John
Chapter 20
Overview
John’s account moves from darkness and confusion at Jesus’ tomb to encounters that reshape grief, fear, and doubt. Mary Magdalene discovers the open tomb; Peter and another disciple race to inspect it. Jesus then appears first to Mary, later to his gathered followers, and finally to Thomas, who had demanded physical proof. The disciples are hiding because they fear the Jewish authorities who had helped bring about Jesus’ execution. Locked doors do little to contain either fear or hope. The chapter closes by explaining why these signs were recorded: to lead readers toward trust and life through Jesus.
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2So she ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved. She told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have put him!”
3Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb.
4The two ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.
5He bent down and saw the linen burial cloths lying there, but he did not go inside.
6Simon Peter came behind him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there.
7The cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was not lying with the other cloths. It had been rolled up separately in another place.
8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9They still did not understand the Scripture saying that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
10Then the two disciples went back to where they were staying.
11Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look inside.
12She saw two angels dressed in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been. One sat where his head had rested and the other where his feet had been.
13They asked her, “Why are you crying?” She answered, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have put him.”
14After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
15Jesus asked her, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you put him, and I will take him.”
16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher!”
17Jesus told her, “Do not keep holding on to me, because I have not yet gone up to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and announced, “I have seen the Lord!” She also reported what Jesus had told her.
19That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.”
20After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father sent me, I am sending you.”
22After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive God’s Holy Spirit.
23If you forgive anyone’s sins, those sins are forgiven. If you hold anyone’s sins against them, they remain held against them.”
24Thomas, one of the group known as the Twelve and also called the Twin, was not with the others when Jesus came.
25The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But Thomas replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger into those marks, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26Eight days later, Jesus’ disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.”
27Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Do not refuse to believe. Believe!”
28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Those who have not seen and yet have believed are truly fortunate.”
30Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in front of his disciples that are not recorded in this book.
31But these have been recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son, and so that by believing you may have life through who he is.