John 20–21

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.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,^d Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace^e be with you!”^{f 20}After he said this, he showed them his hands and side.^g The disciples were overjoyed^h when they saw the Lord.

²¹Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!ⁱ As the Father has sent me,^j I am sending you.”^{k 22}And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.^{l 23}If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”^m

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴Now Thomasⁿ (also known as Didymus^a), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side,^o I will not believe.”^p

²⁶A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace^q be with you!”^{r 27}Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”^s

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

²⁹Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed;^t blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”^u

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰Jesus performed many other signs^v in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.^{w 31}But these are written that you may believe^bx that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,^y and that by believing you may have life in his name.^z

Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

21Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples,^a by the Sea of Galilee.^ab It happened this way: ²Simon Peter, Thomas^c (also known as Didymus^b), Nathanael^d from Cana in Galilee,^e the sons of Zebedee,^f and two other disciples were together. ³“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.^g

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.^h

⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.ⁱ

⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved^j said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.^{c 9}When they landed, they saw a fire^k of burning coals there with fish on it,^l and some bread.

¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.^{m 14}This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciplesⁿ after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

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

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”^o

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”^p

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.”^q

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

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?”^r He said, “Lord, you know all things;^s you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.^{t 18}Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death^u by which Peter would glorify God.^v Then he said to him, “Follow me!”^w

²⁰Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved^x was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)^{y 21}When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

²²Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return,^z what is that to you? You must follow me.”^{a 23}Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers^b that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

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

²⁵Jesus did many other things as well.^e If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.