John 20–21

The Resurrection of Jesus

²⁰Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.^{* 2}So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”^{* 3}Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.^{* 4}The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.^{* 6}Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed,^{* 9}for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.^{* 10}Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^m into the tomb,^{* 12}and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.^{* 13}They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”^{* 14}When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir,ⁿ if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”^{* 16}Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^o “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”^{* 18}Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.^*

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors were locked where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”^{* 20}After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.^{* 21}Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”^{* 22}When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”^*

Jesus and Thomas

²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin^p), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.^{* 25}So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”^*

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”^{* 27}Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”^{* 28}Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”^*

The Purpose of This Book

³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may continue^q to believe that Jesus is the Messiah,^r the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.^*

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

²¹After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way.^{* 2}Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,^s Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.^{* 3}Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.^*

⁴Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.^{* 5}Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.”^{* 6}He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.^{* 7}That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had taken it off, and jumped into the sea.^{* 8}But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

⁹When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.^{* 10}Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them, and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish.^{* 14}This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.^*

Jesus and Peter

¹⁵When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”^{* 16}A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”^{* 17}He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.^{* 18}Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”^*

Jesus and the Beloved Disciple

²⁰Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”^{* 21}When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” ²²Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”^{* 23}So the rumor spread among the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”^t*

²⁴This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.^{* 25}But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.^*