John 19:38–20:18

The Burial of Jesus

19:38–42pp—Mt 27:57–61; Mk 15:42–47; Lk 23:50–56

³⁸Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.^z With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^a the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{e 40}Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^b This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{c 41}At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴²Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation^d and since the tomb was nearby,^e they laid Jesus there.

The Empty Tomb

20:1–8pp—Mt 28:1–8; Mk 16:1–8; Lk 24:1–10

20Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene^f went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.^{g 2}So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved,^h and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”ⁱ

³So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.^{j 4}Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent over and looked in^k at the strips of linen^l lying there but did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head.^m The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,ⁿ also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹(They still did not understand from Scripture^o that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)^{p 10}Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb^{q 12}and saw two angels in white,^r seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

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

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”^{t 14}At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,^u but she did not realize that it was Jesus.^v

¹⁵He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?^w Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,^x “Rabboni!”^y (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers^z and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father^a and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene^b went to the disciples^c with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.