John 20–21

THE EMPTY TOMB

20On^a the first day of the week^b Mary Magdalene^c came to the tomb^d early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone^e had been removed from the tomb. ²So she went running to Simon Peter^f and to the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb,^g and we don’t know where they’ve put him!”

³At that, Peter and the other disciple went out, heading for the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first. ⁵Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths^h lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. ⁷The wrappingⁱ that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths^j but was folded up in a separate place by itself. ⁸The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and believed. ⁹For they did not yet understand the Scripture^k that he must rise^l from the dead.^{m 10}Then the disciples returned to the place where they were staying.

MARY MAGDALENE SEES THE RISEN LORD

¹¹Butⁿ Mary stood outside the tomb,^o crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels^p in white sitting where Jesus’s body^q had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,”^r she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

¹⁴Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.^{s 15}“Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?”

Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic,^A “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.”^t

¹⁷“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended^u to the Father.^v But go to my brothers^w and tell them that I am ascending to my Father^x and your Father, to my God^y and your God.”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”^z And she told them what^B he had said to her.

THE DISCIPLES COMMISSIONED

¹⁹When it was evening on that first day of the week,^aa the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”^ab

²⁰Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side.^ac So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me,^ad I also send you.”^{ae 22}After saying this, he breathed on them^af and said,^C “Receive the Holy Spirit.^{ag 23}If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”^ah

THOMAS SEES AND BELIEVES

²⁴But Thomas^ai (called “Twin”^D), one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails,^aj and put my hand into his side,^ak I will never believe.”^al

²⁶A week later his disciples were indoors again, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Don’t be faithless, but believe.”^am

²⁸Thomas responded to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.^E Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”^an

THE PURPOSE OF THIS GOSPEL

³⁰Jesus performed many other signs^ao in the presence of his disciples that are not written^ap in this book.^{aq 31}But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah,^a the Son^b of God,^Ac and that by believing you may have life in his name.^d

JESUS’ THIRD APPEARANCE TO THE DISCIPLES

21After this, Jesus revealed^e himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.^Bf He revealed himself in this way:

²Simon Peter,^g Thomas^h (called “Twin”^C), Nathanaelⁱ from Cana of Galilee,^j Zebedee’s^k sons, and two others of his disciples were together.

³“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.

“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.^l

⁴When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.^{m 5}“Friends,”^D Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶“Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did,^E and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. ⁷The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”ⁿ

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. ⁸Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards^Fo away), the other disciples came in the boat,^p dragging the net full of fish. ⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. ¹⁰“Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. ¹¹So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.^q

¹²“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time^r Jesus appeared^s to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

JESUS’ THREEFOLD RESTORATION OF PETER

¹⁵When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Feed ^t my lambs,”^u he told him. ¹⁶A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love^v me?”^w

“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”

“Shepherd^x my sheep,”^y he told him.

¹⁷He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love^z me?”

Peter was grieved^aa that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything;^ab you know that I love you.”

“Feed^ac my sheep,” Jesus said. ¹⁸“Truly I tell you,^ad when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹He said this to indicate by what kind of death^ae Peter would glorify God.^af After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”^ag

CORRECTING A FALSE REPORT

²⁰So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved^ah following them, the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray you?”^{ai 21}When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

²²“If I want him to remain until I come,”^aj Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

²³So this rumor^A spread to the brothers and sisters^ak that this disciple would not die.^al Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

EPILOGUE

²⁴This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

²⁵And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books^B that would be written.^am