent and the Paschal Mystery. Just think of the key Lenten gospels: the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. Moreover, we hear a great deal from John in the final days of Lent, setting the stage for Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. And then in Holy Week we have the gospel of the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, the farewell discourse, the Passion according to John on Good Friday, and now this gospel of the empty tomb on Easter morning.

This choice—which no doubt evolved slowly over centuries—is not a preference for one gospel account over the others. My guess is that it has to do with the immediacy of the fourth gospel. Think, for instance, of how Jesus speaks to us at length during the Last Supper: we are not spectators of a third person account, but, rather, listeners in close interaction with Jesus, who is immediately present in the telling. And John seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to recognizing the Risen Lord. As we just heard in today’s gospel, he saw and believed, apparently even before he and the others really understood what had taken place. Or, again, at the Lord’s appearance on the lake shore, it was John who first realized “it is the Lord”!

But more important even than these special characteristics of John’s narrative is the underlying criterion of authenticity that comes back again and again like a refrain. We heard it in the Farewell Discourse: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). John tells us not only the message, but also how to make the message our own inside and out: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23); and “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).

In today’s gospel of the empty tomb, we see this commandment and this litmus test of discipleship at work in the interaction between Mary, Peter, and John: Mary shows a zealous love for Jesus, going to his tomb before daybreak, and with the urgency of love she runs to tell the others what she saw; Mary goes to Peter and John—she trusts them; for their part, they take her seriously; Mary’s zeal then becomes theirs as they run to the tomb; although John arrives first, he shows respect for Peter, deferring to him; and Peter willingly assumes his role. Loving one another, then, is not first a matter of feelings. We see love for one another here in the uncomplicated good will and cooperation circulating between Mary, Peter, and John.

What unites them is Jesus, the Risen Lord. Their coming to faith in him is a shared experience. It is through simple words and gestures of love that the first inklings of the good news circulate. What makes them disciples and apostles cannot be reduced to the content of their understanding. The good news spreads through goodness. The proof of their Easter faith and the proof of our Easter faith is the same: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”