The Gospel of John presents us with a compelling and somewhat earthy mystical image of the beloved disciple having his head leaning on Jesus’ breast in such a way that his ear is directly above Jesus’ heart but in such a way that his eyes are fixed outward looking at the world. Fr. Rolheiser writes that this represents the beloved disciple attuned to God’s heartbeat and looking out at the world from that vantage point. As the beloved disciple reclines on the breast of Jesus, an interesting dialogue occurs: Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray him. Peter turns to the beloved disciple and asks, “Ask him who it is?” That begs the question: Why doesn’t Peter ask Jesus himself who will betray him? Peter would not have been sitting so far away from Jesus that he could not ask the question himself. What the Gospel is suggesting here is that intimacy with Jesus trumps everything else. On the morning of the Resurrection, Mary Magdala comes running from the tomb and tells the disciples that the tomb is empty. Peter and the beloved disciple immediately set off, running towards the tomb. We can easily guess who will arrive there first. The beloved disciple easily outruns Peter, not because he’s perhaps a younger man but because love outruns authority. It is commonly assumed that the beloved disciple was the Evangelist himself, John. That may, in fact, be correct, but that is not what the Gospel text wants you to conclude. Who is the beloved disciple? The beloved disciple is any person, woman, man, or child who is intimate enough with Jesus to be attuned to the heartbeat of God and who then sees the world from that place of intimacy, prays from that place of intimacy, and sets off in love to seek the Risen Lord and grasp the meaning of his empty tomb.