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Chapter 20[a]

The Empty Tomb.[b] On the first day of the week,(A) Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark,[c] and saw the stone removed from the tomb. (B) So she ran[d] and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”

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Footnotes

  1. 20:1–31 The risen Jesus reveals his glory and confers the Spirit. This story fulfills the basic need for testimony to the resurrection. What we have here is not a record but a series of single stories.
  2. 20:1–10 The story of the empty tomb is found in both the Matthean and the Lucan traditions; John’s version seems to be a fusion of the two.
  3. 20:1 Still dark: according to Mark the sun had risen, Matthew describes it as “dawning,” and Luke refers to early dawn. Mary sees the stone removed, not the empty tomb.
  4. 20:2 Mary runs away, not directed by an angel/young man as in the synoptic accounts. The plural “we” in the second part of her statement might reflect a tradition of more women going to the tomb.

The Empty Tomb(A)

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

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11 But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping.(A) And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus.(B) 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”(C) She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”[a] which means Teacher. 17 Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,[b] for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”(D) 18 Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and what he told her.

Appearance to the Disciples.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 20:16 Rabbouni: Hebrew or Aramaic for “my master.”
  2. 20:17 Stop holding on to me: see Mt 28:9, where the women take hold of his feet. I have not yet ascended: for John and many of the New Testament writers, the ascension in the theological sense of going to the Father to be glorified took place with the resurrection as one action. This scene in John dramatizes such an understanding, for by Easter night Jesus is glorified and can give the Spirit. Therefore his ascension takes place immediately after he has talked to Mary. In such a view, the ascension after forty days described in Acts 1:1–11 would be simply a termination of earthly appearances or, perhaps better, an introduction to the conferral of the Spirit upon the early church, modeled on Elisha’s being able to have a (double) share in the spirit of Elijah if he saw him being taken up (same verb as ascending) into heaven (2 Kgs 2:9–12). To my Father and your Father, to my God and your God: this echoes Ru 1:16: “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.” The Father of Jesus will now become the Father of the disciples because, once ascended, Jesus can give them the Spirit that comes from the Father and they can be reborn as God’s children (Jn 3:5). That is why he calls them my brothers.
  3. 20:19–29 The appearances to the disciples, without or with Thomas (cf. Jn 11:16; 14:5), have rough parallels in the other gospels only for Jn 20:19–23; cf. Lk 24:36–39; Mk 16:14–18.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

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

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

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”(D) 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there,(E) but she did not realize that it was Jesus.(F)

15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?(G) 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.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

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

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

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

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