John 20–21

Jesus’ Tomb Is Empty

20Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb while it was still dark. When she saw that the large stone had been moved away from the tomb, ²she ran to Simon Peter and the follower whom Jesus loved. Mary said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.”

³So Peter and the other follower started for the tomb. ⁴They were both running, but the other follower ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down and looked in and saw the strips of linen cloth lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then following him, Simon Peter arrived and went into the tomb and saw the strips of linen lying there. ⁷He also saw the cloth that had been around Jesus’ head, which was folded up and laid in a different place from the strips of linen. ⁸Then the other follower, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. He saw and believed. ⁹(They did not yet understand from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead.)

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹⁰Then the followers went back home. ¹¹But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she bent down and looked inside the tomb. ¹²She saw two angels dressed in white, sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and one at the feet.

¹³They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She answered, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴When Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.

¹⁵Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said to him, “Did you take him away, sir? Tell me where you put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Hebrew language, ⁿ “Rabboni.” (This means “Teacher.”)

¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold on to me, because I have not yet gone up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going back to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and said to the followers, “I saw the Lord!” And she told them what Jesus had said to her.

Jesus Appears to His Followers

¹⁹When it was evening on the first day of the week, Jesus’ followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the elders. Then Jesus came and stood right in the middle of them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were thrilled when they saw the Lord.

²¹Then Jesus said again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I now send you.” ²²After he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴Thomas (called Didymus), who was one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵The other followers kept telling Thomas, “We saw the Lord.”

But Thomas said, “I will not believe it until I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into his side.”

²⁶A week later the followers were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. The doors were locked, but Jesus came in and stood right in the middle of them. He said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand here in my side. Stop being an unbeliever and believe.”

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

²⁹Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you see me. Those who believe without seeing me will be truly blessed.”

Why John Wrote This Book

³⁰Jesus did many other miracles in the presence of his followers that are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Then, by believing, you may have life through his name.

Jesus Appears to Seven Followers

21Later, Jesus showed himself to his followers again—this time at Lake Galilee. ⁿ This is how he showed himself: ²Some of the followers were together: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the two sons of Zebedee, and two other followers. ³Simon Peter said, “I am going out to fish.”

The others said, “We will go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat. They fished that night but caught nothing.

⁴Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the followers did not know it was Jesus. ⁵Then he said to them, “Friends, did you catch any fish?”

They answered, “No.”

⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they did, and they caught so many fish they could not pull the net back into the boat.

⁷The follower whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard him say this, he wrapped his coat around himself. (Peter had taken his clothes off.) Then he jumped into the water. ⁸The other followers went to shore in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They were not very far from shore, only about a hundred yards. ⁹When the followers stepped out of the boat and onto the shore, they saw a fire of hot coals. There were fish on the fire, and there was bread.

¹⁰Then Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”

¹¹Simon Peter went into the boat and pulled the net to the shore. It was full of big fish, one hundred fifty-three in all, but even though there were so many, the net did not tear. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.” None of the followers dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, along with the fish.

¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus showed himself to his followers after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Talks to Peter

¹⁵When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷A third time he said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”

He said to him, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸I tell you the truth, when you were younger, you tied your own belt and went where you wanted. But when you are old, you will put out your hands and someone else will tie you and take you where you don’t want to go.” ¹⁹(Jesus said this to show how Peter would die to give glory to God.) Then Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me!”

²⁰Peter turned and saw that the follower Jesus loved was walking behind them. (This was the follower who had leaned against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who will turn against you?”) ²¹When Peter saw him behind them, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

²²Jesus answered, “If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business. You follow me.”

²³So a story spread among the followers that this one would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die. He only said, “If I want him to live until I come back, that is not your business.”

²⁴That follower is the one who is telling these things and who has now written them down. We know that what he says is true.

²⁵There are many other things Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written.